RAF Castle Camps

RAF Castle Camps
IATA: noneICAO: X3CC[1]
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator Royal Air Force
Location Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire
Elevation AMSL 420 ft / 128 m
Coordinates 52°03′05″N 000°22′43″E / 52.05139°N 0.37861°E / 52.05139; 0.37861Coordinates: 52°03′05″N 000°22′43″E / 52.05139°N 0.37861°E / 52.05139; 0.37861
Map
RAF Castle Camps

Location in Cambridgeshire

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
00/00 0 0 Concrete
00/00 0 0 Concrete
00/00 0 0 Concrete

RAF Castle Camps was listed as being in Cambridgeshire as it is close to its namesake Cambridgeshire village. It is very near the Suffolk border and the airfield straddled the Essex and Cambridgeshire county border. Construction of the station was started in September 1939. It opened as a satellite of RAF Debden in June 1940 and became a satellite of RAF North Weald in July 1943.

The airfield was used by numerous squadrons throughout the Second World War. In 1945, it was commanded by Battle of Britain ace Tim Vigors.[2]It closed in January 1946.

Operational Units and Aircraft

Unit From To Aircraft Version Notes
No. 85 Squadron RAF 23 May 1940
3 September 1940
19 August 1940
5 September 1940
Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
I
I
As a detachment.[3]
Full strength.[3]
No. 73 Squadron RAF 5 September 1940 6 November 1940 Hawker Hurricane I [4]
No. 157 Squadron RAF 18 December 1941 15 March 1943 de Havilland Mosquito II [5]
No. 605 Squadron RAF 15 March 1943 6 October 1943 de Havilland Mosquito II/VI [6]
No. 456 Squadron RAF 29 March 1943 June 1943 Bristol Beaufighter
de Havilland Mosquito
IIF
II/VI
[7]
No. 527 Squadron RAF 15 June 1943 28 February 1944 Bristol Blenheim
Hawker Hurricane
de Havilland Hornet Moth
IV
I
Formed here.[8]
No. 91 Squadron RAF 29 February 1944 17 March 1944 Supermarine Spitfire XII/XIV [9]
No. 486 Squadron RAF 6 March 1944
29 March 1944
21 March 1944
29 April 1944
Hawker Typhoon IB [10]
No. 410 Squadron RAF 30 December 1943 29 April 1944 de Havilland Mosquito XIII [11]
No. 68 Squadron RAF 23 June 1944 28 December 1944 de Havilland Mosquito XVII/XIX [12]
No. 151 Squadron RAF 8 October 1944 19 November 1944 de Havilland Mosquito XXX [13]
No. 25 Squadron RAF 27 October 1944 14 July 1945 de Havilland Mosquito XXX/VI [14]
No. 307 Squadron RAF 27 January 1945 31 May 1945 de Havilland Mosquito XXX [15]

Current use

The site has reverted to agricultural use. However the outlines of portions of the runways in the fields (when viewed on Google Earth), can still be seen and some of the perimeter roads are even now in use as farm tracks.

Some of the airfield buildings are still present and being used by local farms and industry.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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