Monument record 0690600000 - Little Horwood Airfield

Little Horwood airfield was established to act as as a base for Operation Training Units to train recruits for combat and for 'Nickelling' (dropping propoganda leaflets over France). Rubble from bomb damaged London was brought by rail and truck to the site to be used as hardcore for the runways, dispersal areas and roads. The airfield went operational on 2nd September 1942 and served as a satellite for Wing airfield. Wellington bombers from No 26 OTU arrived along with OTU Gunnery section and the 92 Group Communications flight to commence the basic training of recruits. A notable accident was the Wellington Bomber X3790 which crashed into Winslow Town Centre on 7th August 1943 killing four of the crew and 13 civilians. No 1684 OTU Bomber Defence Training Flight moved to Little Horwood on 5th June 1943 and simulation battles were undertaken using Tomahawk aricraft. Flying finished at Little Horwood on 30th November 1945 with the remnants of No 26 OTU remaining until January 1946 (B1).
RAF detailed plans of airfield in 1945 (B3-4).
Geophysical survey carried out in January and February 2008 identified a large number of strong magnetic disturbances corresponding to the edges of the former airfield runways, perimeter and access tracks and dispersal bays. Likely to represent spreads of hardcore from construction of the airfield (B6).
Trial trench evaluation confirmed presence of settlement identified during geophysical survey. See report for further details (B7).

A Royal Air Force Airfield, and associated sites, of World War II date is visible on historic aerial photographs as extant buildings and structures and was mapped as part of the North Buckinghamshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18304). Located in the triangle formed between Great Horwood, Little Horwood and Winslow, across the parish boundary for Great and Little Horwood on the site of Greenway Farm, and centred at SP 477699 229928. The airfield was in use betwee1942 and 1946 and was a satellite site for the Airfield at Wing. It had three intersecting concrete runways, a taxiway all around the outside, with dispersal pans mainly on the south side, and a bomb store area to the north east corner. Sites within the main airfield site include the Technical and Instructional sites as well as an accommodation site (Site No 5) and there are three separate sites on the periphery: the W.A.A.F site, the Communal site and another accommodation site (Site No 1). A sewage works and three accommodation sites exist to the north west and are recorded separately (Sites No 2, 3 and 4) – see MBC43598, MBC43595, MBC43596 and
MBC43597. The Airfield was in use between 1942 and 1946. Aerial photos in 1946 show piles of plane wings and other dismantled aircraft (RAF-3G-TUD-UK-86 RV 6138 26-Mar-1946 and RAF-3G-TUD-UK-86 RV 6138 26-Mar-1946) lined up around the taxiways and on the grass near dispersal pans.
Main site and runways:
The runways formed a triangular site with a taxiway around the outside. On the south side of the runways are the dispersal pans, as single and multiple dispersals in groups. A general purpose hut, latrine and sometimes a store are close to the dispersals in places. On the north side of the taxiway, on the outside of the airfield, are the bomb stores, the technical site, instructional site and accommodation site No 5. Three further detached sites are located further to the north. Desription of sites:
Bomb Stores
The Bomb Stores at Little Horwood Airfield had four separate bomb stores, a fused and spare bomb sore, component stores, incendiary bomb stores, fusing point buildings, a pyro store and a contractor’s hut. Some of the roads and bomb stores are still visible on modern aerial photographs.
Technical Site
This site had a gas defence centre, armouries, a gun cleaning room, camera stores, storehouses and workshops, offices, firefighting water supply, a parachute store, R.U. (ready use) pyro store, the YMCA office and chapel, fuel compound, lubricant and inflammable store, M.T. (motor transport) wash down and ramp, a t” hangar, squadron and flight officers, aviation petrol supply, watch office, N.F.E. (night flying equipment) store, fire party hut, sleeve streamer mast and an over blister hangar. There are also ablutions blocks and latrines, crew rest, lockers, drying rooms, and a sentry box. Some of this area has been converted to industrial type buildings, some are still extant (store house and flight office) and the remains are under grassland or arable land use. All blast shelters and air raid shelters have been demolished. The aviation fuel depot is overgrown and the building may still be standing.
Instructional Site
The instructional site had the crew procedure centre, link trainers (flight simulators), two instructional blocks, two A.M. (Air Ministry) Bomber Teachers, briefing tooms, W/T (Wireless telegraphy) instruction centre, the speech broadcasting building, the intelligence library and latrines.
They were mainly nissen huts and temporary brick buildings.
Accommodation site No 5
This accommodation site has airmen’s quarters, sergeants’ mess, officers’ quarters, and ablutions blocks; all accommodation buildings were nissen huts.
Communal Site:
The communal site contains a store for rations, a dining room and cinema, a medical inspection hut, post office, fuel compound, institute (with staff room), fire fighting tank, stand by set house, sick quarters, ambulance garage and mortuary, and mess buildings and latrines. The majority of this site has been redeveloped for houses and a mobile home site.
W.A.A.F. Site (Women’s Auxiliary Airforce
The W.A.A.F. site includes a Airwomen’s Quarters, dining room, hairdresser’s shop, ablutions and decontamination block (type 4), some buildings converted from former contractors’ buildings and a picket post (sentry box).
Site No 1
This is an accommodation site with quarters for Airmen, Sergeants and Officers with a mechanical and Electric plinth (M&E plinth – electricity substation) and a picket post (sentry box).
Modern aerial photos show most of the airfield features have been removed, with only some of the taxiway and some of the roads around the bomb stores remaining. The predominant land use is arable and lidar visualisations show most of the area has been ploughed flat. Cropmarks of ridge and furrow fields can be seen on the 1940s aerial photographs across most of the site and earthworks only remain in very small areas on the periphery. Full information is on th eRAF plan of the site. (11-21)