70:
28:
54:
77:
1606:
318:(BAT). BAT was an early form of instrument landing system using radio beams. Training units based here were No. 11 (P)AFU, No 11 SFTS, No.21 (P)AFU, No. 1511 BAT Flight, No. 1517 BAT Flight and No. 1545 BAT Flight. No. 11 (P)AFU was structured into six flights, three were based at RAF Shawbury with one each at
325:
Pilots on the Empire
Training Scheme at Wheaton Aston received refresher and night training on Airspeed Oxford aircraft before being posted out to an Operational Training Unit with the training extended to foreign as well as domestic aircrews. All the main units that trained at Wheaton Aston used the
409:
Since the mid-1960s, the former base area has been used for pig farming and agricultural purposes, but the outlines of the airfield are still visible on aerial mapping. The airfield, guardhouse and control tower are all registered monuments. Additionally, the eastern perimeter track for the aircraft
362:
With peace in Europe declared, Canadian personnel working at
Wheaton Aston were repatriated from the base in June 1945. The same month saw some RAF and WAAF personnel released from service duties to go back to civilian life. The downturn in training did not seem to affect Wheaton Aston at this time
369:
Although training continued, with the end of the Second World War, the base at
Wheaton Aston was surplus to requirements and the last unit to operate there, No. 21 (P)AFU was moved to Moreton-in-Marsh in December 1946. The base was abandoned completely by the Royal Air Force in 1947.
334:
Training units in the Second World War, particularly those which were satellite or relief land grounds, attracted the need to be doubly insured because of the inherent nature of the training. RAF Wheaton Aston was one of two bases which were insured three times over (the other being
378:
From 1947 to 1965, the former airbase buildings were used to house Polish immigrants, many of whom had been displaced by the Second World War. Some were in transit before going on to
America and Canada whilst some stayed behind and upon closure of the camp, were housed locally at
330:
in terms of aircraft movements in
Staffordshire. The airfield recorded a flying time of 8,773 hours during daylight and 2,605 at night over the course May in 1944. This was the equivalent of 15 aircraft permanently in the air for 30 days.
350:
ended up in the canal, though this was down to an engine failure with the aircraft undershooting the airfield and plunging into the canal. Whilst the pilot avoided serious injury, the aircraft was dragged out of the canal and scrapped.
301:
and a training base for No. 11 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit ((P)AFU). Because of the upturn in training at the base, it eventually went on to have 5 Relief
Landing Grounds/Satellite sites of its own (RAF Bratton, RAF Peplow,
1645:
358:
dropped a 500lb bomb on the base but according to the locals, due to it being a (P)AFU, the number of crashes in the fields around the station by aircrew under training were just as memorable as the aerial bombardments.
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is just to the east of the site and it is believed that the canal fooled some of the new pilots during night-time training. At least one aircraft, an
American
1197:
1172:
363:
as the monthly tally on flying hours reached 9,600, which was only marginally less than the average of flying hours recorded during the training's peak.
1087:
410:
has been adapted for use as a local road. A study commissioned by the airfield's owners in 2000 declared that the airfield was beyond economic revival.
1116:
69:
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In
October 1946, Aneurin Bevan, who was Minister for Health at the time, flew into the base from Croydon to attend a conference in Stoke-on-Trent.
1462:
1388:
1336:
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270:
which is 1.2 miles (2 km) north west of
Wheaton Aston. The base was known locally as Little Onn or RAF Little Onn, but the policy of naming
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293:, the base at Wheaton Aston was completed six months before Hixon was. Instead Wheaton Aston became a satellite airfield of
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In the 1950s, Wheaton Aston was a waypoint in the
Goodyear Trophy Race. The race involved competitors flying from
1367:
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Airspeed Oxford Aircraft. Throughout the Second World War, Wheaton Aston remained busy and was second only to
387:. One of those who arrived at the former RAF Base and stayed on in Stafford was Zdzislaw Luszowicz, a former
1482:
314:). Throughout its existence, RAF Wheaton Aston was parented by RAF Shawbury and was dedicated to (P)AFU and
27:
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398:(next to the Goodyear plant in Wolverhampton) and back again in a circle via Pillarton Hall,
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The airfield was one of the Royal Air Force's largest training environments in the
167:
451:
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Originally constructed from October 1940 onwards as a relief landing ground for
53:
303:
267:
676:
Philpott, Ian (2008). "7: RAF stations, airfields and other establishments".
118:
105:
510:
399:
355:
290:
911:
403:
384:
862:"Wheaton Aston Camp Staffordshire 1947 - 1965 also known as Little Onn"
380:
263:
679:
The Royal Air Force 1930-1939; an encyclopaedia of the inter-war years
297:
under the auspices of the Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at
274:
stations was down to which parish the Station Headquarters was in.
1094:
339:) because of the high casualty rate and inexperience of aircrews.
1098:
1646:
Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
406:
and Wolverhampton again in a 32-mile (51 km) round trip.
