RAF Southam 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 ...

relief landing ground (RLG) located east of Southam,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, England and south east of

Royal Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

, Warwickshire, England. The airfield opened in 1940 and was mainly used by 9 Elementary Flying Training School training pilots. The airfield closed 18 December 1944.

Based units

No. 9 Elementary Flying Training School (9 EFTS) using

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

s. The School was mainly based at RAF Ansty but Southam was used as a satellite station and operated from 3 September 1939 until 31 March 1944. No. 18 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit RAF (18(P)AFU) flew

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed Ltd, Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training Commonwealth of Nations, British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombin ...

s and Boulton Paul Defiants mostly from RAF Church Lawford but also from other sites including RAF Hockley Heath and Southam. The unit operated from 27 October 1942 until 29 May 1945.

Accidents and incidents

Current use

There is now a housing estate and Southam Town Council owned community hall on the site of the airfield, known as Flying Fields. Many of the street names are named after WW2 aircraft types and a large metal sculpture of a Wellington bomber stands at the entrance of the estate.

References

External links

Wartime Memories Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southam Airports in England Royal Air Force stations in Warwickshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom RAF