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A list of airfields of the Royal Flying Corps .
Name | From | To | Current county | Country | Current use |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andover | August 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Hampshire | England | British Army Headquarters |
Anwick | September 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland |
Ashington | October 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Northumberland | England | Potland Burn Surface Mine |
Ayr | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Ayrshire | Scotland | Ayr Racecourse |
Bacton | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Norfolk | England | |
Baldonnel | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Co. Dublin | Ireland | Headquarters Irish Air Corps |
Beaulieu | 1914 | 1 April 1918 | Hampshire | England | Open land |
Beaumont Night Landing Ground | April 1916 | August 1916 | Essex | farmland | |
Beddington Aerodrome | January 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Greater London | England | Housing |
Bekesbourne | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | Housing/Farmland |
Beverley Aerodrome | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | East Yorkshire | England | Beverley Racecourse [1] |
Bicester | January 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Oxfordshire | England | Bicester Airfield |
Biggin Hill | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Greater London | England | London Biggin Hill Airport |
Blackheath Common NLG | March 1915 | July 1919 | Essex | farmland (army) | |
Bogton | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Ayrshire | Scotland | |
Boscombe Down | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Wiltshire | England | Military airfield |
Bournes Green day LG | May 1917 | June 1917 | Essex | farmland | |
Bracebridge Heath Landing Ground | 1918 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Industry/Agriculture |
Braceby Landing Ground | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | |
Braintree NLG | end of January 1917 | October 1918 | Essex | farmland/housing estate roads | |
Bramham Moor Aerodrome | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Yorkshire | England | Now farmland |
Brattleby (Cliff) | 1916 | 1917 | Lincolnshire | England | RAF Scampton (flying) |
Brentingby | 1916 | 1916 | Leicestershire | England | Farmland |
Brooklands Landing Ground | 1914 | 1 April 1918 | Surrey | England | Brooklands Museum |
Broomfield Court NLG | August 1916 | August 1919 | Essex | farmland | |
Brough Landing Ground | 1916 | 1916 | East Yorkshire | England | |
Buckminster | 1 October 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland |
Burgh Castle Landing Ground | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Suffolk | England | |
Burnham-on-Crouch FS | 1915 | July 1919 | Essex | Farmland | |
Bury/Ramsey | September 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Cambridgeshire | England | Farmland/Housing/Industry |
Bury St Edmunds Landing Ground | 1916 | 1916 | Suffolk | England | |
Calshot Naval Air Station | 29 March 1913 | July 1914 | Isle of Wight | England | Calshot Activities Centre |
Castle Bromwich | 1918 | 1 April 1918 | West Midlands | England | Industry/ Housing |
Catterick | September 1914 | 1 April 1918 | North Yorkshire | England | Marne Barracks |
Chattis Hill | 1917 | 1918 | Hampshire | England | |
Chiddingstone Causeway | December 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | Open land |
Chingford FS | December 1914 | March 1919 | Essex | reservoirs | |
Clacton seaplane station | August 1914 | Autumn 1916 | Essex | seafront | |
Coal Aston | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Yorkshire | England | |
Collinstown | 1 April 1918 | Co. Dublin | Ireland | Dublin Airport | |
Copmanthorpe | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | North Yorkshire | England | |
Coventry (Radford) | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Warwickshire | England | |
Cramlington | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Northumberland | England | |
Curragh Camp | 1913 | 1 April 1918 | Co. Kildare | Ireland | Irish Army barracks |
Detling | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | |
Didsbury | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Lancashire | England | |
Doncaster | 1916 | 1918 | South Yorkshire | England | Doncaster Racecourse |
Dover (Swingate Down) | 1914 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | |
Eastburn | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | East Yorkshire | England | Alamein Barracks |
Easington | Oct 1916 | Mar 1919 | Co. Durham | England | farmland |
Easthorpe | April 1916 | December 1919 | Essex | England | farmland |
Eastleigh | 1910 | 1 April 1918 | Hampshire | England | Southampton Airport [2] |
Easton-on-the-Hill | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Northamptonshire | England | RAF Wittering (flying) |
East Hanningfield NLG | April 1916 | January 1917 | Essex | farmland | |
East Retford | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Nottinghamshire | England | |
Edzell | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Angus | Scotland | Farmland |
Elmswell (Great Ashfield) | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Suffolk | England | |
Elsham | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland/Industrial estate |
Fairlop FS | 1916 | summer 1919 | Essex | sports fields/car sales/WW1 officers' bungalows remain | |
Farnborough | 1912 | 1 April 1918 | Hampshire | England | Farnborough Airport |
Feltwell | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Norfolk | England | |
Fermoy | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Co. Cork | Ireland | |
Filton | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Gloucestershire | England | Bristol Filton Airport |
