Postwar Use
After the war, the airfield was used for surplus aircraft disposal by RAF No. 256 MU. In addition, No 6 MU temporarily used the airfield to service captured German aircraft. In 1946, the airfield was placed on "care and maintenance" status. It appears that some construction work was undertaken at the airfield after it was placed in C&M status, and the 04/22 secondary runway appears to have been lengthened (essentially doubled in length) for use by jet aircraft.
In December 1955 the western part of the airfield was transferred to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) as a satellite to the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at the former RAF Harwell. The secrecy of the activities at Grove required that the runways were removed - especially as a USAF jet had landed accidentally, being lost and low on fuel. Airspace above the site was marked as restricted. The UKAEA stayed at Grove until the late 1960s, when the project came to a conclusion. The site was then sold off to private organizations.
Today the entire area has been taken over by agriculture or is a grass pasture. In aerial photography the airfield runways still are quite evident, even after their removal over 50 years ago. The wartime perimeter track is gone, however the UKEA buildings are still in use and well maintained.
The council are considering developing the northeast part of the former airfield and building a large housing estate on the property.
Read more about this topic: RAF Grove
Famous quotes containing the word postwar:
“Fashions change, and with the new psychoanalytical perspective of the postwar period [WWII], child rearing became enshrined as the special responsibility of mothers ... any shortcoming in adult life was now seen as rooted in the failure of mothering during childhood.”
—Sylvia Ann Hewitt (20th century)