Barkston Heath
Location:
close to the B6403 road (Ermine Street) and
the A153 road near Ancaster
Dates of Operation:
1936 to 1942 – Relief Landing Ground &
training base
1942 to 1944 – Upgrading & under
construction
1944 to 1945 – 9th USAAF
base – Station 483
1945 to 1946 – Maintenance Command
base & RAF Regiment
1948 to 1966 – Relief Landing Ground
1966 to 1983 – Various uses including
civilian flying
1983 to 1989 – Bloodhound missile base
1989 to current – RAF training base
RAF Barkston Heath’s
current role as a Relief
Landing ground (RLG) for
RAF Cranwell, mirrors its
first activity in 1936.
In December
1942 the Aircrew
Commando School
Squadrons / Units:
(ACS) arrived from
RAF Winthorpe
5 Group Aircrew
providing
Commando School
9th USAAF 52nd Troop Carrier
training and
Wing (TCW)
discipline for
61st Troop Carrier Group (TCG)
5 Group
with 14th, 15th, 53rd & 59th Troop
aircrews
Carrier Squadrons (TCS)
between
349th TCG with 23rd, 312th, 313th
& 314th TCS
40 Group Maintenance Command
RAF Regiment
25 Sqn Bloodhound missiles
85 Sqn Bloodhound missiles
Joint Elementary Flying Training School
10
Operational Training Unit
(OTU) and Heavy Conversion
Unit (HCU) courses.
Concrete runways and hard
standings were cast during
1943, and, like other local
bases, RAF Barkston Heath
was allocated to the 9th
United States Army Air Force
(USAAF) 52nd Troop Carrier
Wing (TCW) and known as
Station 483.
The first units of the 61st
Troop Carrier Group (TCG)
arrived with Douglas C-47s
from Sicily in February 1944,
comprising the 14th, 15th,
53rd and 59th Troop Carrier
Squadrons (TCS). All four
trained locally for parachute
dropping and glider towing,
with various assault gliders.
Many of the T2 hangars were
erected alongside the Ermine
Street.