RAF Honeybourne

Royal Air Force Honeybourne, or more simply RAF Honeybourne, was a Royal Air Force station located 0.6 miles (0.97 km) south of Honeybourne, Worcestershire, England and 4.6 miles (7.4 km) east of Evesham, Worcestershire, England

RAF Honeybourne
Honeybourne, Worcestershire in England
RAF Honeybourne is located in Worcestershire
RAF Honeybourne
RAF Honeybourne
Shown within Worcestershire
RAF Honeybourne is located in the United Kingdom
RAF Honeybourne
RAF Honeybourne
RAF Honeybourne (the United Kingdom)
Coordinates52°04′47″N 001°50′28″W
TypeRoyal Air Force station
Site information
OwnerAir Ministry
OperatorRoyal Air Force
Controlled byRAF Flying Training Command
Site history
Built1940 (1940)
In use1940-1947 (1947)
Battles/warsSecond World War
Airfield information
Runways
Direction Length and surface
04/22 1,280 metres (4,199 ft) Asphalt
10/28 1,200 metres (3,937 ft) Asphalt
16/34 1,100 metres (3,609 ft) Asphalt

The station was operational from 1940[1] or 1941 to 1946[2] or 15 November 1947.[3]

Station history

RAF Honeybourne had five hangars there was one J Type and 4 T2's.[4] The airfield used a mixture of temporary and permanent accommodation and on 1 December 1944 there were 1,973 males and 382 females located at the airfield.[5]

No. 24 Operational Training Unit RAF was formed on 15 March 1942 at RAF Honeybourne, as part of No. 7 Group RAF, within RAF Bomber Command, to train night bomber aircrew using Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, a British twin-engined medium bomber aircraft. It carried out three operational sorties during 1942. The unit converted to Vickers Wellington, a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber, in April 1944 to train Royal Canadian Air Force aircrews, before disbanding in July 1945.[6] It is also reported that the OTU may have flown leaflet dropping sorties.

A number of units from RAF Ferry Command were based at RAF Honeybourne, including the Ferry Training Unit RAF which used Lockheed Hudson an American light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft, and Bristol Beaufort, a British twin-engined torpedo bomber, between November 1941 and March 1942. No. 1425 (Communication) Flight RAF equipped with Consolidated Liberator, operated at RAF Honeybourne between November 1941 and April 1942.

The airfield was protected by No. 2828 Squadron RAF Regiment[3]

Postwar

The airfield was also temporarily home to No. 21 Operational Training Unit RAF. It operated Vickers Wellington aircraft based at RAF Enstone, but due to runway repairs from August 1945 for two months it used RAF Honeybourne. From October 1945 until 1946, No. 107 Sub Storage Unit from No. 8 Maintenance Unit RAF used the airfield for storing Vickers Wellington and General Aircraft Hamilcar gliders.[4]

The role of the airfield changed after the Second World War, with the reduction of flying movements. There was a slight change in what the units did on the airfield when, from 1947, No. 107 Sub Storage Unit began to collect no longer needed Vickers Wellington aircraft, which were then scrapped and taken to Weston-sub-Edge goods yard (which was near to the south-western corner), where the railway was used to take the airframes to the necessary destination.[7]

Accidents and incidents
  • 20 July 1943 - Avro Anson 'DJ242' of No. 24 Operational Training Unit RAF undershot landing.[11]
  • 28 April 1947 - Vickers Wellington 'JA349' was hit by Vickers Wellington 'LR130' while parked.[14]

Current use

In July 1948 the site was closed and much has reverted to farmland with runways being removed in 1968.

During 1949 and into 1950 parts of the site were used for temporary housing for local families while new Council housing developments were being built in the area - people moving into the new houses when completed.

Since then, the airside area has evolved into the Honeybourne Airfield Trading Estate.[7]

References
  1. "RAF Honeybourne". The Wartime Memories Project. Archived from the original on 10 June 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  2. "RAF Honeybourne". Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  3. "Honeybourne". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  4. "RAF Honeybourne". Control Towers. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  5. "Honeybourne". English Heritage - Pastscape. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  6. Sturtivant 2007, pp. 198–206
  7. "RAF Honeybourne". MIAC. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  8. "Aviation crashes in the south-west midlands during 1940". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  9. "Aviation crashes in the south-west midlands during 1941". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  10. "Aviation crashes in the south-west midlands during 1942". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  11. "Aviation crashes in the south-west midlands during 1943". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  12. "Aviation crashes in the south-west midlands during 1944". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  13. "Aviation crashes in the south-west midlands during 1945". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  14. "Aviation crashes in the south-west midlands during 1947". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
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