Airfields Index

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RAF Fairlop    RAF Fairlop near Ilford, Essex, was first used during the First World War as a Royal Naval Air Station Training School. A small flying club used the site between the wars and there were plans to build a commercial airport, but these were later abandoned. The airfield was brought back into military use in late 1940 when three concrete runways in the familiar A pattern were constructed. The Airfield became operational in September 1941 with the arrival of No: 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron, flying spitfires, previously stationed at Hornchurch. Hainault Lodge was used as accommodation for some of the officers. In June 1944 RAF Fairlop became home to No. 24 Balloon Centre with four squadrons forming part of the balloon barrage around London. The balloons were manned by members of the WAAF. No 24 Balloon Centre was disbanded in February 1945 and the airfield closed in August 1946. The site was used for gravel extraction and became a country park known as Fairlop Waters with sailing facilities and a golf course. Squadrons stationed at RAF Fairlop No: 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron No: 64 Squadron No: 81 Squadron No: 411 Squadron No: 313 Squadron No: 122 Squadron No: 182 Squadron No: 193 Squadron No: 247 Squadron No: 164 Squadron No. 24 Balloon Centre   8th June 1942 Relocated 29th June 1942 Moved on July 1942 On the move 15th July 1942 Three Spitfires shot down 24th July 1942 On the move 30th July 1942 Spitfires lost on raid 19th August 1942 Dieppe Raid 21st August 1942 Stood down from Operations 8th September 1942  Relocated 5th October 1942 Withdrawn from ops 16th November 1942 On the move 2nd December 1942 Lost over the Irish Sea 9th December 1942 Return to Hornchurch 2nd January 1943 Return to Essex 5th April 1943 Moved to new base 7th April 1943 Gales 10th April 1943 On ops at last 13th April 1943 182 Squadron's first raid over the Channel 15th April 1943 Rhubarb Attack 16th April 1943 Pilot lost over France 18th April 1943 Airfield and Trains attacked 23rd April 1943 Invasion hopes damped 25th April 1943 Pilot lost attacking railway targets 28th April 1943 Railway targets attacked 29th April 1943 Inadequate accommodation 18th May 1943  Tactical Airforce 22nd September 1943 Relocated 24th September 1943 Typhoon squadron moves on 26th September 1943 Escort duty 22nd October 1943 Not much activity 26th October 1943 Royal cover 7th November 1943 Baled out over France 9th November 1943 Ops from Manston 11th November 1943 Escort duty 25th November 1943 Bombphoon ops 29th November 1943 Walk back to base 4th December 1943  30th December 1943 Hurricane crashes in the Channel 4th January 1944 Christmas at Hutton Cranswick 7th January 1944 Noball attack cancelled 10th January 1944 Ditched pilot missing 18th January 1944 Poor spirits 27th January 1944 New C.O. 1st February 1944 Typhoons handed over 8th February 1944 No aircraft 15th February 1944 Typhoon Squadron disbanded February 1944 Re-equipped with Typhoons 20th February 1944 Move to join 2TAF 28th February 1944 Attacked by Thunderbolts 15th March 1944 Radio programme for Brazil If you can provide any additional information, please add it here. Those known to have served at RAF Fairlop during the Second World War 1939-1945. Whitcombe DFC.. Sydney. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website. Announcements The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 24 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web. 18th April 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 263925 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible. Looking for help with Family History Research?   Please read our Family History FAQ's The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation. Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. We are now on Facebook. Like this page to receive our updates. If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page. Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted. World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations. Want to know more about RAF Fairlop? There are:50 items tagged RAF Fairlop available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. Sydney Whitcombe DFC. 195 Squadron My father Sydney Whitcombe did not talk much about his experiences of his service in the RAF. He was a navigator for the 195 Squadron and received the DFC for his bravery. Interestingly enough he was at first a conscientious objector when war broke out, later joining the RAF having spent most of the initial years dragging bodies from bombed buildings in London. I have a photograph of him and some of his crew with their names but would love to find out more about anyone connected to the 195 squadron and any other photographs. The names of the crew members were: Frank Wilcock (wireless operator) Len Parsons (bomber) ‘Paddy’ (air gunner) Stan Renaut (air gunner) Sally Childs Add to this record. Recomended Reading. Available at discounted prices. Links RAF Station Fairlop

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