RAF Greatham ![]() | |||||||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||||||
Airport type | Royal Air Force satellite station | ||||||||||||||
Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||
Location | Greatham | ||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 54°38′58″N 001°12′46″W / 54.64944°N 1.21278°W | ||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Royal Air Force Greatham or more simply RAF Greatham is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located in Greatham, County Durham, England.
It was also known as RAF West Hartlepool and was located at Hartlepool and was little more than a grass airstrip, a satellite station of RAF Thornaby.
History
[edit]It was home to four of 403 Squadron's Supermarine Spitfires from 19 June 1942 to 22 January 1943; operating forward from RAF Catterick.
The airfield was once home to No. 645 Volunteer Gliding School,[1] who operate Grob Vigilant Motor Gliders for the Air Training Corps. They are now located at RAF Topcliffe in Yorkshire.
The following units were also here at some point:[2]
- 'N' Flight of No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF
- No. 6 (Coastal) OTU RAF
- No. 26 Gliding School RAF
- No. 32 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF
- No. 243 Squadron RAF
- No. 1613 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF
- No. 2782 Squadron RAF Regiment
- No. 4054 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment
Current use
[edit]Little now remains, as the site was developed after the war by British Steel Corporation.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron". 645 Volunteer Gliding Squadron. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
- ^ "West Hartlepool (Greatham)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 1 October 2021.