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October 12, 2017

Haunted airfields in the UK: 5 terrifying locations

There are a few sights more unsettling than that of an abandoned airfield or a hangar after dark, places that were often subject to events of considerable historic trauma or sadness. Here are 5 of the UK’s most supernaturally active airfields.

RAF Metheringham , Lincolnshire

Dozens of reports have been made of a ghostly female figure stalking the area near this former WW2 bomber airfield in Lincolnshire. The spectre is believed to be the lingering spirit of Catherine Bystock, a 19-year-old member of the Women’s Auxillary Air Force who was courting a flight sergeant based at Metheringham.

The pair were due to be married yet their love would be cut short when Bystock was thrown from her lover’s sidecar and killed. Her apparition – still dressed in WAAF attire – appears at the spot where she died, sometimes flagging down passing motorists to aid the stricken pair. Be careful when you’re in the area at around 9:30pm, that’s when the ‘Metheringham Lass’ appears.

Grove Airfield , Oxfordshire

Although the runways are now largely overrun by agriculture, at its peak during WW2 both RAF and USAAF men were based at the site as squadrons primarily used the site as a base from where to launch reconnaissance missions.

Seen near the former chapel, a ghostly pilot wearing an oxygen mask is theorised to be either a fighter pilot who crashed and burned to death or a crewman from Wantage named Symons whose Lancaster went down nearby while his father watched from the ground. Voices with no apparent source have also been heard in a hangar where an American serviceman hanged himself years before.

RAF Bircham Newton , Norfolk

Located just south of Docking, the area was first used for military operations in WWI, at one point housing the Handley Page V/1500 bomber, the largest craft of its type at the time. The base was redeveloped for Coastal Command during WW2 and it’s believed three crewmen who crashed their Lockheed Hudson at the base now haunt its squash courts.

The men were frequent players of the racquet sport and numerous sources – including a Japanese TV crew filming a documentary – have reported hearing the sound of ball on string and wall or doors mysteriously closing. The noises of everyday airfield life and phantom aircraft overhead have also been noted, further adding to the station’s paranormal intrigue.

RAF Elsham Wolds , Lincolnshire

This former heavy bomber station – once home to a Lancaster that held the record for most operational sorties over 974 hours of flight time – was notorious for its challenging conditions and some thick fog led to one of the first reported ghost stories at the location.

In 1945, Corporal Hilary got lost in thick fog while driving across the airfield. When he stopped, some crewmen appeared from the fog but completely ignored his request for directions before disappearing into the fog again. After the war, a family living in the control tower were regularly visited by an airman, heard unusual morse code tappings and even saw a phantom Lancaster take off outside.

RAF Alconbury , Cambridgeshire

Despite this base still being active – the current USAAF occupants will leave in the coming years however – there is no shortage of supernatural goings on. Many stationed at the base have reported seeing an unearthly creature – potentially a werewolf – prowling the area and one witness was so spooked he locked himself in a cockpit and refused to come out.

A tale from the 1970s also tells of a pilot found unresponsive in the back of a phantom jet, with some saying that the man had been quite literally frightened to death. The whole area is rife with paranormal activity and the laughs of children killed in a nearby train crash in 1876 can be heard within Alconbury’s grounds – thank god there’s plenty of aircraft to make a quick escape from the area.

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The Haunted Airfields of WWII Britain

In the run up to release of THE WOMAN IN BLACK: ANGEL OF DEATH we're taking a look at the haunted history of Britain's abandoned WWII airfields...

In the UK between 1939 and 1945, hundreds of airforce bases were hastily built to help house the vast numbers of military aircraft flying from Britain to mainland Europe. Following the war, and with no use left for them, these airfields were left to become derelict and overgrown. In the years since however, accounts of strange goings-on began to surface from airfields across the country, and stories of odd noises, ghostly aircraft and phantom-like presences began to be told by terrified witnesses…

Have a look below at the most hair-raising of these stories-

1. RAF Elsham Wolds

Forgotten Airfields

This airfield is known for being a cold, bleak place where ice and fogs are not uncommon. During WWII, these elements were the cause of numerous accidents and deaths.

Just before the end of the war, in January 1945, Corporal Hilary became lost while driving a van across the airfield, due to a thick fog which had descended to cover everything in sight. Upon exiting the van to try and locate her position, Hilary witnessed something to make her heart pause; three aircrew, in full flying kit, emerging from the mist, lit by the headlight beams of Hilary’s van. Though stunned Hilary managed to ask the crew for directions, but the three continued on without a word, disappearing back into the fog.

