RAF Tatenhill

RAF Tatenhill
Tatenhill, Staffordshire in England
RAF Tatenhill Shown within Staffordshire RAF Tatenhill RAF Tatenhill (the United Kingdom)
Coordinates	52°48′53″N 001°45′40″W
Type	Royal Air Force satellite station
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command
Site history
Built	1941 (1941)
In use	1941 - 1947 (1947)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	134 metres (440 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 04/22  Concrete 08/26  Concrete 18/36  Concrete

Royal Air Force Tatenhill or more simply RAF Tatenhill is a former Royal Air Force satellite station in Tatenhill, Staffordshire, England, 4 NM (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) west of Burton on Trent. It was originally known as RAF Crossplains.

History

The field was built in 1941 as a satellite for No. 27 Operational Training Unit RAF (OTU) at RAF Lichfield later becoming a satellite airfield for RAF Wheaton Aston. The design was the wartime RAF standard of three co-intersecting runways, east-west, north-south diagonal. The east-west runway was the only one suitable to safely accommodate bomber take off and landings (1,600 yards (1,500 m)) which hampered its operability.

It was used as a bomber crew training field, which continued in varied training functions until 1944 with Vickers Wellington, Airspeed Oxford and Avro Anson aircraft for RAF Bomber Command. Later a single engine training unit arrived using the Miles Master aircraft. It was then used by the RAF School of Explosives after the disastrous explosion at nearby RAF Fauld, from October 1945 until January 1947. During the post Second World War period when it was still under RAF Control, RAF Tatenhill was used to break up unused and unwanted ammunition before it was dumped at sea.

The airfield had a bomb dump on the south-east side and a number of frying pan dispersals were built on land to the north of the B5234 road, with hangars in this area too.

Current use

The airfield remains in use as Tatenhill Airfield. A wartime Bellman hangar remains in use as of 2013.

References

• Delve, Ken. The military airfields of Britain; Wales and West Midlands. Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press, 2007. ISBN 978-1-861269-17-1.