RAF Dunholme Lodge
RAF Dunholme Lodge | |||||||||||||||||||
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| IATA: none – ICAO: none | |||||||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Dunholme, Lincolnshire | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1942 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In use |
1941-1944 1959-1964 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 125 ft / 38 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53°17′28″N 000°30′19″W / 53.29111°N 0.50528°WCoordinates: 53°17′28″N 000°30′19″W / 53.29111°N 0.50528°W | ||||||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||||||
  RAF Dunholme Lodge Location in Lincolnshire | |||||||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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Royal Air Force Station Dunholme Lodge or more simply RAF Dunholme Lodge was a Royal Air Force station located between the parishes of Welton and Dunholme in Lincolnshire, England.
History
The grass airfield was first used by the Royal Air Force during 1941 and 1942 for use by Handley Page Hampden aircraft from nearby RAF Scampton, and was officially opened as a RAF Station in September 1942 as part of RAF Bomber Command with the building of three hard runways.
The main occupier of the station was 44 Squadron, with the Avro Lancaster four-engined heavy bomber, which moved in from RAF Waddington in May 1943 and stayed until it moved to RAF Spilsby in September 1944.
In November 1944 flying operations ceased due the proximity of other stations which did not allow night flying. At the end of the war 120 Lancasters had been lost on operations from Dunholme Lodge.
From 1948 the site was host to motorcycle and car racing until 1959 when the base was reopened as an active RAF station.[1][2]
The William Farr School was opened in 1952 on part of the disused domestic site.
On re-opening in 1959, the airfield became a site for Bloodhound surface-to-air missiles with 141 Squadron until it was disbanded and the station finally closed in 1964.
Based units
| Unit | Aircraft | From | To | To | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 44 Squadron RAF | Avro Lancaster I/III | 31 May 1943 | 30 September 1944 | RAF Spilsby | Squadron Code:KM.[3] |
| No. 141 Squadron RAF | Bristol Bloodhound I | 1 April 1959 | 31 March 1964 | Disbanded | Surface-to-Air Missile.[4] |
| No. 170 Squadron RAF | Avro Lancaster I/III | 22 October 1944 | 29 November 1944 | RAF Hemswell | Squadron Code:TC.[5] |
| No. 619 Squadron RAF | Avro Lancaster I/III | 17 April 1944 | 28 September 1944 | RAF Strubby | Squadron Code:PG.[6] |
Current use
Bits of the runways still exist and the site is now used for farming.[8]
References
Citations
- ↑ Dunholme Lodge Circuit Retrieved 7 January 2015
- ↑ Motor Racing, Lincolnshire County Council Retrieved 7 January 2015
- ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 39.
- ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 61.
- ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 65.
- ↑ Jefford 1988, p. 101.
- ↑ Halpenny 1981, p. 00.
- ↑ "Dunholme Lodge". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
Bibliography
- Halpenny, B.B. Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2. Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1981. ISBN 0-85059-484-7.
- Jefford, C.G, MBE,BA ,RAF (Retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
External links
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