Later that day Corporal Hilary discovered that all flights had been called off due to the mist, and no aircrew were on the grounds. So was it a phantom crew Hilary saw?

2. RAF East Kirkby

57 & 630 Squadron’s Association

The site of numerous WWII plane crashes, over the years RAF East Kirkby has become known for such supernatural phenomena as phantom pilots, ghostly footsteps, and- perhaps most notable- a haunted control tower.

Airfield Information Exchange

Inside this tower, a number of staff have experienced the unsettling feeling of being ‘watched’, and the dull murmur of voices has been heard when nobody else is around. There is also a common account of phones which ring through the night from inside, even though the control tower phones- old-fashioned rotary dials- are unplugged. And finally, at night passers-by have noted mysterious green lights coming from inside the tower.

3 RAF Binbrook

According to reports, the chilling phantom of an airman can been seen walking the perimeter of Binbrook airfield in Lincolnshire. It has been surmised that this is the ghost of Australian armourer Sgt. Sinclair- nicknamed Clubfoot- who died while trying to sabotage a colleague’s Lancaster bomber. Apparently the colleague in question had injured Clubfoot previously, and Clubby wanted to gain revenge. In addition to limping around the airfield perimeter, Clubfoot has been seen waving wildly in the air and trying to flag down passing vehicles.

Haunted Lincolnshire

4. RAF Waltham

Numerous staff from a factory situated on this old airfield claim to have had repeated sightings of a headless airman in full flying gear. One witness alleges he was so terrified by the sight, the front of his hair turned white.

5 RAF Biggin Hill

Hammer Films

Huffington Post

A phantom Spitfire is said to haunt the skies of Biggin Hill, with many people claiming to have seen it flying overhead. Look out after the New Year in particular, as January is apparently the most popular month for it to be sighted.

Trench coat-wearing airmen have also been reported in the village, where they are said to stop people to ask for directions before disappearing into the night.

Associated Newspapers/ Rex Features

Eager for more info on Britain’s haunted wartime airfields? Check out The Woman in Black: Angel of Death when it hits screens on 1/1/15 (US release: 2/1/15)

Also, why not pick up a copy of Helen Dunmore’s WWII-set The Greatcoat?

Here is Hammer’s handy ghost guide, to help you tell your apparitions from your vortex!

I ain’t afraid of no… oh, wait, hang on…

Watch out for these 8 blood-curdling beasts on your next trip around the British Isles!

Take a look at these 16 dream worlds which became crumbling nightmares!

With only days until the release of THE WOMAN IN BLACK: ANGEL OF DEATH, Hammer runs down a list of the most hair-raising haunted houses in literature!

• Terms & conditions

© Hammer Films Ltd

Lincolnshire’s Haunted Airfields

A faint throb of a Lancaster returning in the morning mist, a light flickers in a disused control tower and a roar of laughter comes from the derelict pilot’s quarters. The ghosts of Britain’s abandoned airfields have intrigued investigators for years. These ghostly tales are from people who have experienced a close brush with the supernatural in some of Britain’s most eeriest places.

There are at least eight books that detail the appearances and habits of ghosts at Lincolnshire’s airfields, whether derelict or not. What attracts people to read these books is the reality behind the stories, often very sad or heart-warming but most of all chilling.

Waltham’s Ghostly Airman

The Royal Air Force quickly abandoned many airfields after the Second World War, RAF Waltham, near Grimsby is one such airfield.

RAF Waltham was opened as a heavy-bomber station with squadrons of Wellington Bombers stationed there. While stationed at Waltham, No. 100 squadron attacked targets across Germany and the occupied countries of Europe. In 1945 the station closed and the No.35 maintenance unit used the airfield for storage but this wasn’t for long and they too left.

According to Bruce Halpenny in “Ghost Stations” late in 1969, Susan Burchell lived on the perimeter of the airfield, and her house was built on the foundations of old wartime huts. One night, Susan awoke to see in the gloom, somebody standing at the foot of her bed. She switched on her bedside lamp and clearly saw the figure of a young ginger-haired airman in uniform, with one sleeve pinned to his shoulder.

The phantom airman continued to stare at Burchell before moving slowly towards her wardrobe and disappearing into it.

Susan began to scream and awoke her parents. They began to search the house and garden, including the wardrobe but found nothing. Although the airman never appeared again, the family soon moved out.

Local folklore claims that the hut which Burchell’s house was built over was destroyed when an ex-crew member who had done many missions and been declared unfit for flying, due to injuries caused in an attack, killed himself with a hand-grenade.

