RAF Fiskerton

RAF Fiskerton
Fiskerton, Lincolnshire in England
RAF Fiskerton Shown within Lincolnshire Show map of Lincolnshire RAF Fiskerton RAF Fiskerton (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	53°14′37″N 000°25′40″W / 53.24361°N 0.42778°W / 53.24361; -0.42778
Type	52 Base substation
Code	FN
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command * No. 1 Group RAF * No. 5 Group RAF
Site history
Built	1942 (1942)
In use	January 1943 - December 1945 (1945)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	15 metres (49 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 05/23  Asphalt 07/25  Asphalt 12/30  Asphalt

Royal Air Force Fiskerton or more simply RAF Fiskerton was a Royal Air Force station located north of the Lincolnshire village of Fiskerton, 5.0 miles (8.0 km) east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England. The airfield closed at the end of the war in 1945 being a satellite to RAF Scampton and very little now exists. The station was home to some 2000 personnel during the war, and various technical sites were in what is now the village of Fiskerton. A small cluster of semi-derelict buildings still exist and are still in use at the end of the present village on the road out to short ferry. Drake's view is the entrance to these old buildings.

History

It was one of many new bomber airfields built in the early part of the Second World War. The airfield was situated north of the village. It was one of only 15 RAF airfields equipped with FIDO,^[2] a fog-clearing system utilising petrol pumped through pipes alongside the main runway and burned via a sequence of nozzles.

No. 49 Squadron RAF and No. 576 Squadron RAF were stationed at RAF Fiskerton. 49 Squadron took part in the Peenemünde raid on the research and development centre for the V2 missile. 576 Squadron took part in the raid on Hitler's hideout at Berchtesgaden and in Operation Manna.^[2]

During WWII, Billy Strachan, who would go onto become a pioneer of Black civil rights in Britain, took part in 15 bombing missions from RAF Fiskerton as a member of 576 Squadron.^[3]

Between 1962 and 1992 a Headquarters of the Royal Observer Corps was located within the airfield boundary.^[2]

The following units were here at some point:^[4]

• No. 61 Maintenance Unit RAF
• No. 93 Maintenance Unit RAF
• No. 141 Squadron RAF
• No. 150 Squadron RAF with the Lancaster
• No. 255 Maintenance Unit RAF
• No. 1514 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF
• No. 1690 Bomber (Defence) Training Flight RAF
• No. 2753 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 2799 Squadron RAF Regiment

Current use

Very little now remains of the old airfield. Land which once formed part of the aerodrome was donated by the owner, the late Geoff Stuffin, so a memorial to 49 and 576 Squadrons could be erected. Today the memorial can be found on the side of the road near the old main runway together with a plaque recording the generosity of Mr Stuffin.^[5] The majority of the rest of the airfield was handed back to the farmers.^[2]

Gallery

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

Citations

Bibliography

• Falconer, J. (2012). RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Fiskerton.

• FiskertonAirfield.org.uk
• Airfields & Aviation Memorials
•  RAF Fiskerton in the IBCC Digital Archive.

This page was last edited on 30 December 2023, at 23:53