The last aircraft written off in 1 Group during the war: NN806 M-Mike of 576 Squadron suffered an undercarriage collapse as it was about to take off from Fiskerton on a Manna operation on May 8, 1945. There were no injuries amongst the crew of F/O Scott. (Martin Nichol/David Briggs collection)
625 Squadron bomb aimers pictured after the squadron moved to Scampton, where it was disbanded. (625 Squadron Association)
Of 1 Group’s 14 Squadrons only three were still flying at the end of 1945. 12, 100 and 101 re-equipped with the Lancaster’s replacement, the aptly-named Avro Lincoln. 12 and 101 moved to Binbrook where they were joined by 5 Group’s two elite squadrons, 9 and 617 as part of the new 1 Group. 460 Squadron went the other way, transferring to East Kirkby in 5 Group in readiness to take part in Tiger Force, the RAF’s contribution to the assault on Japan. However, the atomic bombs ended that and in the autumn 460 was disbanded along with the remaining 1 Group squadrons. Two would be reformed, 103 in 1954 as a Canberra squadron in Germany and later as a helicopter squadron and 153 as a Meteor night-fighter squadron in the following year.
Chapter 24
The Airfields and Squadrons of 1 Group
Between the summer of 1940 and the late spring of 1945 1 Group Bomber Command was to use 23 different airfields in a variety of roles, some for the whole of that period and others only briefly.
BINBROOK
The only 1 Group airfield to be operational from the summer of 1940 until the end of the war, Binbrook was planned as part of the second phase of Britain’s pre-war airfield building programme and opened in the early summer of 1940. It became the home of 12 and 142 Squadron, which returned from France where they operated Fairey Battle light bombers which were used in some of the first 1 Group operations of the war. Both squadrons were to re-equip in the autumn with twin-engined Wellingtons, 142 Squadron moving to Waltham in November 1941 while 12 Squadron remained at Binbrook until September 1942 when contractors moved in to lay hardened runways. In January 1943 it became 12 Base headquarters and in May that year became fully operational again when 460 Squadron moved in from Breighton in East Yorkshire with Lancasters and remained there until the end of the war. It also flew the most sorties and suffered the highest losses in 1 Group. In the post-war years Binbrook housed three Lincoln bomber squadrons. It was later to be used by Canberra bombers and Javelin fighters before becoming, most famously, the final home of the RAF’s Lightning jet interceptor force. It finally closed in the summer of 1988 although it was to be used as a relief landing ground for Scampton until the mid-1990s. Binbrook was also to be used as the location for David Putnam’s 1990 film ‘Memphis Belle’ which depicted the last wartime sortie of a USAAF B-17.
Binbrook village pictured from the sergeants’ mess. Note the air raid shelter. Binbrook was bombed on at least one occasion. (Author’s collection)
The sergeant’s mess at Binbrook in 1943. The building had been camouflaged back in 1940. (Author’s collection)
A dedication service for the 460 Squadron memorial in Binbrook village in 1974. It was attended by many ex-460 Squadron personnel, including the former station commander Hughie Edwards VC. (Grimsby Telegraph)
Today many of the original buildings remain, including the C-type brick hangars, and are used for light industrial and storage purposes. The houses built as part of the original airfield, much added to in the post-war years, have now been incorporated into the ‘new’ village of Brookenby. A memorial to 460 Squadron, unveiled in 1974, can be found in Binbrook village.
BLYTON
Opened in November 1942, Blyton was among the first of the new wartime airfields in 1 Group and was briefly used by a Polish operational training unit before being occupied by 199 Squadron which flew Wellingtons between November 1942 and February 1943 before transferring to 3 Group. Blyton then became the home of 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit, flying mainly Halifaxes and Lancasters until being disbanded in April 1945. It was then used by No 7 Aircrew Holding Unit until the early autumn, processing the demobilisation of more than 5,000 men. It was later allocated to the USAF but never used and finally closed in 1954.
