Royal Air Force Station Woolfox Lodge is a former RAF

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...

 aerodrome next to the A1 road in Rutland

Rutland

Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....

, UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The airfield is split between the parishes of Empingham

Empingham

Empingham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It lies close to the dam of Rutland Water and the A606 runs through the village...

 and Greetham

Greetham, Rutland

Greetham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.It on the B668 between the county town of Oakham and the A1 and on the north-south Viking Way long distance footpath running between the Humber Bridge and Oakham....

. It was open from 1940 until 1965.

Woolfox opened as a reserve landing ground for 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...

 then became a satellite to RAF North Luffenham

RAF North Luffenham

RAF North Luffenham was a Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, 1940 - 1998. It is near to the villages of Edith Weston and North Luffenham....

 in October 1941. Full station status granted from June 1943. The wartime airfield comprised three tarmac runways and one Type B1 and four T2 aircraft hangars. There was temporary accommodation for 1149 male and 252 female personnel.

RAF Woolfox Lodge was used in later years as a relief landing ground but the runways deteriorated to such a degree that the airfield had to be closed to flying by spring 1954. In 1960 a Bloodhound surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

 site under No. 62 Squadron was positioned in a secure area adjacent to the A1 road near the former technical site.

The site is now used for agriculture and employment purposes.

RAF units and aircraft

Unit	Dates	Aircraft	Variant	Notes
No. 61 Squadron RAF	1941-1942	Avro Manchester Avro Manchester |-See also:-References:NotesCitationsBibliography* Buttler, Tony. British Secret Projects: Fighters and Bombers 1935–1950. Hickley, UK: Midland Publishing, 2004. ISBN 978-1857801798.... 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...		Lancaster from April 1942
No. 62 Squadron RAF No. 62 Squadron RAF -World War I:No. 62 Squadron RAF was formed on 8 August 1916, at Filton from No. 7 Training Squadron. In May 1917 it equipped with the Bristol F2B, before being posted to France in January 1918. The squadron operated as fighter-reconnaissance unit until disbanding on 31 July 1919. Its wartime...	1960-1964	Bristol Bloodhound	I
No. 218 Squadron RAF No. 218 Squadron RAF No. 218 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was also known as No 218 Squadron after the Governor of the Gold Coast and people of the Gold Coast officially adopted the squadron.-World War I:...	1944	Short Stirling Short Stirling The Short Stirling was the first four-engined British heavy bomber of the Second World War. The Stirling was designed and built by Short Brothers to an Air Ministry specification from 1936, and entered service in 1941...	III
No. 1651 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF	1945	Avro Lancaster