RAF Ludford Magna
Encyclopedia
RAF Ludford Magna was a Royal Air Force airfield operated by Bomber Command
during World War II
and the Cold War
. The station lay on agricultural farmland immediately south of the village of Ludford, Lincolnshire
and was sited 21.4 miles (34.4 kilometres) north east of the county town of Lincoln, Lincolnshire
. The remains of the station can be seen from the B1225 Caistor High Street and the long distance footpath the Viking Way
passes right next to the eastern perimeter track.
Used for Avro Lancaster
bomber operations in the latter part of the second world war the station was placed on care and maintenance until the mid 1950s when it was reactivated as a Cold War base for Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Nuclear Missiles (IRBM). The station closed in the early part of the 1960s and has been mostly dismantled and returned to agricultural uses
with concrete runways on a 650 acre site in June 1943, on the site of High Fields Farm, and originally assigned to No. 1 Group RAF
, headquartered at RAF Bawtry
. It was the highest bomber airfield in England at 428 feet above sea level, costing £803,000.
No. 101 Squadron RAF
arrived on 15 June 1943 from RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor
and the squadron would remain the primary occupants during the airfield's operational history during World War II. The squadron was declared operational three days later on 18 June 1943.
Ludford Magna was the first airfield in 1 Group to be equipped with the experimental FIDO
dispersal system, first used on 10 March 1944, as one of only 15 RAF stations to be equipped with the pyrotechnic fog landing system in the whole of the UK. Six T2 and one B1 hangar
s were eventually erected on the airfield. There were three concrete runways, one north-south main at 2000 yards and two 1400 yard runways in a standard triangular layout.
The station's main gate was on Sixhills
Lane. Due to the condition and poor drainage of the airfield it quickly acquired the nickname Mudford Magna. It had accommodation for 1,953 male and 305 female personnel, although the accommodation sites were inconveniently situated north of the village and widely dispersed on various agricultural fields. The station technical site was located on the north western edge of the station. Bombs for Ludford Magna's Lancasters and for many other local airfields' planes, were supplied from from RAF Market Stainton (233 Maintenance Unit). The airfield's bombs were stored widely spaced along the edge of Caistor High Street to avoid a sequence of detonation if the base was attacked or sabotaged. Its two satellite airfields were RAF Wickenby
and RAF Faldingworth
, each the other side of Market Rasen
, with all three airfields part of No. 14 Base from 16 December 1943, although the Base operations only began on 20 January 1944.
It was planned to base No. 576 Squadron RAF
at the airfield, with crews drawn from No. 101 Squadron and No. 103 Squadron RAF
, but in November 1943 more suitable facilities were located at RAF Elsham Wolds
.
The first operation was on the night of 21 June 1943, with a raid on Krefeld
in North Rhine-Westphalia
, with the first of many Lancasters (ED650) from the base not to return home, crashing near Mönchengladbach
. During the war a total of 113 Avro Lancaster
s from the base failed to return, the highest number from any single squadron.
No. 101 Squadron were the main providers of electronic jamming
equipment for raids over Germany, using Monica
from July 1943 in three of their Lancasters, then Airborne Cigar (ABC) later in 1943. ABC involved German-speaking operators to misguide Luftwaffe nightfighters by transmitting Merlin
-engine noise on three relevant Luftwaffe communication radio frequencies simultaneously over a distance of 50 miles. It was first used on the night of 7 October 1943 over Stuttgart
in a raid with 343 Lancasters.
In the autumn of 1944, 101 Squadron was the first in the RAF to use the Village Inn Automatic Gun-Laying Turret. From October 1944 No. 100 Group RAF
, stationed in Norfolk
, took over most of the electronic jamming
role. On 4 March 1945 it suffered its first attack from enemy bombers.
system. The station was provided with seven large fuel tanks, which pumped petrol into two large pipes running up either side one of their runways. Once the open flame burners along the length of the main runway were ignited the intense rising heat would lift and disperse the fog leaving a visually clear and illuminated runway.
Not all RAF stations were FIDO equipped and when dense fog affected the county it was not unknown for aircraft from several stations to be diverted to RAF Ludford Magna for a safe landing, returning to their home stations when the foggy weather cleared. Volunteer observers at the surrounding Royal Observer Corps
posts were specially trained and provided with coloured rocket flares (Code named Granite) to guide any aircraft lost in thick fog towards the limited number of FIDO equipped stations.
