Royal Air Force Stations in Lincolnshire

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RAF Ludford Magna

Airfield Code: LM; Grid reference centred on: TF 202 879







Built in June 1943, on the site of High Fields Farm, and originally assigned to No. 1 Group RAF, headquartered at RAF Bawtry. It was the highest bomber airfield in England at 428 feet (130 m) above sea level, and cost £803,000. It was built to Class "A" specifications, that is to say with three intersecting runways in the form of an "A". 36 pans and six T2 and one B1 hangars were eventually erected. Also the first airfield to be equipped with FIDO (Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation) but because it wasn't buried beneath the runway it caused more than one accident when a landing aircraft hit the pipework.
101 Squadron as part of 1 Group, Bomber Command, were first to arrive bringing with them their Avro Lancasters. In October, as well as being part of the main force, the squadron was given the additional task and unique role of transmitting AirBourne Countermeasures, a device to confuse German pilots. The ABC or Airborne Cigar as it became known. But in order to carry this out an extra crew member was needed to transmit in German on the German’s fighter control frequencies. This constant harassment had a detrimental effect on the morale and confidence of many Luftwaffe crews and indirectly led to a high proportion of aircraft and aircrew wastage from crashes as night fighters hurried in to land to avoid a supposed threat. During 1944 the squadrons at Ludford suffered some heavy losses.
After the war the station’s buildings were used to house 800 Polish refugees between 1948 and 1956.
In 1958 part of the old RAF station was handed back to the Air Ministry for use as a Douglas Thor missile site (Grid reference TF 201 877). After the work to convert the station had finished, 104 Squadron was formed there on 21st July 1959. The role of the Squadron was to operate three Thor IRBM missiles within the RAF Hemswell Missile Wing.
The entire 580 acre site was finally sold-off during 1965 and 1966.

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