RAF Perton

RAF Perton is a former Royal Air Force Relief Landing Ground (RLG) located 3.2 mi north west of Wolverhampton, West Midlands and 10.2 mi north east of Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England.

It was open between 1941 and 1945.

History
Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War the construction of the airfield began in the typical traingular pattern with three runways (two of 1,100 yards and one of 1,400 yards) using ash from Lower Gornal and stone from Oldbury with the intention of Perton becoming a fighter station which is evident by the number of fighter pen dispersals situated around the perimeter track. However Perton instead became a relief landing ground for use by other airfields. The following units were based at RAF Perton at some point:


 * No. 5 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit ((P) AFU).
 * No. 38 Squadron RAF.
 * RLG for No. 11 Flying Training School between January 1942 and 14 March 1942.
 * RLG for No. 11 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit between 4 August 1942 and 1 August 1943.
 * RLG for No. 21 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit between 1 August 1943 and 16 July 1946.

The Princess Irene Brigade of the Dutch Army trained here and later took part in the liberation of their country.

In 1947 RAF Perton was abandoned and given to the Agricultural Land Commission with the Dutch camp becoming a refuge camp for Poles, Latvians and Lithuanians until 1950 when it was converted to housing and occupied until 1962.

Current use
In 1972, the Mander family sold the site of the airfield to a private developer for £5.5 million, with the first houses being occupied within a couple of years and Perton being firmly established as a major residential area by the mid-1980s, by which time some 11,500 people were living there.

A Memorial in honour of all who trained here — many of whom gave their lives during the war — and remnants of air raid shelters which can still be found in the surrounding woodland.