Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
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Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Madley | ||||||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 265 ft / 81 m | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 52°01′55″N 002°50′56″W / 52.03194°N 2.84889°W | ||||||||||||||||||
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Royal Air Force Madley, or more simply RAF Madley, was a Royal Air Force station situated 6.2 miles (10 km) south west of Hereford in Herefordshire, England. [1] The station was in use during the Second World War as a training base and was located between the villages of Kingstone and Madley.
The site opened as a training centre for aircrew and ground wireless operators on 27 August 1941. [2] In 1941, No. 4 Signals School RAF was stated up at the base. The school was disbanded and renamed as No. 4 Radio School RAF in January 1943. [3]
In 1943, the grass airfield was reinforced with Sommerfeld Tracking and the centre's population rose to about 5,000. [4] Also in 1943, RAF Madley became a base for one of ten Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Teams (MRT) that had been set up to rescue lost aircrew. [5] The site was visited in 1944 prior to D-Day by US General George S. Patton, and later by Rudolf Hess (who had been held prisoner near Abergavenny) on his way to the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. [6]
The station was not bombed by the Luftwaffe, however, as with other bases, crashes of friendly aircraft were commonplace. On Christmas Day 1944, a Liberator crashed in the station environs which precipitated the usual search for the crew. [2] This had proved fruitless as the crew had baled out over Belgium as they assumed the heavily flak-damaged aircraft was about to crash. However, the aircraft somehow made it all the way to Madley without its aircrew. [7]
The comedian and actor Eric Sykes was a radio operator at RAF Madley during the Second World War. [8]
Today only a few hangars remain, and Madley Communications Centre now occupies part of the site. [10] Other parts of the site have been converted into a wildlife wetlands centre that is used for study. [11] The B4352 and an unclassified road now cut what was the airfield area in two. [2] [1]
Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
Location | Madley | ||||||||||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 265 ft / 81 m | ||||||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 52°01′55″N 002°50′56″W / 52.03194°N 2.84889°W | ||||||||||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
|
Royal Air Force Madley, or more simply RAF Madley, was a Royal Air Force station situated 6.2 miles (10 km) south west of Hereford in Herefordshire, England. [1] The station was in use during the Second World War as a training base and was located between the villages of Kingstone and Madley.
The site opened as a training centre for aircrew and ground wireless operators on 27 August 1941. [2] In 1941, No. 4 Signals School RAF was stated up at the base. The school was disbanded and renamed as No. 4 Radio School RAF in January 1943. [3]
In 1943, the grass airfield was reinforced with Sommerfeld Tracking and the centre's population rose to about 5,000. [4] Also in 1943, RAF Madley became a base for one of ten Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Teams (MRT) that had been set up to rescue lost aircrew. [5] The site was visited in 1944 prior to D-Day by US General George S. Patton, and later by Rudolf Hess (who had been held prisoner near Abergavenny) on his way to the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. [6]
The station was not bombed by the Luftwaffe, however, as with other bases, crashes of friendly aircraft were commonplace. On Christmas Day 1944, a Liberator crashed in the station environs which precipitated the usual search for the crew. [2] This had proved fruitless as the crew had baled out over Belgium as they assumed the heavily flak-damaged aircraft was about to crash. However, the aircraft somehow made it all the way to Madley without its aircrew. [7]
The comedian and actor Eric Sykes was a radio operator at RAF Madley during the Second World War. [8]
Today only a few hangars remain, and Madley Communications Centre now occupies part of the site. [10] Other parts of the site have been converted into a wildlife wetlands centre that is used for study. [11] The B4352 and an unclassified road now cut what was the airfield area in two. [2] [1]