RAF Bottesford
Encyclopedia
RAF Station Bottesford is a former World War II
airfield on the Leicestershire
-Lincolnshire
county border in England
. The airfield is located approximately 11 miles (17.7 km) east-northeast of Radcliffe on Trent
; about 107 miles (172.2 km) north-northwest of London
Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force
and United States Army Air Force. During the war it was used primarily as a troop carrier airfield for paratroopers and as a bomber airfield. After the war it was closed in 1948.
Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property with the technical site being used as an industrial estate.
from November 1940, it had concrete runways from the outset, one of the first in the area to do so. It was built to the Class A airfield
standard set by the Air Ministry, the main feature of which was a set of three converging runways each containing a concrete runway for takeoffs and landings, optimally placed at 60 degree angles to each other in a triangular pattern. Runways were a 6,000 ft main aligned 01/19 and two secondaries of 3,600 ft aligned 08/26 and 3,000 ft at 14/32. The main was originally shorter but its length was increased while the airfield was still under construction. There were originally 36 pan type hardstands but five of these were lost in the extension of taxiways and another 21 loop standings were added connecting to an enclosing perimeter track, of a standard width of 50 feet.
Intended as a parent station the ground support station was constructed largely of Nissen hut
s of various sizes and larger than most USAAF stations. The support station was where the group and ground station commanders and squadron headquarters and orderly rooms were located. Also on the ground station were where the mess facilities; chapel; hospital; mission briefing and debriefing; armory; life support; parachute rigging; supply warehouses; station and airfield security; motor pool and the other ground support functions necessary to support the air operations of the group. These facilities were all connected by a network of single path support roads.
The technical site, connected to the ground station and airfield consisted of the two T-2 hangars and one R-1 which was originality erected, but in 1943, four more T-2 hangars were added specifically for the Airspeed Horsa
gliders which were to be stored at this airfield. In addition, various organizational, component and field maintenance shops along with the crew chiefs and other personnel necessary to keep the aircraft airworthy and to quickly repair light and moderate battle damage. Aircraft severely damaged in combat were sent to repair depots for major structural repair. The Ammunition dump and an armoury were on the east side in Noss Plantation near Big Grange, outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens for holding bombs and other munitions.
The dispersed camp sites, 11 domestic, two communal and a sick quarters were constructed dispersed away from the airfield, but within a mile or so of the technical support site, also using clusters of Maycrete or Nissen huts. The Huts were either connected, set up end-to-end or built singly and made of prefabricated corrugated iron with a door and two small windows at the front and back. They provided accommodation for 2,373 males and 462 females.
s during November. However because of continual difficulties experienced with their Vulture engines. operations were frequently curtailed, but in March 1942 the squadron was able to step up its bombing raids on Germany
when it became one of the first to receive the new Avro Lancaster
in March 1942.
No. 207 left in September 1942 for RAF Langar
and in November a new Australian manned squadron, No. 467, arrived in November 1942 commencing operations on the night of January 2/3, 1943.
Two more T-2 hangars were erected near the technical site in 1943 specifically to protect Horsa gliders from inclement weather as Bottesford was the recipient of over 50 of these wood and canvas craft in preparation for the cross-Channel invasion
. In November 1943, No. 467 Squadron was moved out to RAF Waddington
as Bottesford had been allocated to the USAAF's IX Troop Carrier Command for the forthcoming operation.
RAF Bomber Command operational losses sustained by the units based at Bottesford amounted to three Manchesters and 55 Lancasters, a total of 58.
Bottesford was one of the cluster of a dozen airfields in the Grantham area that were allocated for US Troop Carrier Command use in August 1943, and it was first occupied by the 50th Troop Carrier Wing Headquarters on 15 November. It was then opened as a reception base for Douglas C-47/C-53 Skytrain groups that were scheduled to fly in from the United States
.
It was known as USAAF Station AAF-481 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. It's USAAF Station Code was "AQ".
a few days into the New Year from Baer Army Airfield, Indiana
. Operational squadrons of the group were:
The 436th TCG was assigned to the 53rd Troop Carrier Wing.
Each squadron was equipped with 14 aircraft. In late January 1944, a school was set up for training C-47 navigators in the use of "Gee" navigational aid, the school moving to more ample quarters at RAF Cottesmore
in February 1944.
On 3 March the 436th Group was moved south to lake up station at RAF Membury
started to arrive from Baer Army Airfield, although the ground echelon traveling by sea did not come in until the 23rd. Operational squadrons of the group were:
This group was soon training with the paratroops of the 82nd Airborne Division deployed in the Leicester
area. On 26 April the 440th moved south to RAF Exeter
as part of the general move of the groups of the 50th TCW to obtain better operational deployment.
After using the airfield during the following two months for glider repair and modification, the USAAF then departed.