The only other airfields in Lincolnshire fitted with FIDO systems were RAF Fiskerton
, RAF Metheringham
and RAF Sturgate
and there were only 15 FIDO stations in the UK, mostly on the east coast.
just north of Lincoln was established as an RAF Bomber Command
missile unit, maintaining and operating nine mobile mounted Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Nuclear Missile
launchers of No 97(Strategic Missile) Squadron RAF
. Each missile with a range of 1,500 miles (2,400 km) was tipped with a 1.44 megaton nuclear warhead, jointly controlled by the Royal Air Force
and the United States Air Force
under the so-called "dual-key arrangements".
In 1959 RAF Helmswell became the headquarters for the "No 5 (Lincolnshire) Missile Dispersal Sites" located at RAF Bardney
, RAF Caistor, RAF Coleby Grange
and RAF Ludford Magna. The missiles were rotated around the five airfields in groups of three launchers, always with two locations not containing deployed missiles as an attempt to confuse the USSR military planners. The missiles at Ludford Magna were maintained and operated by No. 104 Squadron RAF
.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
brought the entire UK based Thor missile force to maximum strategic alert and readiness for a ten day period during October and November 1962. On 26 October 1962 the NATO alert level was raised to DEFCON 2
and the missiles were made ready for launching, on a phased-hold leaving the missiles eight minutes from launch in the vertical unfuelled condition or two minutes from launch in the fuelled position. Local residents can remember the Ludford Magna missiles stood erect and ready to fire on their mobile launchers. Politically the following day came to be referred to as "Black Saturday" and was very tense until a negotiated stand-down by both sides was reached
Former Group Captain George Aylettt revealed that a potential disaster occurred on 7 December 1960 at RAF Ludford Magna. The RAF technicians fuelling the missile allowed its liquid oxygen tank to empty on to the launch pad. The leak could have caused a major fire leading to detonation of the rocket's fuel. "It could have created a terrible disaster," Group Captain Aylett said. A specialist on nuclear weapon accidents at Bradford University said that the destruction of the warhead would have contaminated between 100 and 300 square miles.
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. The station lay on agricultural farmland immediately south of the village of Ludford, Lincolnshire
Ludford, Lincolnshire
Ludford is a village and parish in the English county of Lincolnshire. It comprises the adjacent villages of Ludford Magna and Ludford Parva.-Geography:It lies in East Lindsey, just outside of its bordering region, West Lindsey...
and was sited 21.4 miles (34.4 kilometres) north east of the county town of Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. The remains of the station can be seen from the B1225 Caistor High Street and the long distance footpath the Viking Way
Viking Way
The Viking Way is a long distance footpath in England running between the Humber Bridge in North Lincolnshire and Oakham in Rutland. The Countryside Commission recognised the significance of the Viking Way as a high quality long distance walk linking other major routes in Eastern England, these...
passes right next to the eastern perimeter track.
Used for Avro Lancaster
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
bomber operations in the latter part of the second world war the station was placed on care and maintenance until the mid 1950s when it was reactivated as a Cold War base for Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Nuclear Missiles (IRBM). The station closed in the early part of the 1960s and has been mostly dismantled and returned to agricultural uses
History
The station was constructed by George WimpeyGeorge Wimpey
George Wimpey was formed in 1880 and, based in Hammersmith, operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919 and he developed it into the UK’s pre-eminent construction and housebuilding firm. In 2007, Wimpey merged with Taylor Woodrow to create...
with concrete runways on a 650 acre site in June 1943, on the site of High Fields Farm, and originally assigned to No. 1 Group RAF
No. 1 Group RAF
Number 1 Group of the Royal Air Force is one of the two operations groups in Air Command.The group is today referred to as the Air Combat Group, as it controls the RAF's combat fast-jet aircraft and has airfields in the UK plus RAF Unit Goose Bay in Canada, which is used extensively as an...
, headquartered at RAF Bawtry
RAF Bawtry
RAF Bawtry was a Royal Air Force station located at Bawtry Hall in Bawtry and was No. 1 Group RAF Bomber Command headquarters and administration unit during and following WWII.- History :...
. It was the highest bomber airfield in England at 428 feet above sea level, costing £803,000.
