[54Strat]

A potted history, shameless stolen from t'web.

Tilstock Airfield (formerly RAF Tilstock) is a World War II airfield located 3 miles south of Whitchurch in Shropshire and became operational on 28th August 1942 under the command of No. 93 group of Bomber Command.

The village of Tilstock is about 2 miles west of the airfield. The site is also known as Prees Heath, after the neighbouring village Prees. The airfield consists of three runways of which only one remains in use today.

During the Great War Tilstock was a trench warfare training camp for some 25-30000 men. In addition to a hospital it was home at various points in time for elements of the 11th, 14th, 16th and 17th Reserve Brigades of the Training Reserve. Prees Heath was also used as a dispersal camp post great war, for troops disembarking at Liverpool for demobilsation. It was later also used as a rest camp.

Construction of the airfield was completed by mid 1942, the name 'Whitchurch Heath' being used until 1 June 1943, when Tilstock was adopted. Between 1 September 1942 and 21 January 1946, the airfield was used by No. 81 Operational Training Unit and No. 1665 Heavy Conversion Unit Royal Air Force for the training of pilots and crews in the operation of Whitley, Stirling and Halifax heavy bombers. During the 1950s, Auster AOP.6 'spotter' aircraft of No. 663 Squadron RAF used the facilities of the otherwise non-operational airfield during weekends for liaison flights with Royal Artillery units.

Located near the junction of the A41 and A49, the airfield is still being used today at weekends for skydiving. A section of the original airfield is now partially used as a parachute centre but the watch office and most of the other buildings are now falling into disrepair. Skydivers have used the airfield for Tandem Skydiving and running Parachute Jump Courses since 1966. The direction of the remaining runway is 33 (330) and 15 (150).

And the famous car is a 1954 Sunbeam Talbot 90, needing a bit of TLC.

Wartime Runways:
03/21 = 6000 x 150 ft
07/25 = 4200 x 150 ft
13/31 = 4200 x 150 ft

Still firmly in chilled mode, I visited here a few times in the last few months, and always finding a little bit more each time. It's one of those places where you can really take your time and soak it all up. From the famous sunbeam, the command centre with the operations board, the control tower, the officers quarters and so many random huts to the air raid shelters and countless blast walls all over the woodland, this place is a little historic gem. Apart from the odd dog walker, this was the most relaxed explore so far.

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


10.


11.


12.


13.


14.


15.


16.


17.


18.


19.


20.


21.


22.


23.


24.


25.

[54Strat]

contd..

26.


27.


28.


29.


30.


31.


32.