No. 1668 Heavy Conversion Unit with Lancasters arrived and later some specialist flights were also based at the station with a variety of aircraft types. In November, No. 1668 HCU was re-assigned to No. 7 Training Group. Bottesford remained a Lancaster training station until the late summer of 1945, No. 1668 HCU moving to more comfortable accommodation at Cottesmore in September. Thereafter little flying took place although the hangars were used for storage by the Air Ministry
. After the end of the war, a small holding party remained for a few years until it was sold off in 1948.
The perimeter track and two T-2 hangars still exist, being used for unknown purposes, although the condition of the perimeter track is very deteriorated. The former airfield control tower has been restored and used as offices.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
airfield on the Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
-Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
county border in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The airfield is located approximately 11 miles (17.7 km) east-northeast of Radcliffe on Trent
Radcliffe on Trent
Radcliffe-on-Trent is a large village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe borough of Nottinghamshire-Location:Radcliffe has a population of around 8,000. It is to the east of Nottingham, and is close to but not quite part of the Greater Nottingham built-up area...
; about 107 miles (172.2 km) north-northwest of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and United States Army Air Force. During the war it was used primarily as a troop carrier airfield for paratroopers and as a bomber airfield. After the war it was closed in 1948.
Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property with the technical site being used as an industrial estate.
Overview
Built by George Wimpey & Co. LtdGeorge Wimpey
George Wimpey was formed in 1880 and, based in Hammersmith, operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919 and he developed it into the UK’s pre-eminent construction and housebuilding firm. In 2007, Wimpey merged with Taylor Woodrow to create...
from November 1940, it had concrete runways from the outset, one of the first in the area to do so. It was built to the Class A airfield
Class A airfield
Class A airfields were military installations originally built for the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. Several were transferred to the U.S...
standard set by the Air Ministry, the main feature of which was a set of three converging runways each containing a concrete runway for takeoffs and landings, optimally placed at 60 degree angles to each other in a triangular pattern. Runways were a 6,000 ft main aligned 01/19 and two secondaries of 3,600 ft aligned 08/26 and 3,000 ft at 14/32. The main was originally shorter but its length was increased while the airfield was still under construction. There were originally 36 pan type hardstands but five of these were lost in the extension of taxiways and another 21 loop standings were added connecting to an enclosing perimeter track, of a standard width of 50 feet.
Intended as a parent station the ground support station was constructed largely of Nissen hut
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...
s of various sizes and larger than most USAAF stations. The support station was where the group and ground station commanders and squadron headquarters and orderly rooms were located. Also on the ground station were where the mess facilities; chapel; hospital; mission briefing and debriefing; armory; life support; parachute rigging; supply warehouses; station and airfield security; motor pool and the other ground support functions necessary to support the air operations of the group. These facilities were all connected by a network of single path support roads.
The technical site, connected to the ground station and airfield consisted of the two T-2 hangars and one R-1 which was originality erected, but in 1943, four more T-2 hangars were added specifically for the Airspeed Horsa
Airspeed Horsa
The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British World War II troop-carrying glider built by Airspeed Limited and subcontractors and used for air assault by British and Allied armed forces...
gliders which were to be stored at this airfield. In addition, various organizational, component and field maintenance shops along with the crew chiefs and other personnel necessary to keep the aircraft airworthy and to quickly repair light and moderate battle damage. Aircraft severely damaged in combat were sent to repair depots for major structural repair. The Ammunition dump and an armoury were on the east side in Noss Plantation near Big Grange, outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens for holding bombs and other munitions.
The dispersed camp sites, 11 domestic, two communal and a sick quarters were constructed dispersed away from the airfield, but within a mile or so of the technical support site, also using clusters of Maycrete or Nissen huts. The Huts were either connected, set up end-to-end or built singly and made of prefabricated corrugated iron with a door and two small windows at the front and back. They provided accommodation for 2,373 males and 462 females.
RAF Bomber Command use
The airfield was opened as a Bomber Command station in No. 5 Group area during the autumn of 1941, with No. 207 Squadron moving in with its troublesome Avro ManchesterAvro Manchester
|-See also:-References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Buttler, Tony. British Secret Projects: Fighters and Bombers 1935–1950. Hickley, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004. ISBN 978-1857801798....
s during November. However because of continual difficulties experienced with their Vulture engines. operations were frequently curtailed, but in March 1942 the squadron was able to step up its bombing raids on Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
when it became one of the first to receive the new Avro Lancaster
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
in March 1942.
No. 207 left in September 1942 for RAF Langar
RAF Langar
RAF Station Langar is a former military airfield on the border of Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire near the village of Langar in England. The airfield is located approximately east-southeast of Radcliffe on Trent; about north-northwest of London...
and in November a new Australian manned squadron, No. 467, arrived in November 1942 commencing operations on the night of January 2/3, 1943.
Two more T-2 hangars were erected near the technical site in 1943 specifically to protect Horsa gliders from inclement weather as Bottesford was the recipient of over 50 of these wood and canvas craft in preparation for the cross-Channel invasion
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
. In November 1943, No. 467 Squadron was moved out to RAF Waddington
RAF Waddington
RAF Waddington is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England.-Formation:Waddington opened as a Royal Flying Corps flying training station in 1916 until 1920, when the station went into care and maintenance....
as Bottesford had been allocated to the USAAF's IX Troop Carrier Command for the forthcoming operation.
