From the opening day of the Second World War, RAF Bomber Command took
the offensive to the enemy and played a leading role in the liberation
of Europe. Many of its squadrons were based in Lincolnshire, where the
flat terrain and open fields made the county ideal for the development
of new airfields. All of Bomber Command's major efforts involved the
Lincolnshire-based squadrons. The Battles of the Ruhr, Hamburg and
Berlin, during the hardest years of 1943/44, were just some of those
when night after night hundreds of bombers took off from the county,
many never to return. It was also from Lincolnshire that precision raids
were mounted against targets such as the diesel engine factory at
Augsburg, the notorious Dortmund-Ems Canal, the mighty German battleship
Tirpitz, and, of course, the Ruhr Dams.
Most of Lincolnshire's wartime bomber airfields have long gone, with
many having reverted to their prewar agricultural use. Only Coningsby,
Scampton and Waddington remain in service with the RAF today, while
others - such as Binbrook, Blyton, Spilsby, Strubby, Swinderby and
Woodhall Spa - have long fallen victim to defense cuts. Other airfields
have survived and maintain the link with their flying past. All are
included here, some well-known, others less so.
From these airfields came countless acts of personal courage and
self-sacrifice, with eight Victoria Crosses, the highest award for
gallantry, being awarded to men flying from bomber airfields in
Lincolnshire. All are included, as are stories of other personalities
who brought these airfields to life. In all, the stories of the county's
twenty-nine wartime airfields of Bomber Command are told, with a brief
history of each accompanied by details of how to find them and what
remains there today. Whatever your interest, be it aviation history or
something more local, there is something to discover. Lincolnshire has
truly earned its name of Bomber County.
