RAF Castle Camps

RAF Castle Camps
Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire in England
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force satellite station 1940 & 1941-42 & 1943- Parent station 1942-43
Code	CC [1]
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Fighter Command * No. 11 Group RAF [1]
Location
RAF Castle Camps Shown within Cambridgeshire
Coordinates	52°03′05″N000°22′43″E / 52.05139°N 0.37861°E / 52.05139; 0.37861
Site history
Built	1940 (1940)
Built by	John Laing & Son Ltd
In use	June 1940 – January 1946
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	127 metres (417 ft) [1] AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Tarmac 00/00  Tarmac 00/00  Tarmac

Royal Air Force Castle Camps or more simply RAF Castle Camps is a former Royal Air Force satellite station, it 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.

During the Battle of Britain, one of the units operating from Castle Camps was 85 Squadron, whose Hawker Hurricanes were commanded by Peter Townsend.

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]

The following units were also here at some point: ^[16]

• No. 25 (Base) Defence Wing RAF (March – May 1944) ^[17]
• No. 85 Group Communication Squadron RAF (May – June 1944) ^[18]
• No. 149 Airfield RAF (March – April 1944) ^[19]
• No. 2771 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 2887 Squadron RAF Regiment

Current use

Site of RAF Castle Camps from the air in 2011

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

1. Falconer 2012, p. 60.
2. Tim Vigors, "Life's Too Short to Cry", p. 235
3. Jefford 1988, p. 50.
4. Jefford 1988, p. 47.
5. Jefford 1988, p. 63.
6. Jefford 1988, p. 99.
7. Jefford 1988, p. 93.
8. Jefford 1988, p. 96.
9. Jefford 1988, p. 52.
10. Jefford 1988, p. 94.
11. Jefford 1988, p. 90.
12. Jefford 1988, p. 46.
13. Jefford 1988, p. 62.
14. Jefford 1988, p. 33.
15. Jefford 1988, p. 85.
16. "Castle Camps". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust . Retrieved 24 September 2022.
17. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 314.
18. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 184.
19. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 55.

Bibliography

• Brazier, Roy (2011) History of RAF Castle Camps: a Unique Airfield, 1940–47. ISBN   0-95365-182-7
• Falconer, J (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN   978-1-85780-349-5.
• Jefford, C G (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN   1-85310-053-6.
• Sturtivant, R; Hamlin, J; Halley, J (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN   0-85130-252-1.

External links

• Castle Camps Village, Airfield webpage
• Hawker Tempest Page: History Hawker Tempest at RAF Castle Camps
• 605 Squadron Website: History of 605 Squadron
• Polish Squadrons Remembered: No. 307 Squadron History ^{[ usurped ]}