Royal Air Force Wellingore or more simply RAF Wellingore 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 ...

fighter relief landing ground located south of

Navenby Navenby is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Lying south from Lincoln, England, Lincoln and north-northwest from Sleaford, Navenby had a population of 2,361 in the 2021 census. In March 2011 ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

and south of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

, Lincolnshire, England.

History

The airfield was originally opened in 1917 as a

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British ...

station called Wellingore Heath. The airfield reopened in 1935. By the winter of 1939/40, the airfield was fully operational and consisted of two grass runways, a concrete perimeter track and several hangars. It initially operated as a Relief Landing Ground (RLG) for

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the RAF Colleg ...

before later operating as a RLG for

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-s ...

. Various squadrons equipped with Spitfires, Hurricanes, Blenheims and Beaufighters flew from the station. The airfield was closed in 1947.

Squadrons

No. 29 Squadron RAF No. 29 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was first raised as a unit of the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, and is one of the world's oldest fighter squadrons. The second British squadron to receive the Eurofighter Typhoon, it is currently the operati ...

(Blenheim then Beaufighter

night fighter A night fighter (later known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor post-Second World War) is a largely historical term for a fighter aircraft, fighter or interceptor aircraft adapted or designed for effective use at night, during pe ...

s) - July 1940 to April 1941 *

No. 402 Squadron RCAF 402 "City of Winnipeg" Squadron () is a Royal Canadian Air Force Squadron (aviation), squadron based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Pre-war history 402 Squadron began on 5 October 1932 as Number 12 Army Co-operation Squadron, a unit of the non-pe ...

(Hurricanes) - May 1941 to June 1941 & (Spitfires) January 1944 to April 1944 *

No. 412 Squadron RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, (also represented as Nº, No̱, No., or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, the ...

(Spitfires) - October 1941 to May 1942 * No. 54 Squadron RAF - June 1942 to June 1942 *

No. 81 Squadron RAF No 81 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It flew fighter aircraft during the Second World War, reconnaissance aircraft in the Far East after the war, and was disbanded in 1970. History First World War No. 81 Squadron Royal Flyin ...

(Spitfires) - September 1942 to October 1942 * No. 154 Squadron RAF (Spitfires) - September 1942 to November 1942 * No. 288 Squadron RAF - December 1942 to January 1943 *

No. 309 Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron No. 309 "Land of Czerwień" Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Squadron () was a Polish squadron formed in Great Britain as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom in 1940. It was one of 15 squadrons of th ...

* No. 349 (Belgian) Squadron RAF (Spitfires) May 1943 *

No. 416 Squadron RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, (also represented as Nº, No̱, No., or no.), is a Typography, typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating Ordinal numeral, ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example ...

(Spitfires) - May 1943 to June 1943 & September 1943 to October 1943 *

No. 439 Squadron RCAF The numero sign or numero symbol, (also represented as Nº, No̱, No., or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, the ...

(Hurricanes) - August 1943 * No. 613 Squadron RAF (Mustangs) - April 1943 to May 1943 *

No. 17 Service Flying Training School RAF The No. 1 Flying Training School (1 FTS) is the oldest military pilot training school in the world, currently used to deliver rotary training to aircrew of the British armed forces. History First formation (1919 – 1931) On 23 December 1919 ...

(Harvards and Oxfords)- 1944-45 ;Units: * No. 3 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF * No. 11 Service Flying Training School RAF *

* No. 19 Flying Training School RAF * No. 56 OTU * No. 2953 Squadron RAF Regiment

John Gillespie Magee Jr

In December 1941,

John Gillespie Magee, Jr. John Gillespie Magee Jr. (9 June 1922 – 11 December 1941) was a World War II Anglo-American Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and war poet, who wrote the sonnet "High Flight". He was killed in an accidental mid-air collision over Engla ...

, author of the famous aviation poem "High Flight", took off from Wellingore on his final flight, in which he was killed.

Guy Gibson

In November 1940,

Guy Gibson Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, (12 August 1918 – 19 September 1944) was a distinguished bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was the first Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam ...

, who later led

Operation Chastise Operation Chastise, commonly known as the Dambusters Raid, was an attack on Nazi Germany, German dams carried out on the night of 16/17 May 1943 by No. 617 Squadron RAF, 617 Squadron RAF Bomber Command, later called the Dam Busters, using spe ...

(better known as the Dambusters Raid), was stationed at Wellingore. Later in November 1940, he flew from here to Cardiff for his wedding. He had his first victories as a nightfighter pilot operating from here. In April 1942, a German intruder aircraft attacked Gibson's aircraft while landing at Wellingore, injuring his navigator.

Post-war use

The station was used as a prisoner of war camp before being handed back to the local land owner. Many of the original buildings, including the control have been demolished. A number of airfield defence concrete bunkers remain dotted around the airfield which has been returned to agricultural use.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wellingore Royal Air Force stations in Lincolnshire 1917 establishments in England Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom