RAF Church Lawford
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| A Airspeed AS.10 Oxford similar to the one's that flew from the airfield | |||
| IATA: none – ICAO: none | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Operator | RAF | ||
| Location | Church Lawford | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 374 ft / 116 m | ||
| Coordinates | 52°21′5″N 001°20′31″W / 52.35139°N 1.34194°W | ||
| Map | |||
  RAF Church Lawford | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 16/34 | 3,945 | 1,200 | Concrete |
| 08/26 | 3,840 | 1,170 | Concrete |
| 03/21 | 3,600 | 1,100 | Concrete |
RAF Church Lawford is a former Royal Air Force station located 1.5 mi (2.4 km) south of Church Lawford, Warwickshire, England, 3.0 miles (4.8 km) south-west of Rugby, Warwickshire.
The airfield opened in April 1941[1] and was used by the RAF for pilot training until it closed in 1955.
Based units
A number of Beam Approach units flew from the airfield like when 1509 Beam Approach Training Flight (BAT Flt) arrived flying Airspeed Oxfords from 6 June 1942 and 1533 Beam Approach Training Flight (BAT Flt) which again flew Oxfords from 27 October 1942 until April 1945.[2]
The first unit to use the airfield was 2 Central Flying School flying Oxfords and Avro Tutors from 15 June 1941 until 13 January 1942 when it was renamed 1 Flying Instructors School (FIS) flying Oxfords and Tutors carried on until October 1942. The unit was again renamed to No.18 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit ((P)AFU) flying Oxfords and Boulton Paul Defiants on 27 October 1942 and operated until April 1945. Again the name was changed to No. 20 Flying Training School (FTS) flying Harvards from 3 April 1945 using RAF Snitterfield as a relief landing ground (RLG) until March 1948.[2]
A further two flying schools used the airfield after the end of the Second World War. The first was No 20 Service Flying Training School flying Harvard's using RAF Snitterfield as a RLG until 1947, which like the wartime units at the airfield was renamed No 2 Flying Training School starting on 23 July 1947 and operating until 6 April 1948.[2]
Other units
A small number of other units was present at RAF Church Lawford during its lifetime such as No 68 Maintenance Unit which operated from 1 December 1954 until 27 March 1955 and a sub-site of No 68 Maintenance Unit between 27 March 1955 and 30 November 1956.[3]
Airfield Construction Branch
In 1948 The Airfield Construction Branch moved to the airfield with the plant training school moving to Ryton on Dunsmore[4] before moving to Lichfield in 1953.[5]
Accidents and Incidents
During life as a RAF training base accidents were not far away with a number of airmen killed during training these are just a select few:
| Date | Incident | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 8 May 1944 | Oxford HN440 of 18 ((P)AFU) struck a tree at night while force landing following engine failure. | [6] |
| 14 October 1944 | Handley Page Halifax MZ920 of 434 Squadron crashed at Church Lawford after catching fire in the air. | [6] |
| 21 August 1946 | Harvard FT359 of 20 Service Flying Training School undershot landing. | [7] |
| 9 January 1948 | Harvard FS725 of 2 Flying Training School belly landed. | [7] |
Current use
The site of the airfield has be turned into a Quarry called Ling Hall and the Lawford Heath Industrial Estate.[8]
References
- ↑ "Church Lawford". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. http://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/church-lawford. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Military flying units in the south west Midlands". Aviation Archaeology. http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/flying_units.htm. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ↑ "RAF Church Lawford". RAFWEB. http://www.rafweb.org/Stations/Stations-C.htm. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ↑ "The Royal Air Force - Airfield Construction Branch. 1941 to 1966". RAFACB. http://www.rafacb.org/RAFACB/Home.aspx. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ↑ "About Us". RAF.ACB. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. http://archive.is/XZGA. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1944". Aviation Archaeology. http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/crashes1944.htm. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1946 to 1949". Aviation Archaeology. http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/crashes1946-49.htm. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
- ↑ "Lawford Heath". BMH Online. http://www.bmhcomputers.co.uk/bmhonline/history/lawford_heath.htm. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
External links
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The original article can be found at RAF Church Lawford and the edit history here.