RAF Woodhall Spa

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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out two daring low-level mining operations against the ship canals at Stetting and Königsberg; all Swedish shipping was withdrawn from the Baltic trade.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

[edit] Reference Source

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