RAF Chipping Warden

Royal Air Force Chipping Warden or more simply RAF Chipping Warden was a Royal Air Force station located 6 miles (10 km) north-east of Banbury near the village of Chipping Warden, Northamptonshire, England.

RAF Chipping Warden
Chipping Warden, Northamptonshire in England
RAF Chipping Warden Shown within Northamptonshire Show map of Northamptonshire RAF Chipping Warden RAF Chipping Warden (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	52°08′36″N 1°16′38″W
Type	Royal Air Force station Parent station
Code	CW[1]
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command * No. 6 (T) Group RAF * No. 92 (OTU) Group RAF[1]
Site history
Built	1940 (1940)/41
In use	August 1941 -1953 (1953)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	139 metres (456 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Concrete 00/00  Concrete 00/00  Concrete

The station was built in early 1941 and opened in July of that year. It had three concrete runways, several permanent hangars and a watch office with meteorology section.

History

Throughout its operational history, the base was used by RAF Bomber Command. Between July 1941 and June 1945 it was used by No. 12 Operational Training Unit RAF, based at RAF Benson and part of No. 1 Group RAF.^[2] During this period Avro Anson and Vickers Wellington bombers operated from the airfield.^[3]

On 1 December 1942 a Vickers Wellington bomber crashed on take off, hitting the control tower and hangars, killing two people and causing many other casualties.

Between August 1945 and January 1946, the airfield was home to No. 10 Air Navigation School RAF. Until December 1946 the base was then used as a storage unit by No. 6 Maintenance Unit RAF at Brize Norton, and storing Airspeed Horsa gliders awaiting disposal. RAF Chipping Warden then closed until September 1952, when it became home to a Relief Landing Ground for No. 9 Advanced Flying Training School RAF (September 1952 - August 1953) which became No. 9 Flying Training School RAF (August - October 1953)^[4] until the airfield closed for a second time.^[5]

The following units were also here at some point:^[5]

• Satellite of No. 13 OTU ? - July 1945)^[6]
• No. 1517 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF (November 1942 - May 1945)^[7]

Current use

The site is now the Appletree Trading Estate.^[5]

RAF Chipping Warden being bisected by the works for HS2 - September, 2022.

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

Citations

1. Falconer 2012, p. 64.
2. Phil Tomaselli, Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors (Pen and Sword, 19 Jul 2007), p.175
3. Tom Killebrew, The Royal Air Force in American Skies (University of North Texas Press, 15 Oct 2015), p.332
4. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 154.
5. "Chipping Warden". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
6. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 236.
7. Sturtivant, Hamlin & Halley 1997, p. 138.

Bibliography

• Falconer, J. (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
• Sturtivant, R.; Hamlin, J.; Halley, J. (1997). Royal Air Force flying training and support units. UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-252-1.