No. 101 Squadron RAF
No. 101 Squadron RAF
No. 101 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Vickers VC10 C1K, K3 and K4 from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. Since 10 Squadron disbanded in 2005, the squadron is the only operator of the VC10.-Formation and early years:...
arrived on 15 June 1943 from RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor
RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor
RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor, or more simply RAF Holme as it was also known, was an airfield in Yorkshire. Built during the Second World War, it was used during the war by the Royal Air Force as a bomber station, and after the war as a transport base and bomb store before being "mothballed"...
and the squadron would remain the primary occupants during the airfield's operational history during World War II. The squadron was declared operational three days later on 18 June 1943.
Ludford Magna was the first airfield in 1 Group to be equipped with the experimental FIDO
Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO)
Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation was a system used for dispersing fog from an airfield so that aircraft could land safely...
dispersal system, first used on 10 March 1944, as one of only 15 RAF stations to be equipped with the pyrotechnic fog landing system in the whole of the UK. Six T2 and one B1 hangar
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
s were eventually erected on the airfield. There were three concrete runways, one north-south main at 2000 yards and two 1400 yard runways in a standard triangular layout.
The station's main gate was on Sixhills
Sixhills
Sixhills is a village in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, about south-east from Market Rasen. It lies just south of the A631 between Market Rasen and Ludford....
Lane. Due to the condition and poor drainage of the airfield it quickly acquired the nickname Mudford Magna. It had accommodation for 1,953 male and 305 female personnel, although the accommodation sites were inconveniently situated north of the village and widely dispersed on various agricultural fields. The station technical site was located on the north western edge of the station. Bombs for Ludford Magna's Lancasters and for many other local airfields' planes, were supplied from from RAF Market Stainton (233 Maintenance Unit). The airfield's bombs were stored widely spaced along the edge of Caistor High Street to avoid a sequence of detonation if the base was attacked or sabotaged. Its two satellite airfields were RAF Wickenby
RAF Wickenby
RAF Wickenby was a purpose built bomber base constructed late 1942 and early 1943. It lies halfway between Wickenby and Holton cum Beckering, to the south-east of Wickenby close to the B1399 in West Lindsey, north-east of Lincoln.-Construction:...
and RAF Faldingworth
RAF Faldingworth
RAF Faldingworth was an airfield used by RAF Bomber Command during and after World War II. It was located close to the village of Faldingworth in Lincolnshire...
, each the other side of Market Rasen
Market Rasen
Market Rasen is a town and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It lies on the River Rase northeast of Lincoln, east of Gainsborough and southwest of Grimsby. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 3,200....
, with all three airfields part of No. 14 Base from 16 December 1943, although the Base operations only began on 20 January 1944.
It was planned to base No. 576 Squadron RAF
No. 576 Squadron RAF
-History:No. 576 Squadron was formed on 25 November 1943 from 'C' Flight of 103 squadron at RAF Elsham Wolds in Lincolnshire. They started operations beginning in the night of 2 to 3 December 1943, when seven Avro Lancasters were send out to bomb Berlin. Eleven months later 576 Squadron moved to...
at the airfield, with crews drawn from No. 101 Squadron and No. 103 Squadron RAF
No. 103 Squadron RAF
No. 103 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, switching to helicopters in the late 1950s until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975.-Formation in World War I:...
, but in November 1943 more suitable facilities were located at RAF Elsham Wolds
RAF Elsham Wolds
RAF Elsham Wolds is a former Royal Air Force station in England, which operated in World War I and World War II. It is located just to the north east of the village of Elsham in north Lincolnshire.-World War I:...
.
Flying operations
Krefeld
Krefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine...
in North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
, with the first of many Lancasters (ED650) from the base not to return home, crashing near Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach
Mönchengladbach , formerly known as Münchengladbach, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine half way between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border....
. During the war a total of 113 Avro Lancaster
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
s from the base failed to return, the highest number from any single squadron.
No. 101 Squadron were the main providers of electronic jamming
Radar jamming and deception
Radar jamming and deception is the intentional emission of radio frequency signals to interfere with the operation of a radar by saturating its receiver with noise or false information...
equipment for raids over Germany, using Monica
Monica tail warning radar
Monica was a range-only tail warning radar for bombers, introduced by the RAF in the spring of 1942. Officially known as ARI 5664, it operated at frequencies of around 300 MHz...
from July 1943 in three of their Lancasters, then Airborne Cigar (ABC) later in 1943. ABC involved German-speaking operators to misguide Luftwaffe nightfighters by transmitting Merlin
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled, V-12, piston aero engine, of 27-litre capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited designed and built the engine which was initially known as the PV-12: the PV-12 became known as the Merlin following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after...
