RAF Bibury was a Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 station during the Second World War. It was located north east of Cirencester

Cirencester

Cirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...

, Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

History

The airfield was built in 1939 for use as a relief landing ground for training aircraft from nearby RAF South Cerney

RAF South Cerney

RAF South Cerney is an airfield which is now the home of the Joint Air Mounting Centre. It is located in the village of South Cerney near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England....

. In the Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...

 the airfield was used to base detachments of fighter aircraft. Hawker Hurricane

Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...

s of 87 Squadron

No. 87 Squadron RAF

No. 87 Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force during the First World War and Second World War.-World War I:87 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was first formed on 1 September 1917 at Upavon from elements of the Central Flying School...

 arrived on detachment in August 1940. They were replaced by a detachment from 92 Squadron

No. 92 Squadron RAF

No. 92 Squadron, also known as No 92 Squadron, of the Royal Air Force was formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps at London Colney as a fighter squadron on 1 September 1917. It deployed to France in July 1918 and saw action for just four months, until the end of the war. During the conflict it...

 with the Supermarine Spitfire

Supermarine Spitfire

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...

 until September when the 87 Squadron detachment returned until the end of the year. During the Battle of Britain the airfield had very few buildings and a grass runway. The airfield was not used for flying after 1944 and was the base of a maintenance unit until it closed in 1945.

RAF units and aircraft

Unit	Dates	Aircraft	Variant	Notes
No. 87 Squadron RAF No. 87 Squadron RAF No. 87 Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force during the First World War and Second World War.-World War I:87 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was first formed on 1 September 1917 at Upavon from elements of the Central Flying School...	1940	Hawker Hurricane Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...	I	Detached from RAF Exeter