Today little remains of the airfield, which lies to the north of the village of Blyton, apart from sections of the runway and perimeter track which are used for motor sports events.
BREIGHTON
One of three Yorkshire airfields to be used by 1 Group until new airfields in North Lincolnshire were ready for occupation, Breighton opened in January 1942, part of the first phase of the major wartime building programme. At the same time 460 Squadron RAAF was formed at the airfield and began operations with Wellingtons two months later. During the late summer 460 Conversion Flight was formed to begin the transition to Halifaxes but within a few weeks began converting to Lancasters. 460 operated Lancasters from Breighton until it moved to Binbrook in May 1943. Breighton was later used by 1656 HCU during the summer of 1943 before being transferred to 4 Group, 78 Squadron flying Halifaxes from the airfield until the end of the war.
Breighton, which lies a few miles north-east of Selby, closed after the war but was reopened in 1959 and housed Thor and Bloodhound missiles before finally closing in the mid-1960s. Today Breighton is still one of the best preserved airfields from this era with many of the original buildings, including a T2 hangar, remaining. Parts of the airfield are used for storage and light commercial use while flying continues through the Real Aero Company which specialises in restoring and flying a whole variety of vintage aircraft.
DUNHOLME LODGE
Dunholme Lodge (which took its name from a nearby house rather than the village of Dunholme) was to have the shortest life of any 1 Group bomber airfield, just six weeks. It lay between the village of Welton and the old Ermine Street running north from Lincoln and within only a few of miles of Scampton. It had opened as a 5 Group satellite airfield to Scampton in the summer of 1943 and was used by 44 and 619 Squadrons during the period when Scampton was non-operational while runways were being laid. In the autumn of 1944 it was transferred, along with Scampton and Fiskerton, to 1 Group and was used by 170 Squadron following its formation at Kelstern on October 15, 1944. Dunholme lay within the circuits of Scampton, Wickenby and Fiskerton and, with the danger of mid-air collisions very real, it was decided to close Dunholme to operational flying at the end of November. 170 Squadron moved to Hemswell and for the remainder of the war Dunholme Lodge was used for the modification and testing of gliders. The airfield was later used to house the RAF’s Polish record office and as a Polish resettlement centre. In the late 1950s it became a Bloodhound missile site, protecting the V-bomber bases at Scampton and Waddington before closing finally in 1966. Today very little trace remains of Dunholme Lodge.
ELSHAM WOLDS
Elsham was to be a corner-stone of 1 Group operations from the day it opened in July 1941 until the end of the war. It had been built on the site of a First World War fighter airfield, the solitary remaining building of which was incorporated into the new airfield. Its first occupants, 103 Squadron, was one of the group’s founder squadrons and was to remain at Elsham until the war ended, a period of occupation almost unique in Bomber Command. It was a large airfield built on top of the northern-most section of the Lincolnshire Wolds north of the village of Barnetby. As 13 Base headquarters, it eventually handled all the major Lancaster engineering work for its resident squadrons as well as those at its satellites, Kirmington and North Killingholme and had no fewer than six hangars, two of the utilitarian T2s, three B1s and one of the far more substantial J1. A second squadron, 576, was formed at Elsham in November 1943 and flew from there until the end of October, 1944. 103 was joined for the last month of the war by 100 Squadron following the closure of Waltham. 103 remained at Elsham until it was disbanded in November and Elsham passed to the control of 23 Group Flying Training Command. It was used for glider training and later by Flying Training Command’s Instructors School until the end of 1946 when Elsham Wolds closed.
A wartime photograph of the control tower at Elsham.
In later years it was turned into a house before being demolished. (Sid Finn)
Today the airfield is cut in two by the A15 Barnetby-Humber Bridge road but traces of its former occupants can still be seen, particularly the J1 hangar which has been incorporated into a sizeable industrial estate. A water treatment plant was also constructed on the south-western boundary of the airfield, close to the end of the end of the main runway and this is now incorporated a memorial garden to both 103 and 576 Squadrons.
