RAF Chilbolton - History

History

RAF Chilbolton stands on a plateau 91 metres above the River Test and Chilbolton village in Hampshire.

The site had been used during the 1930s by private light aircraft however when war clouds started to develop in 1936 the Air Ministry marked out the site for a prospective airfield and was ‘under construction’ in 1938 with three grass runways being created.

The biggest change was in Spring 1943 when RAF Chilbolton was rebuilt to British Class A airfield bomber standard, the main features were 150 ft wide hardened concrete runways, the main runway length being at least 6000 ft, to allow operation of all current and planned aircraft and at least two T2 hangars (240 feet long by 115 feet wide by 29 feet high. The existing concrete perimeter track was widened to the ‘class a standard’ width of 50 feet (15m) and made to fully encircle the runways. 48 large hardened concrete dispersal pads or hard-standing were built on the perimeter track infield, each capable of taking a large World War II bomber. A large B1 aircraft production hangar span 120 ft, length 175 ft made of steel stanchions and cladded with corrugated iron painted black with roof windows, was added next to one of the T2’s to allow for the rebuilding of seriously damaged planes by a civilian workforce. The three concrete runways were 5,400 ft (12/30), 4,800 ft (02/20) and 4,200 ft (06/24). The main runway was not able to meet the full ‘class A standard’ of 6000 ft for geographical reasons. It couldn’t be lengthened due to the pronounced slope of the land.

The ground support stations were constructed largely of Romney and Nissen huts of various sizes. The main support station, called Stonefield Park was where the group and ground station commanders and squadron headquarters and orderly rooms were located. Also on the various ground stations were mess facilities, chapel, hospital, mission briefing and debriefing, armory, life support, parachute rigging, supply warehouses, station and airfield security, motor transport and the other ground support functions necessary to support the air operations of the group. These facilities were all connected by a network of single-track support roads, mostly on preexisting straight 'drovers roads'.

There were several technical sites scattered around the airfield, the largest consisting of a B1 and T2 hangar on a self-contained site including canteen and latrines, built and run by the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP), using a civilian workforce and involved in repairing airframes of seriously damaged aircraft. Other technical sites were composed mostly of large Romney huts and were connected to the rest of the airfield by straight single-track roads. Here essential field maintenance to keep the aircraft airworthy, such as spark plug cleaning, propeller repairs, tyre replacement, etc. could be performed. A T2 hangar was also used for more extensive maintenance and repair. Air depot personnel performed depot-level maintenance on aircraft. The Ammunition dump was located on the south side of the airfield, outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens.

There were 11 dispersed accommodation sites dispersed around the airfield, mostly to the East and all well within a mile of the perimeter track, mostly using clusters of Nissen huts, but also many purpose built RAF buildings of the period such as gymnasium, squash court, decontamination building etc. The Huts were either connected, set up end-to-end or built singly and made of prefabricated corrugated iron with a door and two small windows at the front and back. They provided accommodation for 2.841 personnel, including communal and a sick quarters.

During airborne operations, when large numbers of airborne parachutists were moved to the airfield, tents would be pitched on the interior grass regions of the airfield, or wherever space could be found to accommodate the airborne forces for the short time they would be bivouacked at the station prior to the operation.