RAF Snitterfield
Former RAF station in Warwickshire, England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
RAF Snitterfield is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located west of Snitterfield, Warwickshire, England, 3.3 miles (5.3 km) north of Stratford-upon-Avon and 4.6 miles (7.4 km) south-east of Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire.
RAF Snitterfield | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snitterfield, Warwickshire in England | |||||||||||
 A Miles Magister similar to the ones that flew from the airfield | |||||||||||
  RAF Snitterfield Shown within Warwickshire  RAF Snitterfield RAF Snitterfield (the United Kingdom) | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 52°14′14″N 001°43′08″W | ||||||||||
| Type | Satellite Station | ||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||
| Controlled by | RAF Flying Training Command | ||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||
| Built | 1942 | ||||||||||
| In use | 1943 - 1946 | ||||||||||
| Battles/wars | European theatre of World War II | ||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||
| Elevation | 116 metres (381 ft) AMSL | ||||||||||
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| [1] | |||||||||||
Snitterfield was operational during the Second World War, the airfield was a class A airfield and had around 30 aircraft dispersals. The airfield was finished around June 1942 and cost around £1,147,000[2] and opened in 1943 then closed in 1946.[3]
No. 18 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit RAF ((P)AFU) was the first unit to operate from the airfield starting on 7 May 1943 at RAF Church Lawford and using Snitterfield as a satellite airfield to disperse the aircraft as Church Lawford was very busy. On 3 April 1945 the unit moved permanently to RAF Snitterfield using Airspeed Oxfords and Miles Magisters.[3]
The airfield was also home to two Belgian training schools firstly the Initial Training School dealing with reception and training elements from 1 January 1944 until 13 December 1944[4] and secondly the Technical Training School from January 1944 until October 1946.[3]
From May 1945 to 1946, Snitterfield was used as a Relief Landing Ground by No. 20 Service Flying Training School from RAF Church Lawford.[1]
The airfield was also host to other units including:
- No. 1533 Beam Approach Training Flight which joined in 1944 flying the Airspeed Oxford left 3 April 1945.[4]
- No. 21 Flying Training School flying the North American Harvard joined the airfield on 3 April 1945 until 18 September 1946.[4]
During life as a RAF training base accidents were not far away with a number of airmen killed during training and within the surrounding area.
| Date | Incident | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 September 1942 | Bristol Beaufighter X7943 YD-P of No. 255 Squadron RAF dived into the ground during an electrical storm. | [5] |
| 14 February 1944 | Vickers Wellington HZ110 of 22 OTU was diverted to the airfield in bad weather, where the bomber crashed after seven attempts to land. | [6] |
| 10 July 1944 | Airspeed Oxford NM278 of 18 (P)AFU made a violent recovery from a diving turn, causing the wings to break away. | [6] |
| 25 July 1944 | Wellington HF610 of 22 OTU belly landed. | [6] |
| 26 August 1944 | Miles Magister T9895 of 18 (P)AFU crashed on landing. | [6] |
In 1948, RAF Snitterfield was one of two disused airfields given special consideration as to the suitability of hosting a British Grand Prix. In the end, RAF Silverstone was chosen as the venue.[7]
The north-east section of the airfield is currently the Stratford Oaks Golf club and the south-east section is home to Stratford-Upon-Avon Gliding Club.[8] However, before these were built there was a Wireless Transmission station.[9]
At the southern end of the airfield is now Stratford Armouries[10] which is a military museum that was built in 2007.[11]
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