RAF Bomber Command operational losses sustained by the units based at Bottesford amounted to three Manchesters and 55 Lancasters, a total of 58.
USAAF use
Work started immediately on providing more hardstands, 21 loops being added in two clusters on the west side of the Bottesford-Bennington road. In the course of this work, five of the pans were destroyed.Bottesford was one of the cluster of a dozen airfields in the Grantham area that were allocated for US Troop Carrier Command use in August 1943, and it was first occupied by the 50th Troop Carrier Wing Headquarters on 15 November. It was then opened as a reception base for Douglas C-47/C-53 Skytrain groups that were scheduled to fly in from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
It was known as USAAF Station AAF-481 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. It's USAAF Station Code was "AQ".
436th Troop Carrier Group
The first USAAF group to arrive at Bottesford was 436th Troop Carrier Group436th Airlift Wing
The 436th Airlift Wing is an active United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the Air Mobility Command Eighteenth Air Force, and is based at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware....
a few days into the New Year from Baer Army Airfield, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. Operational squadrons of the group were:
- 79th Troop Carrier Squadron79th Air Refueling SquadronThe 79th Air Refueling Squadron is a unit part of the USAF, belonging to the 349th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base, California...
(S6) - 80th Troop Carrier Squadron (7D)
- 81st Troop Carrier Squadron (U5)
- 82d Troop Carrier Squadron (3D)
The 436th TCG was assigned to the 53rd Troop Carrier Wing.
Each squadron was equipped with 14 aircraft. In late January 1944, a school was set up for training C-47 navigators in the use of "Gee" navigational aid, the school moving to more ample quarters at RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cottesmore was a Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. The station housed all the operational Harrier GR9 squadrons in the Royal Air Force, and No 122 Expeditionary Air Wing...
in February 1944.
On 3 March the 436th Group was moved south to lake up station at RAF Membury
RAF Membury
RAF Station Membury is a former World War II airfield built in the civil parish of Lambourn in Berkshire, England. The airfield is located approximately mi north-northwest of Hungerford, at the Membury services stop of the M4 motorway; about miles west-southwest of London...
440th Troop Carrier Group
Within a week (between 8/11 March), the C-47s of the 440th Troop Carrier Group440th Airlift Wing
The 440th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force Reserve unit assigned to Twenty-Second Air Force. It is stationed at Pope Field, part of Fort Bragg in North Carolina....
started to arrive from Baer Army Airfield, although the ground echelon traveling by sea did not come in until the 23rd. Operational squadrons of the group were:
- 95th Troop Carrier Squadron95th Airlift SquadronThe 95th Airlift Squadron is part of the 440th Airlift Wing at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina. It operates C-130 Hercules aircraft supporting the United States Air Force global reach mission world wide.-History:...
(9X) - 96th Troop Carrier Squadron96th Airlift SquadronThe 96th Airlift Squadron is part of the 934th Airlift Wing at Minneapolis-St Paul Joint Air Reserve Station, Minnesota. It operates C-130 Hercules aircraft supporting the United States Air Force global reach mission world wide.-History:...
(6Z) - 97th Troop Carrier Squadron97th Airlift SquadronThe 97th Airlift Squadron is part of the 446th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. It operates C-17 Globemaster III aircraft supporting the United States Air Force global reach mission world wide.-History:...
(W6) - 98th Troop Carrier Squadron (8Y)
This group was soon training with the paratroops of the 82nd Airborne Division deployed in the Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
area. On 26 April the 440th moved south to RAF Exeter
Exeter International Airport
Exeter International Airport is an airport located at Clyst Honiton in the District of East Devon close to the city of Exeter and within the county of Devon, South West England....
as part of the general move of the groups of the 50th TCW to obtain better operational deployment.
After using the airfield during the following two months for glider repair and modification, the USAAF then departed.
Subsequent RAF Wartime use
The USAAF relinquished Bottesford to No. 5 Group Bomber Command in July 1944.No. 1668 Heavy Conversion Unit with Lancasters arrived and later some specialist flights were also based at the station with a variety of aircraft types. In November, No. 1668 HCU was re-assigned to No. 7 Training Group. Bottesford remained a Lancaster training station until the late summer of 1945, No. 1668 HCU moving to more comfortable accommodation at Cottesmore in September. Thereafter little flying took place although the hangars were used for storage by the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
. After the end of the war, a small holding party remained for a few years until it was sold off in 1948.
Civil use
With the facility released from military control, farmers were using the land for crops. Today, the technical site buildings are operated as an industrial facility, possibly an automotive assembly plant. Large numbers of new automobiles are stored on the former runways, all of which still exist with just a small amount of concrete (mostly dispersal loops) being removed for hardcore.The perimeter track and two T-2 hangars still exist, being used for unknown purposes, although the condition of the perimeter track is very deteriorated. The former airfield control tower has been restored and used as offices.