480:(D2 ed.). 1:50,000. Landranger. Ordnance Survey. 2010.
391:
agent who had fought in Poland during the Second World War.
281:
with an average of 11,000+ flying hours per month by 1944.
1063:
The military airfields of Britain; Wales and West Midlands
1082:. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword, 2009.
16:
Former Royal Air Force station in Staffordshire, England
1641:
Military units and formations disestablished in 1947
707:
Fisher, Stuart (2009). "30 Shropshire Union Canal".
1537:
1501:
1455:
1419:
1381:
1360:
1272:
1242:
1216:
1150:
1141:
1065:. Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press, 2007.
1048:. Newbury, Berkshire, UK: Countryside Books, 2007.
1031:. Newbury, Berkshire, UK: Countryside Books, 2007.
655:(1 ed.). Cambridge: P. Stephens. p. 204.
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225:
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1636:Military units and formations established in 1941
771:"Times Gone By 1968: Family exodus from farming"
1046:Staffordshire Airfields in the Second World War
254:station located just outside of the village of
711:. London: Adlard Coles Nautical. p. 152.
653:Military airfields of Wales and the North-West
1110:
929:"'NO ULTERIOR MOTIVE' BEHIND AIRFIELD DOUBTS"
8:
1029:Shropshire Airfields in the Second World War
1147:
1117:
1103:
1095:
501:"A brief history of the Royal Air Force".
58:Control tower at RAF Wheaton Aston in 2010
20:
1631:Royal Air Force stations in Staffordshire
266:. The base was actually in the hamlet of
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1000:"Wheaton Aston Control Tower (1412692)"
556:Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust
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1488:Commandant-General of the RAF Regiment
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837:"RAF Wheaton Aston Airfield (1412694)"
682:. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. pp.
599:
575:
1411:List of equipment of the RAF Regiment
1004:Research records (formerly PastScape)
975:Research records (formerly PastScape)
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841:Research records (formerly PastScape)
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7:
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971:"Wheaton Aston Guardhouse (1412693)"
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1312:Princess Mary's RAF Nursing Service
866:Polish Resettlement Camps in the UK
1552:Combined Cadet Force (RAF section)
14:
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1468:Assistant Chief of the Air Staff
503:Royal Air Force Air Publications
322:, RAF Perton and Wheaton Aston.
75:
68:
52:
26:
1562:RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine
1442:List of serving senior officers
1:
244:Royal Air Force Wheaton Aston
193:Now private agricultural land
898:"First major race of 1952".
1337:RAF Mountain Rescue Service
1332:RAF Search and Rescue Force
1667:
1493:Warrant Officer of the RAF
1188:Operational Training units
733:"P-47 Thunderbolt 41-6538"
89:Shown within Staffordshire
46:Little Onn, Staffordshire
1585:
1437:List of notable personnel
1368:Royal Auxiliary Air Force
1234:Satellite Landing Grounds
1132:
1080:Stafford at War 1939-1945
63:
51:
44:
35:
1572:RAF Football Association
1473:Air Member for Personnel
1193:Schools / Training units
775:Staffordshire Newsletter
651:Smith, David J. (1981).
1483:Air Member for Materiel
478:Stafford & Telford
344:Shropshire Union Canal
316:Beam Approach Training
1373:RAF Volunteer Reserve
709:The Canals of Britain
396:Wolverhampton Airport
337:RAF Little Rissington
154:350 feet (110 m)
1406:List of RAF missiles
1389:List of RAF aircraft
1307:RAF Medical Services
1292:RAF Chaplains Branch
138:Bomber training base
119:52.73222°N 2.23472°W
1651:Borough of Stafford
1567:RAF Benevolent Fund
1502:symbols and uniform
1135:Ministry of Defence
822:, pp. 215–216.
578:, pp. 150–151.
526:, pp. 205–206.
172:Ministry of Defence
115: /
1547:Air Training Corps
1463:Chief of Air Staff
1327:RAF Music Services
1044:Chorlton, Martyn.
178:Controlled by
124:52.73222; -2.23472
1618:
1617:
1447:Personnel numbers
1342:RAF Marine Branch
1322:RAF ground trades
1268:
1267:
1088:978 1 84415 943 7
1071:978-1-861269-17-1
1027:Brooks, Robin J.
906:: 642. May 1952.
718:978-1-4081-0517-7
693:978-1-84415-391-6
487:978-0-319-22851-7
431:Control Towers UK
402:, Wheaton Aston,
248:RAF Wheaton Aston
246:, or more simply
241:
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83:RAF Wheaton Aston
24:RAF Wheaton Aston
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505:(1): 376. 2004.
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348:P-47 Thunderbolt
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935:. 28 April 2006
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295:RAF High Ercall
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252:Royal Air Force
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777:. 18 June 2013
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737:Aircrash sites
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888:, p. 92.
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820:Chorlton 2007
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