RAF Condover - RAF Condover Memories

RAF Condover Memories

By the end of 1944 there were 660 RAF and several hundred Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) personnel stationed at RAF Condover.

Mary Churchill, a WAAF Flight Officer during the war, recounted to the BBC in 2005:

"I was posted to various stations as a relief officer for a while and then settled at the satellite station of RAF Shawbury, Shropshire named RAF Condover. There were only 9 WAAF Officers stationed there with over 200 girls in various trades. The WAAFs were billeted in a hutted camp, very widely dispersed — we had bikes to get round from our living quarters to the working areas and on to the aerodrome. When we were Duty Officers we had to report to the C.O. in the mornings for instructions and dip our hands in a bag and pull out a time disc. This was the time we had to go up to the aerodrome and see if the WAAF were doing their duties — during night flying time.

I met my future husband there at the Cadbury’s Caravan *. He was a pilot and at the time Condover was a Training School for Navigation personnel. We had intakes from Canada, South Africa, Australia as well as from the UK.

(* Note: Donated by the Cadbury family of Bournville as a NAAFI canteen)