granted the Freedom of the Borough
of Grantham on 10th July 1952. This
continued until the1970s when the
base was closed through RAF
defence cuts.
It transferred to the Army on 20th
April 1975 and is now the Prince
William of Gloucester Barracks as
part of the Territorial Army Royal
Logistic Corps.
WRAF crest from RAF Spitalgate
in October 1938 with 12 Service Flying
Training School (SFTS).
RAF Grantham and its grass runways
were used extensively as the home to
12 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (AFU).
Excessive usage saw Somerfield
Tracking steel mesh system used to
help protect the surface, but it was not
successful. Some of the aircraft were
also deployed to Harlaxton.
Authorities then decided to rename
the airfield as RAF Spitalgate; this
spelling due to a typing error, not
discovered until 1952.
A wide range of training units
came through Spitalgate, which was
Harvard trainers at Spitalgate via P H T Green Collection
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