RAF Skellingthorpe
| Royal Air Force Skellingthorpe | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941–1952 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Type | Flying station |
| Role | Bomber Station |
| Part of | RAF Bomber Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Lincoln, England |
| Royal Air Force Ensign |  |
| Equipment | Handley Page Hampden, Avro Manchester, Avro Lancaster |
Royal Air Force Skellingthorpe or more simply RAF Skellingthorpe is a former Royal Air Force station which was operational during the Second World War. It was located in the city of Lincoln, England. It was known as "Skelly" by the RAF personnel serving there.
RAF Skellingthorpe opened in 1941 on a field previously called Black Moor, approximately 2 1⁄2 miles (4 km) south-east from the village of Skellingthorpe under the control of RAF Bomber Command
The airfield consisted of the standard pattern of three runways, with one Type B1 and two Type T2 hangars. Nissen huts were used for accommodation.
No. 50 Squadron RAF, equipped with Hampdens, was the first squadron based at Skellingthorpe, with the first detachment of personnel arriving shortly before the runways were complete. They were followed by No. 455 Squadron RAAF (also flying Hampdens), however this squadron moved to RAF Wigsley shortly afterwards.
The 50 Squadron Hampdens were replaced with Avro Manchesters in April 1942, then, in June 1942, Skellingthorpe was closed for runway extensions to cope with the Squadron's conversion to new Avro Lancaster aircraft.
In November 1943 a further bomber squadron, No. 61 Squadron RAF operating Avro Lancasters, arrived at Skellingthorpe, and remained until February 1944 after which it transferred to RAF Coningsby in order for accommodation to be built on the Doddington Road side of Skellingthorpe airfield.
463 Squadron moved to RAF Skellingthorpe on 3 July 1945 with Lancaster Mks I and III from RAF Waddington.
During the war the tally of bombers lost or failed to return from Skellingthorpe reached 208: 15 Hampdens, six Manchesters and 187 Lancasters. In 1981, former Chief of the Air Staff, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael Beetham, who had flown Lancasters from Skellingthorpe during the war, unveiled a memorial on the site to commemorate the 1,984 men killed flying from the airfield during the Second World War.
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