Finningley | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | South Yorkshire | England | Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield |
Folkestone/Hawkinge | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | Housing/Kent Battle of Britain Museum |
Ford Farm/Old Sarum | August 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Wiltshire | England | Old Sarum Airfield |
Ford (Junction)/Yapton | 1 March 1918 | 1 April 1918 | West Sussex | England | HM Prison Ford |
Fyfield NLG | October 1916 | December 1919 | Essex | farmland | |
Goldhanger FS | August 1915 | March 1919 | Essex | farmland | |
Goldington Aerodrome | October 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Bedfordshire | England | Housing |
Gormanstown | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Co. Meath | Ireland | Irish Army barracks |
Gosberton | 1 October 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | |
Gosport, Fort Grange | July 1914 | 1 April 1918 | Hampshire | England | HMS Sultan |
Goxhill | ? | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland/Industrial estate |
Grantham | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Prince William of Gloucester Barracks |
Hainault Farm FS | October 1914 | December 1919 | was Essex, now Greater London | farmland | |
Halton | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Buckinghamshire | England | RAF Halton (flying) |
Harpswell | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland/ Museum |
Harlaxton | Nov 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland |
Harrietsham | December 1916 | ? | Kent | England | ? |
Helperby | 1916 | 1920 | North Yorkshire | England | Farmland [3] |
Hendon Aerodrome | November 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Greater London | England | Royal Air Force Museum London Housing |
Heathfield | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Ayrshire | Scotland | Housing/Retail |
Hingham | 1916 | 1917 | Norfolk | England | |
Hooton Park | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Cheshire | England | Museum & Vauxhall car factory |
Horndon-on-the-Hill | April 1916 | early 1918 | Essex | farmland | |
Hove | East Sussex | England | |||
Hucknall Aerodrome | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Nottinghamshire | England | Housing |
Hounslow Heath Aerodrome | 14 October 1914 | 1 April 1918 | Greater London | England | Open land |
Hylton | October 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Tyne & Wear | England | Nissan car factory North East Aircraft Museum |
Jesson (Hythe) | September 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | Farmland |
Joyce Green | 14 July 1911 | December 1919 | Kent | England | Open land |
Kenley | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Greater London | England | RAF Kenley |
Lake Down | 1917 | 1919 | Wiltshire | England | Open land |
Larkhill | 1912 | 1914 | Wiltshire | England | (MoD land) – Artillery training |
Leadenham | September 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland/Quarry |
Leavesden Aerodrome | Hertfordshire | England | Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden Housing | ||
Lilbourne | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Warwickshire | England | Open land |
Little Clacton NLG | October 1916 | July 1919 | Essex | sports grounds/housing | |
London Colney | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Hertfordshire | England | de Havilland Aircraft Museum |
Lopcombe Corner | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Wiltshire | England | |
Lydd St Mary | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | |
Lympne | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | |
Manston | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | Manston Airport |
Manton | December 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland |
Marden | January 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | Farmland |
Marham | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Norfolk | England | RAF Marham (flying) [4] |
Marske-by-the-Sea | December 1917 | 1 April 1918 | North Yorkshire | England | Housing |
Martlesham Heath | October 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Suffolk | England | Housing |
Mattishall | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Norfolk | England | |
Melton Mowbray | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Leicestershire | England | |
Mill Farm Night Landing Ground | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland |
Molesworth | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Cambridgeshire | England | RAF Molesworth (non-flying) |
Montrose Air Station | 26 February 1913 | 1 April 1918 | Angus | Scotland | Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre |
Mountnessing NLG | April 1916 | December 1916 | Essex | farmland | |
Narborough | August 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Norfolk | England | RAF Marham (flying) [5] |
Netheravon | 16 June 1913 | 1 April 1918 | Wiltshire | England | AAC Netheravon until 2012 |
North Benfleet NLG | April 1916 | March 1919 | Essex | farmland/new arterial road | |
North Coates Fitties | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland/Housing North Coates Flying Club |
North Killingholme | July 1914 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland/Industry |
North Ockendon NLG | April 1916 | October 1916 | Essex | farmland | |
Northolt | 3 May 1915 | 1 April 1918 | Greater London | England | RAF Northolt (flying) |
Orsett NLG | October 1916 | December 1919 | Essex | farmland/housing/golf course | |
Perton | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Staffordshire | England | Housing |
Plungar | Leicestershire | England | |||
Redcar | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | North Yorkshire | England | Housing |
Red House Farm | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Wiltshire | England | MoD Boscombe Down (flying) |
