RAF_Castle_Camps

RAF Castle Camps

RAF Castle Camps

Former RAF Base in Cambridgeshire, England

RAF Castle Camps was listed as being in Cambridgeshire as it is close to its namesake Cambridgeshire village. It is very near the Suffolk border and the airfield straddled the Essex and Cambridgeshire county border. Construction of the station was started in September 1939. It opened as a satellite of RAF Debden in June 1940 and became a satellite of RAF North Weald in July 1943.

Quick Facts Coordinates, Type ...

During the Battle of Britain, one of the units operating from Castle Camps was 85 Squadron, whose Hawker Hurricanes were commanded by Peter Townsend.

The airfield was used by numerous squadrons throughout the Second World War. In 1945, it was commanded by Battle of Britain ace Tim Vigors.[2] It closed in January 1946.

Operational Units and Aircraft

More information Unit, From ...

The following units were also here at some point:[16]

Current use

The site has reverted to agricultural use. However the outlines of portions of the runways in the fields (when viewed on Google Earth), can still be seen and some of the perimeter roads are even now in use as farm tracks.

Some of the airfield buildings are still present and being used by local farms and industry.

References

Citations

  1. [1]
    Falconer 2012, p. 60.
  2. [2]
    Tim Vigors, "Life's Too Short to Cry", p. 235
  3. [3]
    Jefford 1988, p. 50.
  4. [4]
    Jefford 1988, p. 47.
  5. [5]
    Jefford 1988, p. 63.
  6. [6]
    Jefford 1988, p. 99.
  7. [7]
    Jefford 1988, p. 93.
  8. [8]
    Jefford 1988, p. 96.
  9. [9]
    Jefford 1988, p. 52.
  10. [10]
    Jefford 1988, p. 94.
  11. [11]
    Jefford 1988, p. 90.
  12. [12]
    Jefford 1988, p. 46.
  13. [13]
    Jefford 1988, p. 62.
  14. [14]
    Jefford 1988, p. 33.
  15. [15]
    Jefford 1988, p. 85.
  16. [16]
    "Castle Camps". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  17. [17]
    Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 314.
  18. [18]
    Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 184.
  19. [19]
    Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 55.

Bibliography

  • Brazier, Roy (2011) History of RAF Castle Camps: a Unique Airfield, 1940–47. ISBN 0-95365-182-7
  • Falconer, J (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
  • Jefford, C G (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
  • Sturtivant, R; Hamlin, J; Halley, J (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Castle Camps.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article RAF_Castle_Camps, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.