Other airmen have been seen walking around the airstrip, once a popular area for courting couples. In 1982, a phantom airman was seen walking up and down before vanishing into the darkness. A memorial for the No.100 squadron situated on a nearby road also has a phantom airman who appears regularly.

RAF Metheringham’s Phantom Lady

Although little remains of RAF Metheringham , its ghost continues to remind people that it played an important role in World War 2.

A young lady, in her late teens, is often spotted standing at the side of the road between 9:30 and 10:00 pm. She stands on what was once part of the airfield and wears a pale green coat with a grey scarf. Pinned to her lapel is an RAF wings badge. The ghost has stopped cyclists, motorists and pedestrians, asking for help, telling whoever she stops that her fiancé has skidded riding his motorcycle and is lying injured nearby. The ghost appears quite real rather than the ethereal. As with most road ghosts, there is a sinister side to the sighting. On her sudden disappearance, the witness is stricken with inexplicable fear, panic and sense of unreality. The ghost leaves behind a powerful odour of putrefaction. One witness who met the lady said, “I could not see her eyes, or horribly, no eyes in the sockets at all, the frontal skull orbits were empty!”

Halpenny claims that the young lady was killed near the end of World War 2 when her fiancé crashed his bike, throwing her off it, and breaking her neck and causing terrible head injuries. The two were due to be married and she had just ordered her wedding gown.

The Most Haunted Airfield?

RAF Elsham Wold opened in July 1941; similar to Waltham, as a heavy bomber station and from the outset it held Wellingtons, Halifaxes and finally Lancaster Bombers. Elsham Wold is a cold bleak site and the squadrons based there had many losses and accidents caused by ice and freezing fog.

In January 1945, Corporal Hilary, took a van across the far side of the airfield, due to the thick fog, Hilary had to drive with the van lights full on. It was midday and Hilary became lost out on the airfield. She stepped out of the van to try and locate her position when she saw coming out of the fog into the van headlights three aircrews in the full flying kit. She asked them for directions but they just walked past and disappeared into the fog. That day no flying took place because of the fog and aircrew would not have walked across the field. Did Hilary see a phantom crew?

The airfield closed in 1947 and a new road cuts through the airfield. For many years the Gregory family lived in the wartime control tower at Elsham Wold. They often heard mysterious morse code messages and saw phantom airmen walking around their home.

Their first experiences came as soon as they moved into the tower. A tapping noise could be heard on one of the walls, the noise continued for months and the Gregorys realised that there was a pattern to the tapping. When ex-servicemen visited the tower, they told the Gregory’s that it was in fact morse code.

As with most haunted airfields, a phantom airman kept the family spooked. The airman would appear at the bottom of Mr and Mrs Gregory’s bed, smile and then disappear. One night he was seen by Mr Gregory sitting in one of their chairs smiling once again when Gregory moved, the airman stood up and disappeared.

Another incident involved the Gregory’s son, Paul. One night, Mrs Gregory heard her son screaming in the middle of the night.

“When I went in his room, he was sitting up in bed screaming his head off,” she said. “He said ‘Can’t you hear that plane? It’s taking off and it’s not coming back.

Paul described in great detail a four-engined aircraft and its seven-man crew he had seen taking off from the old main runaway, which is less than 100 yards from his bedroom window in the control tower.

Today, the tower no longer exists, demolished to make way for a new road from the M180 and the Humber Bridge. The road also follows the line of one of Elsham Wold’s runways – so one foggy night you might meet one of its phantom aircrews.

MJ Wayland is a No.1 bestselling writer, researcher and historian specialising in ghosts, supernatural and Fortean subjects. His research has appeared in dozens of publications and he has consulted and appeared in over one hundred television programmes and documentaries. Over the last fifteen years, he has lectured internationally, appearing at the Oxford Literary Festival and Latitude Festival. His research has taken him from the dark haunted castles of Britain to the haunted graveyards of New Orleans, Loch Ness to Vlad The Impaler’s Castle, Romania.

