RAF Tatenhill

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RAF Tatenhill
Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
Summary
Airport type Military
Owner Air Ministry
Operator Royal Air Force
Location Tatenhill, Staffordshire
Built 1941 (1941)
In use 1941-1947 (1947)
Elevation  AMSL 440 ft / 134 m
Coordinates 52°48′53″N001°45′40″W / 52.81472°N 1.76111°W / 52.81472; -1.76111 Coordinates: 52°48′53″N001°45′40″W / 52.81472°N 1.76111°W / 52.81472; -1.76111
Map
Staffordshire UK location map.svg
Airplane silhouette.svg
RAF Tatenhill
Location in Staffordshire
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
04/22 0 0 Concrete
08/26 0 0 Concrete
18/36 0 0 Concrete
[1]

RAF Tatenhill is a former Royal Air Force satellite airfield in Tatenhill, Staffordshire, England, 4  NM (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) west of Burton on Trent. It was originally known as RAF Crossplains. [2]

Royal Air Force Aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world. Following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain.

Tatenhill village in United Kingdom

Tatenhill is an ancient village and a civil parish located in a deep valley, between two hills, which gradually descend from the eastern border of Needwood Forest, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west-southwest of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England.

Staffordshire County of England

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands of England. It borders with Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, West Midlands and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west.

Contents

History

The field was built in 1941 as a satellite for No. 27 Operational Training Unit RAF (OTU) at RAF Lichfield later becoming a satellite airfield for RAF Wheaton Aston. [3] The design was the wartime RAF standard of three co-intersecting runways, east-west, north-south diagonal. The east-west runway was the only one suitable to safely accommodate bomber take off and landings (1,600 yards (1,500 m)) which hampered its operability. [4]

RAF Lichfield

Royal Air Force Station Lichfield also known as Fradley Aerodrome, was an operational training station from 1940 until 1958. It was situated in Fradley, 2 miles north east of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. The airfield was the busiest airfield in Staffordshire during World War II. The airfield supported its own units as well as providing safe haven for many more. It was a control point for all aviation traffic that passed through the Birmingham area during the war and saw more aircraft movements than any other Staffordshire airfield.

Class A airfield

Class A airfields were World War II military installations constructed to specifications laid down by the British Air Ministry Directorate-General of Works (AMDGW). Intended for use by heavy bombers and transports, they were the standard air base design for the Royal Air Force as well as U.S. Army Air Forces units operating from the UK.

It was used as a bomber crew training field, which continued in varied training functions until 1944 with Vickers Wellington, Airspeed Oxford and Avro Anson aircraft for RAF Bomber Command. Later a single engine training unit arrived using the Miles Master aircraft. It was then used by the RAF School of Explosives after the disastrous explosion at nearby RAF Fauld, from October 1945 until January 1947. [1] During the post Second World War period when it was still under RAF Control, RAF tatenhill was used to break up unused and unwanted ammunition before it was dumped at sea. [5]

Vickers Wellington British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber

The Vickers Wellington is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its geodetic airframe fuselage structure, which was principally designed by Barnes Wallis. Development had been started in response to Air Ministry Specification B.9/32, which was issued in the middle of 1932. This specification called for a twin-engined day bomber capable of delivering higher performance than any previous design. Other aircraft developed to the same specification include the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and the Handley Page Hampden. During the development process, performance requirements such as for the tare weight changed substantially, and the engine used was not the one originally intended.

Airspeed Oxford twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews

The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Second World War.

Avro Anson airplane

The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and numerous other air forces before, during, and after the Second World War.

The airfield had a bomb dump on the south-east side and a number of frying pan dispersals were built on land to the north of the B5234 road, with hangars in this area too. [6]

Current use

The airfield remains in use as Tatenhill Airfield. A wartime Bellman hangar remains in use as of 2013.

Tatenhill Airfield airport in the United Kingdom

Tatenhill Airfield, previously Royal Air Force (RAF) Crossplains and later RAF Tatenhill, is a licensed airfield operated by Tatenhill Aviation Ltd, about 5 nautical miles west of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. It is part of the Needwood Survey, a 3000 hectare estate held by the Duchy of Lancaster in the area of the former Needwood Forest.

The Bellman Hangar was designed in the United Kingdom in 1936 by the Directorate of Works structural engineer, N. S. Bellman, as a temporary hangar capable of being erected or dismantled by unskilled labour with simple equipment and to be easily transportable. Commercial manufacturing rights were acquired by Head Wrightson & Co of Teesdale Iron Works, Thornaby-on-Tees. By November 1938, 10 had even been supplied to Russia.

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References

  1. 1 2 "RAF Tatenhill". Control Towers. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "Tatenhill (Burton-on-Trent)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Tatenhill Airfield (929224)". PastScape. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  4. ↑ Delve 2007, p. 305.
  5. ↑ "Bygones: Alas! wrote Churchill on report of RAF Fauld blast". Derby Telegraph. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  6. ↑ Delve 2007, p. 303.

Bibliography

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