RAF Mepal
RAF Mepal  | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry/Ministry of Defence | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Mepal, Cambridgeshire | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1942 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In use | 1943-1963 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 52°23′44″N 000°07′11″E / 52.39556°N 0.11972°E | ||||||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||||||
  Mepal Airfield Location in Cambridgeshire | |||||||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Runway information[1] | |||||||||||||||||||
RAF Mepal is a former RAF station located 0.7 miles (1.1 km) south of Mepal, Cambridgeshire, England and 5.9 miles (9.5 km) west of Ely. Construction commenced in July 1942 and opened in June 1943.[1][2]
History[]
Mepal first hosted No. 75 (NZ) Squadron RAF flying Short Stirlings and later Avro Lancasters.[3]
Tiger Force[]
It was used towards the end of the Second World War to prepare Avro Lancaster bombers squadrons such as No. 44 (Rhodesia) squadron for use in Tiger Force which was to bomb Japan.[4]
Thor missiles[]
From 1957 PGM-17 Thor missiles were based at the airfield in the north east corner.[1][5]
Current use[]
Very little remains of the original site, most of it razed to the ground after the USAF and their Thor missiles left. The site is now the Elean business park and is home to the world's only straw burning power station and a few manufacturing and warehousing operations. A small memorial plaque is in place at the entrance to the site.
See also[]
References[]
- ^ a b c "Bomber Command - Mepal". Ministry of Defence - Royal Air Force. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ "Mepal". Control Towers. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ "Mepal". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ "RAF Mepal". Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ "RAF Mepal Thor Missile Site". English Heritage - Pastscape. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
External links[]
Media related to RAF Mepal at Wikimedia Commons
| Formations and units |
|  | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branches and components | ||||||||
| Reserve forces | ||||||||
| Associated civil organisations | ||||||||
| Equipment | ||||||||
| Personnel |
| |||||||
| Appointments | ||||||||
| Symbols and uniform | ||||||||
- Defunct airports in England
- Royal Air Force stations in Cambridgeshire
- Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
- Military units and formations established in 1942
- Military units and formations disestablished in 1963