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The Wartime Memories Project - RAF Elsham Wold during the Second World War -

Airfields Index This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.     Site Home     WW2 Home     Add Stories     WW2 Search     Library     Help & FAQs   WW2 Features     Airfields     Allied Army     Allied Air Forces     Allied Navy     Axis Forces     Home Front     Battles     Prisoners of War     Allied Ships     Women at War     Those Who Served     Day-by-Day     Library     The Great War   Submissions     Add Stories     Time Capsule     TWMP on Facebook     Childrens Bookshop   FAQ's     Help & FAQs     Glossary     Volunteering     Contact us     News     Bookshop     About Advertisements var uri = 'https://impgb.tradedoubler.com/imp?type(img)g(21328318)a(2412718)' + new String (Math.random()).substring (2, 11); document.write(' '); World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945 RAF Elsham Wold    During WW1, FE2b aircraft of 33 Home Defence Squadron operated from airfields in this area from December 1916 to June 1919. In WW2, RAF Elsham Wolds became a Heavy Bomber Station of No 1 Group home to Wellington I, Halifax II and Lancaster III of 103 Squadron. The most successful Lancaster of all time flew from this station - ED888 Mk2 with 140 operations (including 98 to Germany with 15 of these over Berlin). This aircraft was scrapped after the war. Between May 1942 and October 1943 Elsham Wolds was home to 103 Conversion Flight with Halifax II. The station also acted as Relief Landing Ground for 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit from Blyton between January 1943 and April 1945 576 Squadron was formed here in November 1943 with Lancaster I and III, they moved to Fiskerton in October 1944. April 1945 to December 1945 saw 100 Squadron using the station, their last op took place on 25th April 1945 to Berchtesgarden. After the Bomber Squadrons left, 21 HGCU of Transport Command were here from December 1945 to November 1946 with Halifax, Albermarle and Horsa gliders. Today the site is used for agriculture and industry. Squadrons stationed at RAF Elsham Wolds: No: 100 Squadron from April 1945 to December 1945 No: 103 Squadron from 11th July 1941 103 Conversion Flight from May 1942 to October 1943 No: 576 Squadron from November 1943 to October 1944   11th July 1941   New airbase 16th Oct 1941   Aircraft Lost July 1942   Re-equipped with heavy bombers October 1942   Equipped with Lancasters 5th October 1942   Bombing raid a failure 10th October 1942   Wellington crashed on training flight 21st November 1942   Operations resumed 15th December 1942   Squadron re-formed 21st Dec 1942   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 22nd Dec 1942   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 10th Jan 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 21st Jan 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 22nd Jan 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 17th Feb 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 27th Feb 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 27th Feb 1943   Lancaster lost in Training 2nd Mar 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 4th Mar 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 17th Jun 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 1st Apr 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 10th Apr 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 14 April 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 4th May 1943   Ops 9th Jun 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 15th Jun 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 17th Jun 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 4th Jul 1943   Two 103 Squadron Lancasters lost 13th Jul 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 24th July 1943   Lancaster lost 24th Jul 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 26th Jul 1943   Night Operations 3rd Aug 1943   103 Squadron Lancasters lost 10th Aug 1943   Mid-air collision 18th Aug 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 23rd Aug 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 1st Sep 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 28th Sep 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 21st Oct 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 22nd Oct 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 16th December 1943   Lancasters in mid-air crash 30th Dec 1943   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 15th February 1944   Lancaster lost 20th February 1944   Lancaster lost 20th Febriary 1944   Collision on the runway 31st Mar 1944   Aircraft Lost 6th Jun 1944   Lancaster Lost 13th June 1944   Lancasters shoot each other down 17th June 1944   Lancaster lost 15th Jul 1944   103 Squadron Lancaster lost 29th Jul 1944   576 Squadron Lancaster lost 4th January 1945   Mission aborted but aircraft lost 28th February 1945   Two Lancasters lost 2nd of April 1945   Relocated 26th April 1945   Final Ops 27th April 1945   PoW transport 29th April 1945   Operation Manna If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.

//courtesy of BoogieJack.com function killCopy(e){ return false } function reEnable(){ return true } document.onselectstart=new Function ("return false") if (window.sidebar){ document.onmousedown=killCopy document.onclick=reEnable } The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. Announcements The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 24 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web. Looking for help with Family History Research?   Please read our Family History FAQ's The Wartime Memories Project is run by volunteers and the free to access part of the website is funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

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80 Years of Elsham Wolds Marked

