RAF Church Lawford

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.

RAF Church Lawford

A Airspeed AS.10 Oxford similar to the ones that flew from the airfield
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OperatorRAF
LocationChurch Lawford
Elevation AMSL374 ft / 116 m
Coordinates52°21′5″N 001°20′31″W
Map
RAF Church Lawford
Location in Warwickshire
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

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 No. 1509 Beam Approach Training Flight (BAT Flt) arrived flying Airspeed Oxfords from 6 June 1942 and No. 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 No. 2 Central Flying School flying Oxfords and Avro Tutors from 15 June 1941 until 13 January 1942 when it was renamed No. 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 RAF ((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 RAF (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 RAF flying Harvards using RAF Snitterfield as a RLG until 1947, which like the wartime units at the airfield was renamed No. 2 Flying Training School RAF 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 RAF which operated from 1 December 1954 until 27 March 1955 and as 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:

DateIncidentReference
22 November 1942Oxford R6145 of 18 PAFU overshot landing and crashed at Bretford. P/O Victor André Brayer (Jean Pierre Hinque) of the Free French air force was killed.[6]
8 May 1944Oxford HN440 of 18 ((P)AFU) struck a tree at night while force landing following engine failure.[7]
14 October 1944Handley Page Halifax MZ920 of 434 Squadron crashed at Church Lawford after catching fire in the air.[7]
21 August 1946Harvard FT359 of No. 20 Service Flying Training School undershot landing.[8]
9 January 1948Harvard FS725 of No. 2 Flying Training School belly landed.[8]

Current use

The site of the airfield has been turned into a quarry called Ling Hall and the Lawford Heath Industrial Estate.[9]

References
  1. "Church Lawford". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  2. "Military flying units in the south west Midlands". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  3. "RAF Church Lawford". RAFWEB. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  4. "The Royal Air Force - Airfield Construction Branch. 1941 to 1966". RAFACB. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  5. "About Us". RAF.ACB. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  6. http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/crashes1942.htm
  7. "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1944". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  8. "Military aircraft crashes in the south west Midlands - 1946 to 1949". Aviation Archaeology. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  9. "Lawford Heath". BMH Online. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
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