Gransden Lodge Airfield

For the nearby airfield in Little Gransden, see Little Gransden Airfield.

Gransden Lodge Airfield
Memorial
Summary
Airport typePrivate
OperatorPrivate
LocationGreat Gransden, Cambridgeshire
Built1941 (1941)
In use1942-1955 (1955)
Elevation AMSL230 ft / 70 m
Coordinates52°10′54″N 000°06′49″W / 52.18167°N 0.11361°W / 52.18167; -0.11361
Map
Gransden Lodge Airfield is located in Cambridgeshire
Gransden Lodge Airfield
Gransden Lodge Airfield
Location in Cambridgeshire
Map

Gransden Lodge Airfield is a former wartime airfield located 10.1 mi (16.3 km) west of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

The Cambridge University Gliding Club (now Cambridge Gliding Centre) moved to Gransden Lodge in October 1991, having previously shared Duxford Airfield with the Imperial War Museum Duxford.

History

Gransden Lodge opened in April 1942 as an operational RAF Bomber Command station called RAF Gransden Lodge with three concrete runways. At the end of 1945 the airfield was transferred to Transport Command but the last operational squadron was disbanded in February 1946. The RAF station closed in 1955 and it was also used for some motor races, including the first major postwar motor race in the UK on 15 June 1946.

Operational units

Squadron Aircraft Variants From To To Notes
No. 53 Squadron Consolidated Liberator VI/VIII 1 December 1945 28 February 1946 Disbanded [1]
No. 97 Squadron Avro Lancaster I/III 18 April 1943 18 April 1944 RAF Coningsby Detachment from RAF Bourn.[2]
No. 142 Squadron de Havilland Mosquito XXV 25 October 1944 28 September 1945 Disbanded Reformed here.[3]
No. 169 Squadron North American Mustang I 5 March 1943 10 March 1943 RAF Bottisham [4]
No. 192 Squadron Vickers Wellington
de Havilland Mosquito
Handley Page Halifax 		IC, III, X
IV
II 		4 January 1943 5 April 1943 RAF Feltwell [5]
No. 405 Squadron Handley Page Halifax
Avro Lancaster 		II
I, III 		19 April 1943 26 May 1945 RAF Linton-on-Ouse [6]
No. 421 Squadron Supermarine Spitfire VB 5 March 1943 10 March 1943 RAF Fowlmere [7]
No. 692 Squadron de Havilland Mosquito XVI 4 June 1945 20 September 1945 Disbanded [8]

Units

The following units were also here at some point:[9]

Current use

The Cambridge Gliding Centre now uses the airfield.

References

Citations

  1. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 42.
  2. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 53.
  3. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 61.
  4. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 64.
  5. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 66.
  6. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 89.
  7. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 91.
  8. ^ Jefford 1988, p. 105.
  9. ^ "Gransden Lodge". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 10 February 2016.

Bibliography

  • Jefford, C G (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
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