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Introduction The Association exists to keep alive the history and memory of those who served at Royal Air Force Elsham Wolds, over 75 years ago. Membership is for veterans and their descendants or anyone with an interest in this particular piece of fascinating history. Background Elsham Wolds was the site of an airfield on the Lincolnshire Wolds, north of Barnetby-le-Wold in North Lincolnshire. A landing ground was first established there during World War I, but it was in World War II that it came to prominence as the home of 103 and 576 Squadrons of RAF Bomber Command. Few traces remain of what was one of the first and most important World War II RAF stations in the area. It was also headquarters of No. 13 Base, comprising the Squadrons based there and at nearby Kirmington and North Killingholme. About Us Those who had been stationed at Elsham Wolds held numerous dinners and informal "get-togethers" in post-war years. However, it was only in 1979 that The RAF Elsham Wolds Association was formally established by airmen and ground personnel who had served at the old airfield. The Association has now existed in various incarnations ever since and marked its 40th Anniversary in 2019. One of the more important things we do is maintain a Memorial and garden, dedicated to those who never returned from operations. These are located outside a small museum housed in our Memorial Room , containing numerous artefacts relating to the airfield, it's history and personnel. The Museum and garden area are in a secure site forming a Water Treatment Plant and loaned by Anglian Water. Any visit must be made by prior arrangement only. Details can be found by 'clicking' the tab, above.

Further details about the airfield and its Squadrons are on our History Pages . For more on RAF history, how to conduct research and other Information or Social Media go to Resources & Links .

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Previous Website History News Page Updated - 2/10/2022 New Forms & Docs in Members Area - 23/09/22 News and Members Area updated - 25/08/22 News/Archive, 576 History and Members Area updated + minor changes to other pages - 11+12/06/22 History and Resources Updated - 1/06/22 News, Members & Home Page revisions - 30 & 31/10/21 + 19 - 24/12/21, 3/01/22, 1/05/22 + 17&18/05/22 Minor corrections and amendments - 27/09 + Members Pages updated - 30/09/21 News update with 'Beta' pages added to Research & Social - 2/09/21 Navigation Bar modified after 26/08 News and Member Updates - 27/08/21 News and Members' Pages revised with new content - 24/08/2021 Reunion News and Member Updates added, with Forms revised - 28/07/2021 History, Memorial Room and News revised, with 80th Annniversary hyperlink (above) and new Members content included - 14/07/2021 News updates with additional content included (as noted) on 19/05/2021; 26/02/2021 (further Archive pages also added) and 7/01/2021 Relaunched 26/09/2020, with 2019/20 News Archive + revamped Home, Memorial Room, History & Resources Pages added later

DISCLAIMER The RAF Elsham Wolds Association (also referred to as 'EWA') will not be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website. Any reliance you place on the information on this website, provided for general information purposes only, is strictly at your risk. See also our Research & Social page for External Websites policy.

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  24/10/23

Airfield search

Elsham wolds, did you know.

The most individually successful Avro Lancaster of them all, ED888 'Mike Squared', flew from Elsham Wolds and eventually made 140 operational sorties prior to retirement. For whatever reason, this aircraft was scrapped after World War Two.

An area just west of the First World War airfield of Elsham may have been identified as a potential site for flying in the 1930s and was certainly approved for requisitioning on 19 June 1940. However, it was not until June 1941 that Elsham Wolds opened as a heavy bomber station. No 103 Squadron operated from this airfield for the remainder of the war, using as time progressed Vickers Wellingtons, Handley Page Halifaxes and Avro Lancasters. The unit is credited with the highest number of operational sorties of any No 1 Group squadron, although therefore suffered the highest number of losses. From the beginning of 1943 to spring of 1945, Elsham Wolds was used as a relief landing ground by No 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit, based at nearby Blyton . Other users of Elsham Wolds included No 576 Squadron, which joined No 103 Squadron at the airfield with Lancasters in November 1943 for almost a year, before moving to Fiskerton . No 100 Squadron also flew from here during the last few weeks of the war. Following the end of the conflict, after a few months the Lancasters moved to Scampton in December 1945, No 103 Squadron having just been renumbered as No 57 Squadron. Airspeed Horsa gliders with their Handley Page Halifax and Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle tugs of No 21 Heavy Glider Conversion Unit moved in from Brize Norton , once their new home had switched from Bomber to Transport Command. When the HGCU transferred to North Luffenham after a year during November/December 1946, this saw the end of flying at Elsham Wolds with it being downgraded to Care and Maintenance. Derequisitioning of the airfield occurred in 1948 after its closure the previous summer. The main technical area existed at the east of this site where most of the hangars were situated. At least the single J hangar survives as part of an industrial estate but much of the rest of the airfield has been removed, with what remains of the three runways being in a particularly bad state. The A15 road running towards the Humber Bridge now bisects Elsham Wolds, while its control tower notably served as a house for many years prior to demolition in the 1980s.

