RAF Barkston Heath

Royal Air Force Station Barkston Heath or RAF Barkston Heath is a Royal Air Force station near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England.

RAF Barkston Heath is the home of the Defence Elementary Flying Training School (DEFTS) which, for a period between approximately 1995-2010 operated the Slingsby T67M260 Firefly two seat trainer. The school now operates the Grob Tutor. A secondary role of RAF Barkston Heath is as a Relief Landing Ground for the flying training activities at RAF Cranwell.

DEFTS provides elementary flying training for Royal Navy and Army Air Corps students, the distinctive black and yellow Slingsby Firefly was a common sight above the skies of Lincolnshire until replaced by the somewhat quieter Grob Tutor.

USAAF use
By this time, in common with a number of other airfields in the Grantham area that had been planned for the RAF's No. 7 Group. Barkston was made available to the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force. It was earmarked for basing troop carrier units scheduled to be transferred from Sicily to participate in the forthcoming cross-Channel invasion, Operation "Overlord".

During its time as a USAAF airfield, Barkston Heath was designated as USAAF station 483.

61st Troop Carrier Group
The first US personnel arrived on 13 February from Sciacca, Sicily, and most of their Douglas C-47 Skytrains on the 17th and 18th, although not all aircraft were in place until a month later. These new occupants were the 61st Troop Carrier Group with its components being:


 * 14th Troop Carrier Squadron (3I)
 * 15th Troop Carrier Squadron (Y9)
 * 53d Troop Carrier Squadron (3A)
 * 59th Troop Carrier Squadron (X5)

The 61st TCG was part of the 52nd Troop Carrier Wing, IX Troop Carrier Command. The headquarters of the 61st Troop Carrier Group moved to an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at Abbeville (ALG B-92), in France, on 13 March 1945, but its squadrons went to RAF Chipping Ongar from where they participated in Operation "Varsity" on 24 March carrying British paratroops who dropped near Wesel.

349th Troop Carrier Group
An increased demand for theatre air transport brought the 349th TCG from Baer Field Indiana in late March 1945 with its Curtiss C-46 Commando transports. Group headquarters was established at Barkston on 30 March, but the group only remained three weeks, moving to Rove/Amy, France, on 18 April.

The squadrons of the 349th TCG were coded as follows: the 23rd -08, 312th -9E, 313th -3F, and 314th -LY. It was assigned to the 52nd Troop Carrier Wing.

In May, a detachment of C-46s from this group returned to airlift British 1st Airborne Division troops to Norway.

Postwar use
Today, Barkston Heath remains a beautifully unspoiled Second World War airfield. It remains an active base, providing a home to both 703 Naval Air Squadron and 674 Squadron Army Air Corps who operate the Grob Tutor in a training role. The airfield was also used during the 1980s by a number of privately operated aircraft of various types, and for several years it has also been the venue for the British National Model Aircraft Championships. Because the aircraft used are trainers, the runways have not needed to be lengthened, preserving the layout the station had during the war. Many of the wartime loop dispersals still survive, along with the T-2 hangars.

The current generation of training aircraft are operated by the Defence Elementary Flying Training School but provided by a civilian contractor who also provides a significant proportion of the instructional staff and the majority of support and airfield services.

On 11 July 2003 the airfield was the venue for a parade to mark the formation of 674 Squadron Army Air Corps and the re-formation of 703 Naval Air Squadron. The Saluting Officer was Major General Richard Gerrard-Wright CB CBE DL.