RAF Little Horwood

RAF Little Horwood
Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire in England
RAF Little Horwood (September 2023)
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force satellite station
Code	LH [1]
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command * No. 92 (OTU) Group RAF
Location
RAF Little Horwood Shown within Buckinghamshire Show map of Buckinghamshire RAF Little Horwood RAF Little Horwood (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°57′51″N000°52′21″W / 51.96417°N 0.87250°W / 51.96417; -0.87250
Site history
Built	1942 (1942)
In use	September 1942 - November 1947 (1947)
Fate	Returned to civilian use
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Garrison information
Garrison	No 26 OTU No 71 MU No 92 Gp Comms Flight No 1684 (Bomber) Defence Training Flight
Airfield information
Elevation	117 metres (384 ft) [1] AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00 1,800 metres (5,906 ft)  Concrete 00/00 1,260 metres (4,134 ft) Concrete 00/00 1,260 metres (4,134 ft) Concrete

Royal Air Force Little Horwood or more simply RAF Little Horwood is a former Royal Air Force satellite station. It was established during the Second World War, and is located on the site of Greenway Farm in Aylesbury Vale, north east Buckinghamshire. The airfield sits within a triangle formed by Little Horwood, Great Horwood, and Winslow. It was in operation from September 1942 until January 1946. It is now mostly returned to agricultural use.

History

The airfield was established as a base for Operational Training Units to train recruits for combat and also for "nickelling", the dropping of propaganda leaflets. The airfield went operational on 2 September 1942 and served as a satellite for RAF Wing. ^[2]

The runway was built of rubble from bomb damaged London.^{[ citation needed ]} Vickers Wellington bombers from No. 26 OTU arrived along with OTU Gunnery section and the 92 Group Communications flight to commence the basic training of recruits.

No. 1684 OTU Bomber Defence Training Flight moved to Little Horwood on 5 June 1943 and simulation battles were undertaken using Curtiss Tomahawk aircraft. Flying ended at Little Horwood on 30 November 1945 with the remnants of No. 26 OTU remaining until January 1946.

On 7 August 1943, a Wellington Bomber X3790 from the airfield crashed into Winslow town centre killing four crew and 13 civilians. ^[3]

The site has been subject to several major development proposals in recent years, but these have not been well received locally and have all been rejected.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. Falconer 2012, p. 130.
2. "Unlocking Buckinghamshire's Past". Buckinghamshire County Council. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
3. "The air crash of 1943". Winslow History. Retrieved 28 June 2014.

• Falconer, Jonathan (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN   978-1-85780-349-5.