-engine noise on three relevant Luftwaffe communication radio frequencies simultaneously over a distance of 50 miles. It was first used on the night of 7 October 1943 over Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
in a raid with 343 Lancasters.
In the autumn of 1944, 101 Squadron was the first in the RAF to use the Village Inn Automatic Gun-Laying Turret. From October 1944 No. 100 Group RAF
No. 100 Group RAF
No. 100 Group was a special duties group within RAF Bomber Command.It was formed on 11 November 1943 to consolidate the increasingly complex business of electronic warfare and countermeasures within one organisation. The group was responsible for the development, operational trial and use of...
, stationed in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, took over most of the electronic jamming
Electronic countermeasures
An electronic countermeasure is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar or other detection systems, like infrared or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy...
role. On 4 March 1945 it suffered its first attack from enemy bombers.
Fog dispersal system
Ludford Magna was one of a small number of RAF stations equipped with an early experimental Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO)Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO)
Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation was a system used for dispersing fog from an airfield so that aircraft could land safely...
system. The station was provided with seven large fuel tanks, which pumped petrol into two large pipes running up either side one of their runways. Once the open flame burners along the length of the main runway were ignited the intense rising heat would lift and disperse the fog leaving a visually clear and illuminated runway.
Not all RAF stations were FIDO equipped and when dense fog affected the county it was not unknown for aircraft from several stations to be diverted to RAF Ludford Magna for a safe landing, returning to their home stations when the foggy weather cleared. Volunteer observers at the surrounding Royal Observer Corps
Royal Observer Corps
The Royal Observer Corps was a civil defence organisation operating in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December 1995, when the Corps' civilian volunteers were stood down....
posts were specially trained and provided with coloured rocket flares (Code named Granite) to guide any aircraft lost in thick fog towards the limited number of FIDO equipped stations.
The only other airfields in Lincolnshire fitted with FIDO systems were RAF Fiskerton
RAF Fiskerton
RAF Fiskerton was located in the Lincolnshire village of Fiskerton, 5 miles east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire. It was one of many new bomber airfields built in the early part of World War II. The airfield was situated north of the village...
, RAF Metheringham
RAF Metheringham
RAF Metheringham was a Royal Air Force station situated between the villages of Metheringham and Martin and south east of the county town Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England....
and RAF Sturgate
RAF Sturgate
Royal Air Force Station Sturgate was an airfield located 10 miles north of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.-Royal Air Force:The airfield was opened in 1944 at Royal Air Force Station Sturgate. Originally used for blind flying training two operational Lancaster squadrons arrived in June 1945 but both...
and there were only 15 FIDO stations in the UK, mostly on the east coast.
Post-war use
After the war the station’s buildings were used to house 800 Polish refugees between 1948 and 1956.Cold War
In January of 1956 RAF HemswellRAF Hemswell
RAF Hemswell was an airfield used by RAF Bomber Command for 20 years between 1937 and 1957 and saw most of its operational life during World War II. Later used by RAF Fighter Command as a nuclear ballistic missile base during the Cold War it closed to military use in 1967...
just north of Lincoln was established as an RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
missile unit, maintaining and operating nine mobile mounted Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Nuclear Missile
PGM-17 Thor
Thor was the first operational ballistic missile of the U.S. Air Force . Named after the Norse god of thunder, it was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate range ballistic missile with thermonuclear warheads. Thor was in height and in diameter. It was...
launchers of No 97(Strategic Missile) Squadron RAF
No. 97 Squadron RAF
No. 97 Squadron, was a Royal Air Force squadron formed on December 1, 1917 at Waddington, Lincolnshire, first as a training unit, until moving to Netheravon in March 1918, and re-equipping with the Handley Page O/400 heavy bomber. The squadron served in France for the remainder of the war...
. Each missile with a range of 1,500 miles (2,400 km) was tipped with a 1.44 megaton nuclear warhead, jointly controlled by the 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...
and the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
under the so-called "dual-key arrangements".
In 1959 RAF Helmswell became the headquarters for the "No 5 (Lincolnshire) Missile Dispersal Sites" located at RAF Bardney
RAF Bardney
RAF Bardney was a RAF station situated near Bardney, in Lincolnshire, England. It was built as a satellite to RAF Waddington in 1943.-Time line:* Opened on 13 April 1943 as home to No. 9 Squadron...
