RAF Little Horwood

RAF Little Horwood
Near Winslow, Buckinghamshire in Little Horwood, Buckinghamshire in England
RAF Little Horwood Shown within Buckinghamshire
Coordinates	51°57′51″N 000°52′21″W / 51.96417°N 0.87250°W / 51.96417; -0.87250Coordinates: 51°57′51″N 000°52′21″W / 51.96417°N 0.87250°W / 51.96417; -0.87250
Type	Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Site history
Built	1942 (1942)
In use	1942-1946 (1946)
Fate	Returned to civilian use
Garrison information
Garrison	No 26 OTU No 71 MU No 92 Gp Comms Flight No 1684 (Bomber) Defence Training Flight
Airfield information
Elevation	116 metres (381 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00 1,800 metres (5,906 ft) Concrete 00/00 1,260 metres (4,134 ft) Concrete 00/00 1,260 metres (4,134 ft) Concrete

RAF Little Horwood was established during World War II, and is located on the site of Greenway Farm in Aylesbury Vale, north east Buckinghamshire. The airfield sits within a triangle formed by Little Horwood, Great Horwood, and Winslow. It was in operation from September 1942 until January 1946. It is now mostly returned to agricultural use.

History

The airfield was established as a base for Operation Training Units to train recruits for combat and also for "nickelling", the dropping of propaganda leaflets. The airfield went operational on 2 September 1942 and served as a satellite for RAF Wing.^[1]

The runway was built of rubble from bomb damaged London. Wellington Bombers from No. 26 OTU arrived along with OTU Gunnery section and the 92 Group Communications flight to commence the basic training of recruits.

No. 1684 OTU Bomber Defence Training Flight moved to Little Horwood on 5 June 1943 and simulation battles were undertaken using Tomahawk aircraft. Flying ended at Little Horwood on 30 November 1945 with the remnants of No. 26 OTU remaining until January 1946.

On 7 August 1943, a Wellington Bomber X3790 from the airfield crashed into Winslow town centre killing four crew and 13 civilians.^[2]

The site has been subject to several major development proposals in recent years, but these have not been well received locally and have all been rejected.

References