FALDINGWORTH
Work on the construction of Faldingworth on the site of the old Toft Grange decoy airfield began in August 1942 and, even though it was far from finished, Faldingworth was used from July 1943 as a satellite of Lindholme and for use by the newly-formed 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit. In March 1944 Faldingworth became operational for the first time with the arrival of the Poles of 300 Squadron from Ingham. They were in the process of converting from Wellingtons to Lancasters and initially flew as only a single flight squadron. A second flight was later formed, mainly made up with RAF personnel who were replaced by Poles as more replacements became available. 300 flew its Lancasters from Faldingworth until the squadron was disbanded in October 1946 and the airfield was later used briefly by a second Polish squadron, 305, which had been flying its Mosquitoes in Germany. When it was disbanded the airfield was taken over by Maintenance Command and its resident units, 93 and later 92 MU, stored and supplied munitions to other RAF airfields in Lincolnshire, including nuclear warheads for Thor missiles and nuclear bombs for the V-bombers at Scampton and Waddington. So much secrecy surrounded Faldingworth’s role that, between 1956 and 1980 in did not appear on Ordnance Survey maps. The airfield buildings were later briefly used for accommodating Asian families displaced from Uganda and parts of the airfield were then acquired by British Manufacturing and Research which used facilities there for the development and testing of weapons and munitions. In the later 1990s part of the airfield was sold for agricultural purposes although some weapons and munitions storage and testing is still carried out.
Today some buildings remain along with sections of perimeter tracks, dispersals and the main runway, at the end of which is a memorial to those who flew from Faldingworth.
FISKERTON
Another of the airfields transferred to 1 Group in the autumn of 1944, Fiskerton had opened in November 1942 within 5 Group and was used by 49 Squadron until problems with the main runway ended operational flying briefly in September 1943, 49 moving to nearby Dunholme Lodge and returning five weeks later after repairs had been carried out. A year later Fiskerton, which was one of the handful of airfields in Lincolnshire to be fitted with FIDO fog-dispersal equipment, was part of 5 Group’s 52 Base which was transferred to 1 Group and it was immediately occupied by 576 Squadron which brought its Lancasters from Elsham Wolds. A second squadron, 150, was formed at Fiskerton in November 1943 before moving to Hemswell. 576 flew as a two flight squadron until the closing stages of the war when it was joined by C Flight of 625 Squadron at Kelstern. Flying ended at Fiskerton in the late autumn of 1945 and, after a period of care and maintenance, the airfield closed, although some accommodation was used as emergency housing for homeless families. Later part of the airfield became headquarters of 15 Group Royal Observer Corps.
Now little remains apart from some sections of the perimeter track and one or two of the dispersals. A memorial stone stands close to the old airfield (see On Hallowed Ground).
HEMSWELL
The oldest of the airfields in 1 Group, Hemswell was first in use (as Harpswell) in the First World War. During the early 1930s the site was chosen for one of the major Expansion Scheme airfields and it opened in 1936 and was used by first by 144 and 61 Squadrons flying Ansons and Hawker Audax biplanes. In 1937 it came under the control of 5 Group and both squadrons re-equipped with Blenheims which, in turn, were replaced by Hampdens in 1939. It was with these aircraft that the first bombing raids were carried out on September 26, 1939 when both squadrons took part in attacks on German shipping. 61 and 144 Squadrons continued to operate from Hemswell until July 1941 when it was transferred to 1 Group and occupied by 300 and 301 Squadrons, which moved in with Wellingtons from Swinderby. A third Polish squadron, 305, later arrived while 300 moved to Ingham before returning in January 1943. A shortage of Polish replacements to make up the squadrons’ losses meant that by April 301 Squadron’s personnel were absorbed into 300 Squadron, which then moved to Ingham once again. The airfield closed for runway construction and when the airfield reopened in January 1944 it was to become home to No 1 Lancaster Finishing School which itself was disbanded in November that year. Hemswell then became operational again with the arrival of, first, 150 Squadron from Fiskerton followed by 170 Squadron from Dunholme Lodge. After the war Hemswell was used by 109 and 139 Squadrons, flying Mosquitoes. The airfield then became a base for the new Lincoln bomber flown by 83, 97 and 199 Squadrons, which flew alongside the Mosquitoes until the early 1950s when both 109 and 139 began to convert to Canberras. When the Lincolns were phased out Hemswell passed to the control of 3 Group and was used by the Nuclear Weapons Task Force, its specially-adapted high altitude Canberras being used for air particle sampling in the Christmas Island H-bomb tests. In 1957 Hemswell became a Thor missile base, the airfield housing three of the missiles in specially built bunkers. The missiles were removed in 1963 and Hemswell was then earmarked as a ground training base for the proposed TSR2 supersonic bomber. When development work on that was halted Hemswell provided overspill accommodation for the School of Recruit Training at Swinderby before finally closing in 1967. Some light aircraft flying continued from Hemswell along with a thriving glider school while the airfield’s huge brick hangars were used for storage while the married quarters were used by nearby RAF Scampton.
