RAF Woodhall Spa

RAF Woodhall Spa was a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England.

History

Constructed on farmland 1km south of Woodhall Spa, the station opened in February 1942 as a satellite station to RAF Coningsby. In August 1943 it became No 54 Base Substation. After the end of the Second World War it was used as a base for Bloodhound Missiles before finally closing in 1964 when it returned to agricultural use. Since then areas of the site have been used for sand and gravel extraction.

Interesting Facts

Aircraft from this RAF Station:

*dropped the first 12,000lb Tallboy bombs and blocked the Saumur Tunnel through which all direct rail communications from the south of France to the Normandy front had to pass.
*attacked the U-boat bases at La Pallice, Lorient and Brest. At Brest the uncompleted hull of the battleship Clemenceau and the cruiser Gueydon were sunk.
*carried out two daring low-level mining operations against the ship canals at Stetting and Königsberg; all Swedish shipping was withdrawn from the Baltic trade. The Tirpitz was sunk in Tromsø fjord on 12th November by aircraft from Woodhall Spa and Bardney

Reference Source

*Bruce Barrymore Halpenny "Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2" (ISBN 978-0850594843)