The following organisations are either based at, use and/or have at least potentially significant connections with the airfield (as at 01/09/2011):

• Anglian Water - Water Treatment Works
• ANVSJ Group - Brigg Self Storage and Pallets
• Bemis Elsham Ltd
• Blended Products Ltd
• Ceva Logistics Ltd
• Dowse Haulage Ltd
• Elsham Parish Council
• G F P Agricultural Ltd
• Healthfresh Foods Ltd
• IG Industries
• J.H.P. Storage Ltd 
• Lincoln & York
• Pipers Crisps Ltd
• RAF Elsham Wolds Association
• Synectics Industrial Systems
• VegPro Limited

Main unit(s) present:

No 103 Con Flight

No 1503 BAT Flight

No 1662 HCU

• No 2835 Sqn RAF Regiment

Photographs and video from the memorial unveiling on 12 May 2018:

An Avro Lancaster at Elsham Wolds, photograph taken as part of the publicity for 'Wings for Victory Week', 6-13 March 1943.  © IWM CH 8965

An Avro Lancaster on the flarepath at Elsham Wolds during the Battle of the Ruhr, March 1943.  © IWM CH 9030

An Avro Lancaster on the flarepath at Elsham Wolds during the Battle of the Ruhr, March 1943.  © IWM CH 9029

Runway 14:32, looking south east from the runway 02:20 intersection, 29 May 2008.  © Richard Flagg

J Type Aircraft Shed at Elsham Wolds, 29 May 2008.  © Richard Flagg

Runway 14:32, looking north west from the runway 02:20 intersection, 29 May 2008.  © Richard Flagg

Runway 02:20, looking south from the runway 14:32 intersection, 28 April 2016.  © Richard Flagg

The surviving J hangar at Elsham Wolds, 12 May 2018.

The perimeter track at Elsham Wolds, c. 2015.  Courtesy of The Lady in Waiting

Plan of Elsham Wolds, including the First World War airfield Elsham (outlined in green), c. 1944.  Courtesy of Ed Andrews

Plan of Elsham Wolds, c. 1945.  Courtesy of Ed Andrews

© 2023 ABCT All rights reserved. Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust is registered in England and Wales. Registered Office: Suite 1, 3rd Floor, 11-12 St. James Square, London, SW1Y 4LB Registered Company No. 08940364. Registered Charity No (England and Wales): 1156877. Registered Charity No (Scotland): SC041123

RAF Elsham Wolds

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The last remaining hangar from RAF Elsham Wolds, now in the middle of an industrial estate between the Lincolnshire towns of Scunthorpe and Grimsby.

The airbase began life during WWI when it was built to defend against Zeppelin bombers. After 1919 it fell into disrepair but as the next war loomed, it was reactivated and served as a bomber base.

In the photo above the control tower was located just in front of the hangar but this was demolished in the 80’s.

On this Google Earth image you can see this J type hangar and also the old runways bordering the black triangular field to the left of it.

30 comments on “ RAF Elsham Wolds ”

• Ian D B says: August 19, 2012 at 5:20 pm Reply

All those wild flowers set the scene beautifully. :~}

Nice one mate.

Time marches on but there’s always some history lurking there and yet again you delved Ian. Nice work and a I particularly like the Poppies that appear in the scene 🙂

It looks worth an explore Ian – what a setting too

great photo ian ,nice colours and a great info

A wonderful field full of beautiful wild flowers, Ian!! As your photo shows the history is still there, not yet taken over by nature!! Hope you are having a lovely weekend !!!:-)

Great bit of history Ian and a cracking shot too !

Very nice mate, you got more poppies and a better sky than me!

Looks like a nice wildflower meadow now.. Great shot.

Many thanks everyone, the wild flowers do add a certain poignancy to the scene. I should have pointed out, I ripped off the idea for this photo from Al.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/highy]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/highy/7584195722/in/photostream If honest mate, I think yours is the better shot with that warm evening sunlight and the focus on the poppies. The original and still the best. Or was that Kellog’s cornflakes…?

Kellogs don’t make them for anyone else!

Thanks for the credit mate, Reckon the control tower was just past that electricity pole.

Lovely shot and poppies for remembrance too

Beautiful summer scene, agree that the poppies add a real poignancy to the shot and allow you to imagine the scenes that were there when the base was operational

Fascinating stuff. And pretty too.

Beautifully composed image Ian . Looked like you had a nice day for it ! Was this hanger contemporary to WW1 or a new build during WW2 cos itloos similar to those on Malta which will be WW2

really like this shot, have been to visit it three times now .. wanted to save my comment to put an award with it .. will get there! poppies add a great sense of ‘Europe’ if you know what i mean [we don’t get them wild over here]. very nice colours in the shot: red, white, blue – the colours of many of the Allies flags .. quite apt.

