Former RAF Castle Comb

RAF Castle Combe was established during the enormous expansion of RAF flying training during the Second World War. Situated approximately half a mile southeast of the Wiltshire village of Castle Combe, the airfield occupied land belonging to the Castle Combe estate and began flying operations around 1940 before being formally brought into use as a Relief Landing Ground in May 1941. Its initial purpose was to support nearby RAF Hullavington, where No. 9 Service Flying Training School was based. Castle Combe provided additional space where trainee pilots could practise circuits, approaches and landings away from the congestion of the main station. Aircraft associated with training at Castle Combe included Hawker Harts, Miles Masters and Hawker Hurricanes. No. 9 SFTS subsequently became No. 9 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit, while No. 3 Flying Instructors School also operated from Castle Combe. Later in the war the airfield became associated with No. 15 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit at RAF Babdown Farm. The original grass landing ground proved troublesome. Waterlogging was a persistent problem, particularly during winter, and the RAF consequently installed two landing strips surfaced with Sommerfeld Tracking, a reinforced steel-mesh system used extensively on wartime airfields. A paved perimeter track was also constructed, together with hangars, accommodation and a control tower. Although Castle Combe was a wartime RAF station, its principal purpose was training rather than combat operations. Nevertheless, flying training during the Second World War was inherently dangerous. Young pilots were learning to operate increasingly powerful military aircraft, frequently in poor weather and under the pressure of accelerated wartime training programmes. Training accidents were consequently a significant cause of RAF casualties nationally. After the war, Castle Combe acquired another interesting role. From 1946, parts of the station were used by the Polish Resettlement Corps, providing accommodation for Polish former servicemen faced with the difficult decision of whether to return to a Soviet-dominated Poland or establish new lives in Britain. The Polish presence continued until around 1948. RAF Castle Combe was formally reduced to inactive status on 18 October 1948, bringing approximately seven years of RAF use to an end. The airfield subsequently acquired an entirely different identity. Its wartime perimeter track was adapted for motor racing, and the first race meeting was held in 1950. This developed into today’s Castle Combe Circuit. Remarkably, the basic shape of the wartime perimeter remains recognisable in the racing circuit, while several original RAF buildings survive. Most notably, the former wartime control tower remains in use as Race Control.