RAF Greatham

RAF Greatham
Greatham, County Durham in England
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force Satellite Station
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Flying Training Command
Location
RAF Greatham Shown within County Durham Show map of County Durham RAF Greatham RAF Greatham (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	54°38′58″N001°12′46″W / 54.64944°N 1.21278°W / 54.64944; -1.21278
Site history
Built	1933 (1933)
In use	1933 - 1958 (1958)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Grass 00/00  Grass

Royal Air Force Greatham or more simply RAF Greatham is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located in Greatham, County Durham, England.

It was also known as RAF West Hartlepool and was located at Hartlepool and was little more than a grass airstrip, a satellite station of RAF Thornaby.

History

It was home to four of 403 Squadron's Supermarine Spitfires from 19 June 1942 to 22 January 1943; operating forward from RAF Catterick.

The airfield was once home to No. 645 Volunteer Gliding School, ^[1] who operate Grob Vigilant Motor Gliders for the Air Training Corps. They are now located at RAF Topcliffe in Yorkshire.

The following units were also here at some point: ^[2]

• 'N' Flight of No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF
• No. 6 (Coastal) OTU RAF
• No. 26 Gliding School RAF
• No. 32 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF
• No. 243 Squadron RAF
• No. 1613 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF
• No. 2782 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 4054 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment

Current use

Little now remains, as the site was developed after the war by British Steel Corporation.

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

1. "645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron". 645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
2. "West Hartlepool (Greatham)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust . Retrieved 1 October 2021.