A beautiful airfield shot Ian. Love the contrast of red, white and blue.

love these old raf stations, spent a long time up at one in Errol between Perth and Dundee

It’s a pity that the control tower has been pulled down. Usually you can always make some use of such old structures.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/32431958@N07] Paul, this one’s WW2. I believe there were some earlier hangars at Elsham which would have been behind this one, sadly long gone now.

Thanks everyone.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/pasujoba44] [http://www.flickr.com/photos/highy] Sorry Paul, never replied to your query but Al has done it better than I could have.

grand stuff Ian,Neal and i ,well mostly Neal ! been digging up some interesting stuff we till tell you soon,have a fab weekend mate

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarscot] Sounds interesting, I shall keep my eyes peeled! You have a good un too John, big up to Neal.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/maycontaintracesofnuts] So glad to be of assistance Ian 🙂

Does anyone know the title of a book written by an australian aircrew member about a friendship with a local girl,Barnetby area features in it and elsham aerodrome

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The most haunted military sites in Britain

Raf wickenby, lincolnshire.

Figures are known to haunt the runway and control room, footsteps and scraping sounds are heard through the walls and a pilot appears before disappearing.

RAF Wickenby was a purpose-built Royal Air Force station housing bombers used in the Second World War.

Although the station was only operational for a short period of time, 1,080 lives from RAF Wickenby were lost.

They are commemorated at the RAF Wickenby memorial.

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One of the station’s notable employees was Michael Bentine of 'The Goon Show' who worked there during the war as an intelligence officer.

It is reported that while working one night, Bentine walked past his fellow officer 'Pop' and the pair exchanged greetings.

The next morning, however, Michael discovered that 'Pop' had died two days earlier.

RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire

The former officers' mess at RAF Binbrook is allegedly haunted, with a number of ghost sightings reported there.

However, the best-known story is about Sergeant Sinclair, an Australian worker who reportedly blew himself up attempting to damage a Lancaster Bomber during the Second World War.

After Sergeant Sinclair’s death, a presence was seen lurking around the base, walking the road surrounding the airfield and waving his arms in the air on the runway, attempting to flag down aircraft.

Other ghost sightings include an officer in full RAF uniform, who then disappears as soon as he is spotted.

Fulwood Barracks

The old Officers' Mess at Fulwood Barracks is notoriously haunted.

Accounts have appeared in multiple sources of incidents which took place in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The most noteworthy story of ghostly sightings at the barracks occurred in 1861 when young Private Patrick McCaffery murdered his Commanding Officer and Adjutant.

He was subsequently tried and executed in front of a crowd.

Now, McCaffery’s ghost is said to haunt the old Officer's Mess.

Many generations of soldiers are said to have sighted the ghost and it is even now used to explain strange happenings or unexpected noises that occur at the site.

The site also used to be home to a Roman Road and it is said that on dark and stormy nights a ghostly troop of Roman soldiers might be sighted marching along the side of the old road.

RAF Metheringham, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire airfields seem to be hotspots for hauntings.

Undoubtedly one of the most interesting is the so-called "Metheringham Lass" who stands at the side of what was once RAF Metheringham’s airfield.

The figure of a young woman named Catherine Bystock, a member of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force who had been engaged to a Flight Sergeant, allegedly appears.

It is reported she was killed in a motorcycle accident close to the site.

The ghost appears in the summer months at around 9:30 pm – the time she was supposedly killed and always after dusk starts to fall.

She is said to have haunted the spot for more than 60 years.

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RAF Elsham Wolds

• View history

Plaque adjacent to Ulceby War Memorial

Surviving J-Type hangar

Royal Air Force Station Elsham Wolds or more simply RAF Elsham Wolds is a former Royal Air Force station in England, which operated in the First World War and the Second World War . It is located just to the north east of the village of Elsham in north Lincolnshire. [1]

• 1 First World War
• 2 Second World War
• 4 Current use
• 5 Squadrons
• 6.1 Citations
• 6.2 Bibliography
• 7 External links

First World War [ ]

An airfield was established at Elsham as early as December 1916 and used by C Flight of No. 33 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps , [1] initially operating F.E.2 and later Avro 504 and Bristol F.2 Fighter biplanes . From June 1918 to June 1919 it was also the squadron's headquarters, taking over from Gainsborough. [1]

The site was the most northerly of three airfields, along with RAF Kirton in Lindsey (B Flight) and RAF Scampton (A Flight), equally spaced between the cities of Hull and Lincoln for countering Zeppelin night raids. C Flight also acted as observers for the artillery batteries located at Spurn Head and Kilnsea. [1]

The flight stayed at Elsham until June 1918, the wooden huts and a small aircraft shed that had been erected were demolished by 1919 when the station was abandoned back to agriculture at the end of the First World War . [2]

Second World War [ ]

In the late 1930s with a new war on the horizon, extra airfields were again needed to accommodate an expansion of the RAF. Former First World War stations were surveyed for suitability, and an area just to the west of the original Elsham site was deemed to be better suited.

