Gransden Lodge Airfield

Gransden Lodge Airfield
Memorial
IATA: none – ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type	Private
Operator	Private
Location	Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire
Built	1941
In use	1942-1955
Elevation AMSL	230 ft / 70 m
Coordinates	52°10′54″N 000°06′49″W / 52.18167°N 0.11361°WCoordinates: 52°10′54″N 000°06′49″W / 52.18167°N 0.11361°W
Map
Gransden Lodge Airfield Location in Cambridgeshire

Gransden Lodge Airfield is a former wartime airfield located 10.1 mi (16.3 km) west of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

The Cambridge University Gliding Club (now Cambridge Gliding Centre) moved to Gransden Lodge in October 1991, having previously shared Duxford Airfield with the Imperial War Museum Duxford.

History

Gransden Lodge opened in April 1942 as an operational RAF Bomber Command station called RAF Gransden Lodge with three concrete runways. At the end of 1945 the airfield was transferred to Transport Command but the last operational squadron was disbanded in February 1946. The RAF station closed in 1955 and it was also used for some motor races, including the 1st postwar motor race in the UK on 13 July 1947.

Operational Units

Squadron	Aircraft	Variants	From	To	To	Notes
No. 53 Squadron	Consolidated Liberator	VI/VIII	1 December 1945	28 February 1946	Disbanded	[1]
No. 97 Squadron	Avro Lancaster	I/III	18 April 1943	18 April 1944	RAF Coningsby	Detachment from RAF Bourn.[2]
No. 142 Squadron	de Havilland Mosquito	XXV	25 October 1944	28 September 1945	Disbanded	Reformed here.[3]
No. 169 Squadron	North American Mustang	I	5 March 1943	10 March 1943	RAF Bottisham	[4]
No. 192 Squadron	Vickers Wellington de Havilland Mosquito Handley Page Halifax	IC, III, X IV II	4 January 1943	5 April 1943	RAF Feltwell	[5]
No. 405 Squadron	Handley Page Halifax Avro Lancaster	II I, III	19 April 1943	26 May 1945	RAF Linton-on-Ouse	[6]
No. 421 Squadron	Supermarine Spitfire	VB	5 March 1943	10 March 1943	RAF Fowlmere	[7]
No. 692 Squadron	de Havilland Mosquito	XVI	4 June 1945	20 September 1945	Disbanded	[8]

Units

The following units were here at some point:^[9]

• No. 1418 Flight RAF
• No. 1474 (Special Duties) Flight RAF
• No. 1507 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF
• No. 1696 (Bomber) Defence Training Flight RAF
• Pathfinder Navigation Training Unit RAF

Current use

The Cambridge Gliding Centre now uses the airfield.

References

Citations

1. Jefford 1988, p. 42.
2. Jefford 1988, p. 53.
3. Jefford 1988, p. 61.
4. Jefford 1988, p. 64.
5. Jefford 1988, p. 66.
6. Jefford 1988, p. 89.
7. Jefford 1988, p. 91.
8. Jefford 1988, p. 105.
9. "Gransden Lodge". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 10 February 2016.

Bibliography

• Jefford MBE, Wg Cdr C G (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.

External links

• Wartime information
• Gransden Lodge Airfield history
• Cambridge Gliding Centre