Former RAF Hemswell: aerial
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Former RAF Hemswell: aerial by Chris as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Former RAF Hemswell: aerial
Image: © Chris Taken: 2 Sep 2012
Harpswell aerodrome, as it was known, dates from 1916, when it opened as a night landing ground for the RFC. During 1918, 199 and 200 Training Squadrons were based here, but the airfield was soon returned to pasture by 1919. In 1935 construction began on the compulsory repurchased land. RAF Hemswell opened in January 1937 as a 5 Gp station, transferring to 1 Gp in June 1941. 61 Squadron's Hemswell-based Hampdens were the first Bomber Command aircraft to drop bombs on German soil, on 19 Mar 1940. The target was the Hornum seaplane base. The last flying squadrons departed in Jan 1956, but RAF Hemswell then became a missile unit with 3 Thor IRBM launchers of 97(SM) Squadron RAF present here from December 1959 to May 1963. http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/hemswell/hemswell.htm It is now claimed to be the largest antiques centre in Europe.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
53.400222
Longitude
-0.576399