RAF Hemswell

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RAF Hemswell was an airfield used by RAF Bomber Command for 35 years. It was located close to the village of Hemswell in Lincolnshire.

The first airfield on the site was opened in 1916 and called Harpswell after the village of that name across the A631. During World War I it was used as a night landing ground and several training squadrons were established there. After the war it returned to farmland.

A new airbase, now called Hemswell, was opened in 1936 to accommodate the rapidly expanding Bomber Command. During the war years various squadrons were based at Hemswell and it continued in use until the 1960's.

In 1964 it became a training base for the TSR-2 project, but when that was cancelled in 1965 it sealed the fate of Hemswell and it closed in 1967.

Hemswell was used for much of the filming of the 1954 movie The Dambusters.

After Hemswell closed the site was eventually redeveloped into a private trading estate and residential area and became the new civil parish of Hemswell Cliff.