Ripon | 15 September 1916 | 1 April 1918 | North Yorkshire | England | Ripon Racecourse |
Rochford FS | Autumn 1915 | 1920 | Essex | airfield | |
Runwell NLG | August 1917 | March 1920 | Essex | farmland | |
Sadberge [6] | Co. Durham | England | Farmland | ||
Saundby Aerodrome (Gainsborough) [7] | December 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Nottinghamshire | England | Farmland |
Scalford | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Leicestershire | England | |
Seaton Carew | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Co. Durham | England | Industrial estate |
Sedgeford | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Norfolk | England | Farmland |
Shawbury | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Shropshire | England | RAF Shawbury (flying) |
Shenfield (Palmers Farm) NLG | September 1916 | February 1919 | Essex | farmland | |
Shotwick | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Flintshire | Wales | MoD Sealand (non-flying) |
Sible Hedingham NLG | April 1916 | June 1919 | Essex | farmland | |
South Carlton | November 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland |
Southfields | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Northumberland | England | HM Prisons Acklington & Castington |
Stirling | 1916 | 1918 | Stirling | Scotland | Farmland |
Stow Maries Aerodrome | August 1916 | March 1919 | Essex | England | airfield/Heritage Site |
Sutton's Farm FS | summer 1915 | June 1919 | was Essex, now Greater London | part housing, part public open space | |
Swinstead | Leicestershire | England | |||
Tallaght | 1918 | South Dublin | Ireland | ||
Tangmere | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | West Sussex | England | Tangmere Military Aviation Museum |
Thaxted NLG | January 1917 | summer 1918 | Essex | farmland | |
Throwley Aerodrome | October 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | Farmland |
Ternhill | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Shropshire | England | RAF Ternhill/Clive Barracks |
Turnberry | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Ayrshire | Scotland | Turnberry Golf Course |
Turnhouse Aerodrome | 1915 | 1 April 1918 | City of Edinburgh | Scotland | Edinburgh Airport |
Tydd St Mary | August 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland |
Upavon | 19 June 1912 | 1 April 1918 | Wiltshire | England | Trenchard Lines |
Uxbridge | 19 November 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Greater London | England | RAF Uxbridge/Housing |
Vale Farm, Thornaby (Yarm) | 1914 | 1 April 1918 | North Yorkshire | England | Housing/Industry |
Waddington | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | RAF Waddington (flying) |
Waddon Aerodrome | 1918 | 1 April 1918 | Greater London | England | Housing |
Wellingore Heath | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | Farmland |
West Fenton Aerodrome/Gullane | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | East Lothian | Scotland | Museum |
Weston-on-the-Green | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Oxfordshire | England | RAF Weston-on-the-Green (flying) |
Widford NLG | December 1914 | summer 1916 | Essex | part farmland, part industry | |
Stamford | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Lincolnshire | England | RAF Wittering (flying) |
Wormingford NLG | December 1916 | June 1919 | Essex | England | farmland/WW2 airfield/gliding |
Worthy Down | 1917 | 1 April 1918 | Hampshire | England | Worthy Down Barracks |
Writtle NLG | October 1914 | November 1916 | Essex | farmland/nurseries | |
Wye | May 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Kent | England | Farmland |
Wyton | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Huntingdonshire | England | RAF Wyton (flying) |
Yatesbury | 1916 | 1 April 1918 | Wiltshire | England | |
Yokes Court | February 1917 | November 1917 | Kent | England |
The Royal Flying Corps Canada was established by the RFC in 1917 to train aircrew in Canada. Air stations were established in southern Ontario at the following locations:
The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC supported the British Army by artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance. This work gradually led RFC pilots into aerial battles with German pilots and later in the war included the strafing of enemy infantry and emplacements, the bombing of German military airfields and later the strategic bombing of German industrial and transport facilities.
London Biggin Hill Airport is an operational general aviation airport at Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located 12 NM south-southeast of Central London. The airport was formerly a Royal Air Force station RAF Biggin Hill, and a small enclave on the airport still retains that designation.
Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and 11.6 mi (18.7 km) south east of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Joint Forces Intelligence Group of Joint Forces Command. Other units include the RAF Aerial Erector School, No. 54 Signals Unit and No. 591 Signals Unit.
Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now home to the Joint Forces Intelligence Group.
Royal Air Force Tern Hill or RAF Tern Hill was a Royal Air Force station at Ternhill in Shropshire, England, near the towns of Newport and Market Drayton.
Tyendinaga (Mohawk) Airport is a registered aerodrome that is open to the public and caters mainly to general aviation. The aerodrome is located in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, 3 nautical miles southwest of Tyendinaga, Ontario, Canada, north of the Bay of Quinte between Kingston and Belleville.
Castle Bromwich Aerodrome was an early airfield, situated to the north of Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands of England. The site now falls within the City of Birmingham.
