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Abbots Bromley

Major

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There is still an Abbots Bromley used for flying today but this is a separate private farm strip to the south-west at Yeatsall Farm.

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Also known as: Abbots Bromley Aerodrome / RAF Abbots Bromley
County: Staffordshire
Current Status: Farmland
Date: 1940 (earliest known date December) - 31 March 1949
Current Use: Disused
Used By: RAF
Landing Surface Types: Unpaved
Aircraft Roles: Trainer

Not to be confused with Yeatsall Farm Airfield, also known as Abbots Bromley, RAF Abbots Bromley was a Relief Landing Ground for originally Meir and then Burnaston from 1940. The airfield was the result of a wider effort to move instructional units away from the front line in the southeast where the danger of Luftwaffe attack was increasing. Very little is known about the more initial months of the airfield’s life other than a few aircraft accidents: two fatalities were reported on 6 November 1941 after two crashes in two days, this following two accidents in June of the same year.

Basic pilot training took place at the airfield using Miles Magisters and de Havilland Tiger Moths, firstly as part of No 5 Elementary Flying Training School until December 1941 and subsequently No 16 EFTS up to the end of the Second World War. From 15 May 1945 the airfield was handed over to No 21 Maintenance Unit for bomb storage use as the site was deemed not suitable for expansion in a flying capacity as a road surrounded it.

After the final closure of Abbots Bromley in 1949, the site has been used for agriculture and poultry farming. The final Type B Robin hangar at the airfield itself was demolished between 2011 and 2013 but another Robin, being used as a store by Staffordshire Council in Uttoxeter, is likely to have moved there from Abbots Bromley. A derelict guardhouse is now all that remains of the airfield today that also included nine Blister hangars during the Second World War. The airfield was nevertheless still used as a turning point during the 1950 King’s Cup Air Race in its final contribution to the aviation world.

 

The following organisations are either based at, use and/or have at least potentially significant connections with the airfield (as at 01/07/2013):

  • Abbots Bromley Parish Council

The following alternative information/mass media sources have at least potentially significant connections with the airfield (as at 31/12/2015):

  • Welcome to Abbots Bromley

 

 

 

 

 

Main unit(s) present:

  • No 5 EFTS
  • No 16 EFTS
  • No 21 MU
001Peter Doe at Abbots Bromley.jpg

Left F/Sgt Kennedy, right Peter Doe. Late 1944 or early 1945. Standing in front of a de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth. © Peter Doe

002Tiger Moth.jpg

A de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth, R5241 / 8, at Abbots Bromley in February 1945. Taken by Peter Doe after his first solo flight. © Peter Doe

003-1980s aerial.jpg

Aerial view of Abbots Bromley airfield, c. 1980s. © Dave Welch.

004-1980s aerial 2.jpg

Aerial view of Abbots Bromley airfield, c. 1980s. © Dave Welch.

005geograph-214768-by-Alan-Slater.jpg

The former guard house at Abbots Bromley, 23 July 2006.

006geograph-2535768-by-Mick-Malpass.jpg

The track leading up to the guard house at Abbots Bromley, 3 August 2011.

007geograph-2535756-by-Mick-Malpass.jpg

The former guard house at Abbots Bromley, 3 August 2011.

The King's Cup Air Race in 1950 used Abbots Bromley as a turning point. Courtesy of British Pathé

Parent(s)/HQ Airfield(s):

Burnaston / Meir

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