RAF Woodhall Spa

Royal Air Force station Woodhall Spa or more simply RAF Woodhall Spa is a former Royal Air Force station located 2 mi north of Coningsby, Lincolnshire and 16 mi south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.

History
Constructed on farmland 1.2 mi south of Woodhall Spa, the station opened in February 1942 as a satellite station to RAF Coningsby. In August 1943 it became No. 54 Base Substation. After victory in Europe the airfield was used as an assembly and kitting out point for Tiger Force (a proposed heavy bomber force for the far east). After the end of the Second World War and with the move of No. 617 Squadron RAF to RAF Waddington the airfield was closed and the site used by No. 92 Maintenance Unit for the storage of bombs. From the late 1950s it was used as a base for Bristol Bloodhound Missiles until 1964 when most of the site was sold off for agriculture or mineral extraction. The former missile site used to be under the control of RAF Coningsby having been used for the servicing of McDonnell Douglas Phantom and Panavia Tornado aircraft engines until finally being mothballed in 2003.

Squadrons
97 Squadron transferred to Woodhall Spa on 1 March 1942. As one of the earliest squadrons to be equipped they were heavily involved with the early operations with this aircraft, including the low level mission to bomb the MAN diesel engine factory in Augsburg on 17 April 1942. New Zealander Les Munro (as of 2013 the last surviving pilot who flew on 617 Squadron's Dambuster raid), served with 97 Squadron at Woodhall Spa before being posted to Scampton to join 617 in early 1943. He came back to Woodhall Spa in January 1944 when 617 moved there for the rest of the war. 97 Squadron moved to RAF Bourn in 1943 leaving behind 3 crews.

619 Squadron were formed here on the 18th April 1943. They moved to RAF Coningsby on the 1 January 1944.

617 Squadron who arrived with 34 Avro Lancasters and 2 de Havilland Mosquitoes, the later being used for low level target marking. 617 Squadron remained here until the end of hostilities and pioneered the use of the Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs from the airfield.

627 Squadron The low level target marking that had been developed by 617 Squadron was so successful that 627 Squadron, a Mosquito unit in No. 8 (PFF) Group, was "loaned" to 5 Group to operate in this role. The squadron arrivied at Woodhall Spa on 14 April 1944 and stayed until the end of the war.

Interesting facts


Aircraft from this RAF Station:


 * dropped the first operational 12,000 lb Tallboy bombs and blocking the Saumur railway Tunnel a key point through which passed the direct rail lines from the south of France to Normandy, and the active front.
 * attacked coastal targets, such as the U-boat bases at La Pallice and Lorient also destroying the E-boat pens at Le Harve.
 * a raid on Brest saw the sinking of the cruiser Gueydon. Other attacks directed on Swinemünde culminated in the sinking of the heavy German cruiser Lützow (albeit in shallow water) with a single Tallboy bomb.
 * The Tirpitz was sunk in Tromsø fjord on 12 November by aircraft from Woodhall Spa and Bardney as part of Operation Catechism.
 * The last raid from Woodhall was an attack on Hitler's Berghof near Berchtesgaden.

Petwood Hotel


Requistioned at the start of the war the Petwood Hotel became the Officers' mess for the station, from the days of 97 Squadron through to the end of the war. The house with its panelled rooms and extensive grounds provided a comfortable haven for the officers who were billeted there. The mess hosted a number of parties, including the initial anniversary celebration of the Dam Buster raids. After the war Petwood reverted to its former use as a hotel, but preserved the small squadron bar as it was in wartime.

Post-war Operations
In 1960 RAF Woodhall Spa became a base for the Bristol Bloodhound, Surface-to-air missiles operated by 222 Squadron.

The RAF did continue to occupy a small site on the north western edge of the airfield which they used as an engine maintenance and testing facility; this was known as RAF Woodhall and operated as a satellite unit of near by RAF Coningsby.

Current use


Whilst little evidence remains of the extent of the activities at RAF Woodhall Spa part of one of the accommodation blocks is now occupied by the Thorpe Camp Visitors Centre and commemorates the sacrifice made by those who fought in the Second World War and has an array of exhibits that portray both RAF Woodhall Spa and many aspects of life both within the forces and civilian life during that period.

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust owns half the site, and have launched an appeal to purchase the remainder to form a wildlife reserve continuous with the reserve at Kirkby Moor.