Former RAF Melton Mowbray

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, RAF - Royal Air Force, draw only border, closed / former military

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Melton Mowbray served as a Thor IRBM base from 1958 through August 1963. It was vacated by the RAF in 1964.

Sited between the southern outskirts of Melton Mowbray and the village of Great Dalby, work started on constructing an airfield in mid-1942. The airfield was built to the standard patttern with three standard 50-yard-wide concrete runways, the main being 5,400ft and the two intersecting runways 4,350 and 4,020ft long with an encircling perimeter track around which were 15 'spectacle' loop concrete hardstandings and four 'T2' hangers.

It was built originally as a station for Maintenance Command but, by the time it opened on August 1st 1943, control had been taken over by No.44 Group of Transport Command and the first unit to arrive was No.4 Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit which handled many types of aircraft- Spitfires, Mosquitoes, Corsairs, Vengances, Hellcats and even Halifaxes. With the closure of the APU the station was able to accept from November 1944 part of a training unit, No.107 OTU, from its parent station at Leicester East. This unit was equipped with Dakota and Halifax aircraft, plus a fleet of Horsa and Hadrian gliders.