Work began in the winter of 1939-1940, and the station opened with the arrival in July 1941 of 103 Squadron . The station was equipped with a main runway 2,000 yards (1,829 m) long, and two subsidiaries of 1,600 yards (1,463 m) and 1,400 yards (1,280 m). Three hangars (two T-2's and one J-Type) and 27 aircraft hardstands (later increased to 36) were built. Three more T-2 hangars were built in 1944. Accommodation for around 2,500 personnel was dispersed in the nearby farmland.

No. 103 is credited with more operational sorties than any other 1 Group squadron, and consequently suffered the group's highest losses. Of the 248 bombers lost on operations flying from Elsham Wolds, 198 were from No. 103 Squadron. By type, losses were 28 Vickers Wellingtons , 12 Halifaxes and 208 Lancasters . One Elsham Wolds Lancaster, Lancaster III ED888 M2 (Mike Squared) [3] which served with both Nos. 103 and 576, held the Bomber Command record for operational sorties, having completed 140 between May 1943 and December 1944. [4] A total of 974 operational hours. [3]

Australian Don Charlwood was a navigator operating out of Elsham Wolds. In his highly regarded memoir, " No Moon Tonight ", he writes movingly about his many comrades who died, those that did not (a much smaller number), and about the feelings of aircrews facing such high loss rates. Describing his arrival at Elsham Wolds with a group of 20 other young men, he wrote: ". . . of our twenty only eight were destined to depart . . . a few months later." [5]

Post war [ ]

RAF Elsham Wolds closed in 1947 and shortly afterwards DP's (Displaced Persons), Poles and Ukrainians were temporarily housed in the buildings whilst working at the Scunthorpe Steelworks . Some contemplated transit to the US or Canada, others to set roots, mostly in Scunthorpe. Colloquially, it started to be known as "Warsaw Hamlet" and the Post Office delivered letters using that address. By the late 1952 early '53 the DP's had moved on and once again the site reverted to first agriculture use and later as the site of an industrial estate. [6] The history of the site is reflected in the road names on the estate which include Halifax Approach and Wellington Way. In the 1970s the site was bisected by the A15 road that was built to link the M180 motorway to the Humber Bridge . [6] The control tower lasted into the 1980s and was used as a house for a time, [7] which was said to be haunted. [8] The J-Type hangar is still standing.

Current use [ ]

A large radio and telephone mast has been placed on top of Elsham hill.

Elsham Hill. The large radio and telephone mast on top of Elsham hill, on land that once was the war time bomber airfield of RAF Elsham Wold

The tower is at the west end of the main runway and was during the 60s was used to relay radar from RAF Station Patrington and RAF Station Staxton Wold to RAF Lindholme near Doncaster

A memorial garden is located in the southwestern part of the old aerodrome site. [9]

Squadrons [ ]

References [ ], citations [ ].

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 - Page 90
• ↑ Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 - Page 91
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 - Page 92
• ↑ Official RAF History
• ↑ Charlwood, Don, "No Moon Tonight," Goodall Publications, 1984, p. 44.
• ↑ 6.0 6.1 Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 - Page 93
• ↑ controltowers.co.uk
• ↑ Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore Ghost Stations Lincolnshire - Page 58
• ↑ "UK Airfields", http://www.ukairfields.org.uk/elsham-wolds.html ; latitude/longitude 53°36'27.94"N 0°26'9.13"W; visible on Google Earth.
• ↑ Halpenny 1981 , p. 00.
• ↑ Halpenny 2008 , p. 00.

Bibliography [ ]

• Charlwood, Don (1956). No Moon Tonight .  
• Halpenny, B.B . Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 . Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1981. ISBN 0-85059-484-7 .
• Halpenny, B.B . Ghost Stations Lincolnshire (Paperback) . L'Aquila Publishing, 2008. ISBN 978-1871448061 .

External links [ ]

• The Wartime Memories Project
• History of 103 Squadron RAF 1917 - 1975
• History of Elsham Wolds Airfield WW1 and WW2

International Bomber Command Centre Digital Archive

Elsham Wolds' Great Part in Bombing Campaign

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