, RAF Caistor, RAF Coleby Grange
RAF Coleby Grange
RAF Coleby Grange was a Royal Air Force station situated alongside the western edge of the A15 on open heathland between the villages of Coleby and Nocton Heath and lying due south of the county town Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England....
and RAF Ludford Magna. The missiles were rotated around the five airfields in groups of three launchers, always with two locations not containing deployed missiles as an attempt to confuse the USSR military planners. The missiles at Ludford Magna were maintained and operated by No. 104 Squadron RAF
No. 104 Squadron RAF
No. 104 Squadron RAF was formed at Wyton on 4 September 1917 and was equipped with the DH 9. It then moved to Andover, prior to being posted to France in May 1918. The squadron later began re-equipping with the DH 10, however the armistice arrived before this was completed and the squadron returned...
.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
brought the entire UK based Thor missile force to maximum strategic alert and readiness for a ten day period during October and November 1962. On 26 October 1962 the NATO alert level was raised to DEFCON 2
DEFCON
A defense readiness condition is an alert posture used by the United States Armed Forces. The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and unified and specified combatant commands. It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness for the U.S...
and the missiles were made ready for launching, on a phased-hold leaving the missiles eight minutes from launch in the vertical unfuelled condition or two minutes from launch in the fuelled position. Local residents can remember the Ludford Magna missiles stood erect and ready to fire on their mobile launchers. Politically the following day came to be referred to as "Black Saturday" and was very tense until a negotiated stand-down by both sides was reached
Former Group Captain George Aylettt revealed that a potential disaster occurred on 7 December 1960 at RAF Ludford Magna. The RAF technicians fuelling the missile allowed its liquid oxygen tank to empty on to the launch pad. The leak could have caused a major fire leading to detonation of the rocket's fuel. "It could have created a terrible disaster," Group Captain Aylett said. A specialist on nuclear weapon accidents at Bradford University said that the destruction of the warhead would have contaminated between 100 and 300 square miles.
Decommissioning
The brick built accommodation buildings were sold in a public auction on 22 July 1964. On 19 October 1965, the remaining 505 acres were sold to local farmers and some temporary buildings were demolished while others have fallen into disrepair or have been adapted for other uses. Parts of the runway perimeter and the three Thor missile launchpads still remain, as do most of the accommodation buildings north of the village. In 1978 a war memorial was erected in the village.Station commanders
- Group CaptainGroup CaptainGroup captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
R S BluckeRobert BluckeAir Vice Marshal Robert Stewart Blucke CB CBE DSO AFC & Bar was a Royal Air Force officer who became Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at RAF Transport Command.-RAF career:...
, June 1943 - 31 December 1943 - Group Captain B J R King, 1 January 1944 – 1945
- Group Captain G Aylett, 1959 - 1963
Squadrons based at Ludford Magna
- No. 101 Squadron RAFNo. 101 Squadron RAFNo. 101 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Vickers VC10 C1K, K3 and K4 from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire. Since 10 Squadron disbanded in 2005, the squadron is the only operator of the VC10.-Formation and early years:...
15 June 1943 - 1 October 1945 - No. 104 Squadron RAFNo. 104 Squadron RAFNo. 104 Squadron RAF was formed at Wyton on 4 September 1917 and was equipped with the DH 9. It then moved to Andover, prior to being posted to France in May 1918. The squadron later began re-equipping with the DH 10, however the armistice arrived before this was completed and the squadron returned...
22 July 1958 - 24 May 1963
Airfield protection squadrons
- No. 2706 Sqn RAF Regiment June 1943 - November 1943
- No. 2702 Sqn RAF Regiment November 1943 - October 1945
See also
- List of World War II electronic warfare equipment
- Telecommunications Research EstablishmentTelecommunications Research EstablishmentThe Telecommunications Research Establishment was the main United Kingdom research and development organization for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force during World War II and the years that followed. The name was...
- Flensburg radar detectorFlensburg radar detectorThe FuG 227 Flensburg was a German passive radar receiver developed by Siemens AG and introduced into service in Spring 1944. It used wing-mounted dipole antennae and was sensitive to frequencies of 170-220 MHz...
- No. 100 Group RAFNo. 100 Group RAFNo. 100 Group was a special duties group within RAF Bomber Command.It was formed on 11 November 1943 to consolidate the increasingly complex business of electronic warfare and countermeasures within one organisation. The group was responsible for the development, operational trial and use of...
External links
- RAF History website
- RAF in Lincolnshire
- 101 Squadron and Ludford
- Wartime memories
- Photographs of remaining site and buildings
- WikiMapia