Royal Air Force Northleach or more simply RAF Northleach is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Satellite Station A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

near the Cotswold town of

Northleach Northleach is a market town and former civil parish, now in parish Northleach with Eastington, in the Cotswold District, Cotswold district, in Gloucestershire, England. The town is in the valley of the River Leach in the Cotswolds, about northe ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. Though named after the nearby town the land the airfield occupied was located in the nearby parishes of Hampnett and

Turkdean Turkdean is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, approximately to the east of Gloucester. It lies in the Cotswolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. History Turkdean was recorded as ''Turcandene'' in the 8th century a ...

. Constructed during 1941 the airfield was designated an emergency landing ground until July 1942 when it was assigned to No. 3 Glider Training School RAF from nearby RAF Stoke Orchard which provided basic elementary training for pilots of the

Glider Pilot Regiment The Glider Pilot Regiment was a British airborne forces unit of the Second World War, which was responsible for crewing the British Army's military gliders and saw action in the European theatre in support of Allied airborne operations. Establish ...

. During September 1942 the airfield was used to train soldiers of the

RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by Royal Warrant in 1942, the Corps carries-out security tasks relating to the protection of assets and personnel dedicated ...

detachment from Stoke Orchard until they moved to Mythe Camp near

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town grew following the construction of Tewkesbury Abbey in the twelfth century and played a significant role in the Wars of the Roses. It stands at ...

. It then became a Relief Landing Ground (RLG) for RAF Stoke Orchard on 2 November 1942 with a flight of

Miles Master The Miles M.9 Master was a British two-seat monoplane advanced trainer designed and built by aviation company Miles Aircraft, Miles Aircraft Ltd. It was inducted in large numbers into both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) durin ...

II GT tug aircraft and

General Aircraft Hotspur The General Aircraft GAL.48 Hotspur was a military glider designed and built by the British company General Aircraft Limited, General Aircraft Ltd during World War II. When the British airborne forces, airborne establishment was formed in 1940 ...

II gliders arriving on 16 November 1942. Flying training for men of the Glider Pilot Regiment began the very next day with the first course arriving by bus. During the winter of 1942 the flying surface of the airfield became so waterlogged that the airfield was unusable and all flying training returned to Stoke Orchard until February 1943. Flying continued at Northleach through the middle of 1943 but water-logging again became a problem resulting in an additional detachment being sent to RAF Wanborough,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

to maintain the level of training. In May 1944 RAF Northleach was re-classified in status as a full satellite airfield but the planned upgrade to add additional hangars and services was not carried out. The winter of 1944 saw Northleach and Stoke Orchard yet again suffer from water-logging which resulted in the cessation of flying at Northleach and relocation to

RAF Zeals Royal Air Force Zeals, or more simply RAF Zeals, is a former Royal Air Force station in Wiltshire, sited to the north of the village of Zeals, next to the village of Stourton and the Stourhead estate. History The station was in operation ...

on 21 October 1944. This would be the last time the airfield was used for flying. On 11 January 1945 No. 3 Glider Training School left RAF Stoke Orchard and RAF Northleach for good, relocating to

RAF Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and its satellite of

RAF Culmhead Royal Air Force Culmhead or more simply RAF Culmhead is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station, situated at Churchstanton on the Blackdown Hills National Landscape, Blackdown Hills in Somerset, England. It was ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. RAF Northleach was placed under "Care and Maintenance" thereafter until the site was de-requisitioned and wholly abandoned by the RAF in May 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northleach Royal Air Force stations in Gloucestershire