Castle Donington

[stevie]

A local(ish) Leicestershire airfield that i've been meaning to post a thread about for a long time here. RAF Castle Donington opened in Jan 1943 and became a satellite to nearby RAF Wymeswold for the majority of it's wartime life. No. 28 OTU, No.108 (Transport) OTU and No.1382 (Transport) Conversion Unit all using the airfield with Wellingtons, Oxfords, Dc-3's etc from Jan 1st 1943 till 31st May 1946. Afterwhich the airfield was used briefly by No.49 Gliding School. Following this the site was abandoned untill 1964 when the airfield slowly but surley over the years got completely rebuilt and became the East Midlands Airport.


It's no easy task finding much of CD's Wartime remains but there are a few around still...only just! The constant re-development of the airport completely wiped almost all of it off the map.

There are three pan dispersals and a section of peri track still very much in tact but not easy to photograph unfortunatly -





This hardstanding above still survives but only a section of it. It stretches out of the present airport boundary.

Trackway around the Bomb Dump area -

Very plesed to find this pillbox. The only wartime structure i could find. Apparently there is an RAF hut still surviving 'somewhere' amongst all the massive new buildings around the freight area.

I couldn't put up a thread about Castle Donington without some pics of the excellent Aero Park Museum -




Cheers,
Steve

[PETERTHEEATER]

Most of the road system of the former bomb store survives but no visible buildings. This HE Bomb Store, one of four, may have some brickwork left.

http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepat...z=18&oz=7&gt=1

[buccaneer66]

Is this the end of one of the subsiduary runways http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepat...z=19&oz=8&gt=1 with one obvious end here http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepat...z=19&oz=8&gt=1 ?

[Praesta]

Steve

There are quite a number of "old" buildings" on Vanguard Road ( Approx52°49N 1°20'29W) close to the A453 on the Airfield's southern boundary. All very easily reached.

Cheers
Ian

[stevie]

Steve

There are quite a number of "old" buildings" on Vanguard Road ( Approx52°49N 1°20'29W) close to the A453 on the Airfield's southern boundary. All very easily reached.

Cheers
Ian

Ahhh! Great news Ian. Iknew the majority of the main airfield site had now dissapeared but wasn't to sure what was left of any surviving dispersed sites. Not having a site plan and lack of time i decided not to venture around for a look yesterday. I've found what looks like a communial site here -
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=east+midlands +airport&aq=&sll=40.696892,-82.511101&sspn=0.006361,0.020792&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear =East+Midlands+Airport+(EMA),+34+Derby+Rd,+Kegwort h,+Derby,+Leicestershire+DE74+2SA,+United+Kingdom& ll=52.817356,-1.33832&spn=0.001349,0.005198&t=h&z=18

Is this the site you meant Ian?
I can make out what i think is a gymn and chancel amongst a few other buildings and shelters in the surrounding fields.

Steve

[stevie]

Is this the end of one of the subsiduary runways http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepat...z=19&oz=8&gt=1 with one obvious end here http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepat...z=19&oz=8&gt=1 ?

Chris,

You were correct about the runway in the second link but after studying an old aerial pic from 1945 it seems that the end of the other runway was somewhere in this spot here -
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=east+midlands+airport&ie=UTF8&hq=&hne ar=East+Midlands+Airport+(EMA),+34+Derby+Rd,+Kegwo rth,+Derby,+Leicestershire+DE74+2SA,+United+Kingdo m&ll=52.825989,-1.329179&spn=0.001348,0.005198&t=h&z=18

You can just make out where the other end was up near to the surviving dispersals.

[P Bellamy]

Castle Donington dispersed sites, click for large view:

CD-Disp2l.jpg

All the best,
PB

[Ossington_2008]

I have some obliques I took early 90s. I haven't seen them for years, but from memory they weren't too good. If I find them, I'll post them, but in the meantime, here's the only image I can put my hands on quickly:



"Aviation in Leicestershire And Rutland" by Roy Bonser, Midland Publishing, 2001, pages 128/9. Excellent read.

[stevie]

Thats the exact same photo i've been looking at as well Ossington. Brilliant book isn't it?. There's a wartime aerial pic of Castle D in Action Stations 2 (the original copy) but i can't check it at the moment as i've lent it out.

Thanks for that pic also Paul. Looks like i'll be back up there for an hour or two on my day off later in the week. Sod the decorating that was planned. That can wait .

Steve

[tu 154]

there used to be some original buildings off the a 453 b4 they built the dhl site ,they was used by a farmer