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-west of Banbury near the village of Chipping Warden, Northamptonshire, England.

RAF Chipping Warden

Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRoyal Air Force
LocationChipping Warden, Northamptonshire
Built1941
In use1941-1946
1952-1953
Coordinates52°8′35.77″N 1°16′44.34″W

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.

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.[1] During this period Avro Anson and Vickers Wellington bombers operated from the airfield.[2]

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 Horsa gliders awaiting disposal. RAF Chipping Warden then closed until September 1952, when it became home to No. 8 Flying Training School RAF until the airfield closed for a second time in September 1953.

The site is now the Appletree Trading Estate.

References
  1. Phil Tomaselli, Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors (Pen and Sword, 19 Jul 2007), p.175
  2. Tom Killebrew, The Royal Air Force in American Skies (University of North Texas Press, 15 Oct 2015), p.332
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