RAF Montrose was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Forfarshire in Scotland. It became the first operational military aerodrome to be established in the United Kingdom on 26 February 1913.
Hucknall Aerodrome is a former RAF aerodrome located 5 NM north northwest of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England and west of Hucknall town. The aerodrome had been operated by the Merlin Flying Club since 1971, it is owned by Rolls-Royce Group PLC following previous ownership by both the Air Ministry and Ministry of Aviation.
Old Sarum Airfield is a grass strip airfield 2 nautical miles north-north-east of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.
RAF Narborough was a military aerodrome in Norfolk operated in the First World War. It opened on 28 May 1915, originally as a Royal Naval Air Station for RNAS Great Yarmouth tasked with defending against Zeppelin raids. The airfield covered a 908-acre (3.67 km2) site, including 30 acres (120,000 m2) of buildings - making it the largest First World War airfield in Britain. These buildings included seven large hangars, seven sheds, five workshops, two coal yards, two Sergeant's Messes, three Dope sheds and a Guardroom.
The Royal Flying Corps Canada was a training organization of the British Royal Flying Corps located in Canada during the First World War. It began operating in 1917.
Netheravon Airfield is a Ministry of Defence grass strip airfield on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, England. Established in 1913 by the Royal Flying Corps, it became RAF Netheravon from 1918 until 1963, then AAC Netheravon until 2012. Buildings from 1913 and 1914 survive on part of the site. The site forms part of the Tidworth, Netheravon and Bulford (TidNBul) Garrison.
Royal Air Force Lympne or more simply RAF Lympne is a former Royal Air Force satellite station in Kent used during the First and Second World Wars. It was opened in 1916 by the Royal Flying Corps as an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returned from, France. It was later designated as a "First Class Landing Ground". In 1919, the airfield was turned over to civil use as Lympne Airport, serving until 1939 when it was requisitioned by the Fleet Air Arm as HMS Buzzard, later being renamed HMS Daedalus II.
Hounslow Heath Aerodrome was a grass airfield, operational 1914–1920. It was in the London borough of Hounslow, and hosted the British Empire's first scheduled daily international commercial flights, in 1919. The site today includes the main remaining part of Hounslow Heath.
Joyce Green, at Long Reach, near Dartford was one of the first Royal Flying Corps (RFC) airfields. It was established in 1911 by Vickers Limited who used it as an airfield and testing ground. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the RFC followed and established a base. Subject to frequent flooding and a reputation as being unsuitable and too dangerous for training, it was eventually replaced by a more suitable site at RAF Biggin Hill.
Clairmarais aerodrome, at Clairmarais, Pas-de-Calais, France, near St. Omer and not far from Ypres, was an airfield used by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and later Royal Air Force (RAF) in the First World War. The site was briefly reused by the Germans during the occupation of France in the Second World War.
Marske Aerodrome was a First World War-era airfield used by the Royal Flying Corps, and later by the Royal Air Force, between 1917 and 1920. The aerodrome was just to the west of the village of Marske-by-the-Sea in Yorkshire, England. Marske aerodrome hosted air gunnery schools and trained pilots in tactics and methods of aerial combat so that they could be deployed to the front. Marske is known for being the aerodrome where W. E. Johns, author of the Biggles books, undertook his training, as well as being noted for some of the flying instructors who were famous among the aircrew cadre.
Bramham Moor Aerodrome,, was a First World War era military airfield near to the village of Bramham, West Yorkshire, England. Initially a Royal Flying Corps site, on the formation of the RAF, its name was officially changed to RAF Tadcaster, however, the unit was still referred to as Bramham, or Bramham Moor, even in official documents. The base was used between March 1916 and December 1919 by active aircraft squadrons, but was not closed down until April 1920. Bramham was originally used as a Home Defence station, due to the threat of Zeppelin attacks, but later, it was used primarily for preparing aircrew for front line operations. It did not see re-use as an airfield during the Second World War, however, vehicles were parked on the grassed runway areas to deter glider landings during the threat of invasion.
Beverley Aerodrome, was a First World War era Royal Flying Corps training depot, in Bishop Burton, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The site, like many others in Yorkshire, was developed from a racecourse on the western edge of Beverley, along the road between Beverley and York. Initially set up as a location for squadrons employed in Home Defence (HD), particularly preventing Zeppelin attacks on Hull and the east coast, the site later became a training depot for squadrons and flights who would then deploy to the front line. Beverley was also used as a standing up and transfer location for six Canadian Reserve Squadrons in 1917, all of which were posted to Canada. Beverley Aerodrome was used between 1916 and 1920, with the RAF later using the site in the 1930s in a non-flying role.