The Battle Order board for 150 and 170 Squadrons at Hemswell, April 1945. (Martin Nichol/David Briggs collection)
Hemswell post war. The control tower has long gone but the brick-built hangars are still there today. (Scunthorpe Telegraph)
Today the site hosts a busy market while many of the buildings have been redeveloped for commercial use. Little remains of the runways or perimeter tracks. The extensive accommodation areas have now turned into a village in their own right – Hemswell Cliff - while a memorial to all those who flew from the airfield during wartime is on the old station parade ground.
HOLME-ON-SPALDING MOOR
One of the raft of airfields built in the early days of the war, Holme-on-Spalding Moor, which lies a few miles south-west of Market Weighton, was one of four Yorkshire bases used by 1 Group. It opened in August 1941 and was briefly used by the Wellingtons of 458 Squadron before the squadron was transferred to the Middle East. 101 Squadron, which had flown Blenheims and Wellingtons in 2 Group, then moved in from Stradishall and later began training, alongside 460 Squadron, on Halifaxes before being re-equipped with Lancasters. They left for Ludford Magna in June 1943, Holme-on-Spalding Moor transferred to 4 Group control and was used by the Halifaxes of 76 Squadron until the end of the war. It was later used for flying training and for bomb storage before being mothballed in 1954. Three years later it was briefly reactivated for the United States Air Force before being leased to the Blackburn Aircraft Company which had a major factory at nearby Brough. The company was in the process of developing the Blackburn Buccaneer for the Fleet Air Arm and its own runway at Brough wasn’t long enough for the aircraft. Blackburn, and its successor British Aerospace, used the airfield for trials work with the Buccaneer and for design changes to the RAF and Royal Navy’s American built F4 Phantom until 1984 when the airfield finally closed.
INGHAM
The smallest of all 1 Group airfields, Ingham opened in 1942 as a satellite airfield for Hemswell and was to be the only airfield in the group to have grass runways throughout the war. It was less than three miles from neighbouring Scampton and occupied a relatively small site between the A15 and B1398 Lincolnshire Cliff road, making it unsuitable for heavy bomber operations. The
airfield, which was to get a concrete perimeter track, was to be used mainly by Polish squadrons, flying Wellingtons, although one RAF squadron, 199, spent four months there in 1943. When the Poles of 300 Squadron left for Faldingworth in the spring of 1944 Ingham, it was used by 1687 Bomber Defence Training Flight and 1481 Bomber Gunnery Flight, which was later disbanded. In the autumn of 1944 the airfield was renamed Cammeringham to avoid confusion with another RAF station and flying ended in December when control switched to 15 Base at Scampton. It was to be used by a variety of non-operational RAF and Polish units before it finally closed at the end of December 1946.
A number of original buildings from the airfield still remain, including one hangar, which had been reskinned and extended, and the old control tower, which has been refurbished and is now used for domestic purposes.
1 Group Page 37