RAF Grimsby
RAF Grimsby (Waltham)
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Surviving B1 hangar
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Waltham, Lincolnshire | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1941 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In use | 1941-1946 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 72 ft / 22 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53°30′11″N 000°04′56″W / 53.50306°N 0.08222°WCoordinates: 53°30′11″N 000°04′56″W / 53.50306°N 0.08222°W | ||||||||||||||||||
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 RAF Grimsby
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| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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RAF Grimsby in Lincolnshire, England, was a Second World War Royal Air Force bomber aerodrome. It initially opened as a satellite station for the Wellington bombers of RAF Binbrook. By early 1943 the station was equipped with Lancaster bombers of 100 Squadron.
Although the station was officially called RAF Grimsby, servicemen and locals referred to it as Waltham, the name of the nearby village Waltham.
Flying began at Waltham in 1933 when a grassed strip operated as Grimsby's municipal airport and a small aero club was formed at the airfield.
In June 1938, the airfield's's first military resident's were Bomber Command's 5 Group who set up an RAFVR training outfit (the 25 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School). The Civil Air Guard also operated from the aerodrome.
The airfield was requisitioned by the Air Ministry in May 1940. The aerodrome was then prepared through the summer of 1940 with concrete runways (the first in north Lincolnshire) to accommodate bombers of 1 Group. The aerodrome became operational in the summer of 1941 and was initially a satellite airfield for the nearby RAF Binbrook. The Wellington squadrons based at Binbrook would use Waltham as their own airfield did not have concrete runways.
Throughout the war the station was under 1 Group Bomber Command. Three squadrons served at RAF Grimsby during its operation: 142 Squadron moved to the airfield in November 1941; 100 Squadron arrived in December 1942; and 550 Squadron (formed from 100 Squadron's C-Flight).
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Wikipedia