COTTESMORE
Cottesmore was an expansion scheme airfield built in 1936-38 on 200 acres north of the village of that name which lies some 9.5 miles north-west of Stamford within sight of the A 1. The grass flying field, on free-draining soil, permitted for 1,100 yard take-off and landing runs. The camp to the south, adjacent to the road to Cottesmore village, was composed of administrative, technical, barrack and mess buildings built in brick and concrete, the majority being flat-roofed. In common with other new air stations of the period, the whole camp was compact with the standard Type C hangars, four m all, facing the airfield in an arc.
Initially allocated to No. 2 Group, the first occupants were Nos. 35 and 207 Squadrons, which arrived from Worthy Down with their Vickers Wellesleys in late April 1938. The Wellesleys were soon replaced by Battles and in 1939 both squadrons were moved to Cranfield, Cottesmore being passed to No. 5 Group. Shortly before the outbreak of war No. 185 Squadron arrived from Thornaby with Hampdens and Herefords and No. 106 from the same station a few weeks later. Both squadrons had pool status in No. 5 Group for providing reserves for operational units. Early in October, No. 106 was moved to Finningley while No. 185 continued in its reserve role at Cottesmore. However, in mid-December, the airfield was passed to No. 6 Training Group and, in the following April, No. 185 Squadron and the Station Headquarters establishment were merged to form No. 14 Operational Training Unit. No. 185 Squadron was re-formed later in the month at Cottesmore but was unsustainable and was discontinued in May.
No. 14 OTU continued to provide Hampden-trained crews for No. 5 Group squadrons but, from the night of July 25, 1940, periodically undertook leaflet-dropping sorties over the Continent. None of its Hampdens were lost during these operations. The Luftwaffe raided Cottesmore on April 10/11, 1941 with an estimated 10-15 aircraft and, although flares illuminated the area, most of the bombs dropped fell outside the airfield perameter.
When No. 14 OTU was called upon to provided a sizeable force to bomb Cologne on the first of the `Thousand Plan' raids on the night of May 30/31, 1942, one of the 29 aircraft despatched was shot down by a night fighter and two others crashed in England, one after colliding with a Halifax. Cottesmore also participated in the second and third `Thousand Plan' raids, losing another Hampden but the station's most costly night was participation in the attack on Dusseldorf on the night of July 31 when three Hampdens were shot down by night fighters and a fourth was so badly crippled that it crashed on its return. On the night of September 13/14, 1942, a No. 14 OTU Hampden was shot down during a raid on Bremen and another crashed on its return. These were the last Hampden losses during Bomber Command operations. All told, Cottesmore had seven aircraft failing to return from operations and four lost in operational crashes.
In the autumn of 1942, No. 14 OTU converted to Wellingtons and remained at Cottesmore until August 1943 when it was moved to Market Harborough. The move was occasioned by the laying of reinforced concrete runways and the upgrading of the airfield to Class A standard. The runways were 05-23 at 2,000 yards long, 05-23 at 1,600 yards and 10-28 at 1,500 yards. Thirty-five loop-type hardstandings were put down in concrete making a total of 52 on the airfield, only 17 of the original tarmac pan-type surviving. The reason for the high number of aircraft dispersal points was that the airfield was included in the new group area, which would be allocated to the USAAF for basing a transport aircraft command prior to the cross-Channel invasion planned for the following year. Additional accommodation was built by Constable Hart & Co. Ltd on sites in the Cottesmore village area. Also, a T2 was erected in the summer of 1943 for glider storage, 32 Horsas having been delivered by air in July that year.
The first personnel from the US Ninth Air Force arrived in October 1943 to set up a Troop Carrier Wing and in February 1944 the 316th Troop Carrier Group arrived from the Mediterranean Theater with its four squadrons and 52 C-47 and C-53 transports. The 316th participated in the three major airborne assaults - Normandy, Holland and the Rhine - and was the only troop carrier group still based in the UK at the end of hostilities.
Cottesmore was returned to the Royal Air Force on July l, 1945, and in September No. 1668 Heavy Conversion Unit was transferred in from Bottesford although it was gradually run down. When this formation was disbanded Cottesmore, was occupied by No. 16 Operational Training Unit. Two years later No. 7 Flying Training School was installed, Cottesmore's training role continuing until 1954. Canberra squadrons were next to arrive but their presence was only for eight months as a decision had been taken to upgrade the airfield for use by Vbombers. To this end, the main runway, 0523, was rebuilt and extended to 3,000 yards and new taxiways and aircraft dispersals built. Victor squadrons came first followed by Vulcans in 1964. The latter stayed for five years before the station passed to No. 90 (Signals) Group.
From 1980, Cottesmore was the home of the Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment with British, Germany and Italian crews, the following 20 years being Cottesmore's longest association with one unit. It disbanded in 1999. Harrier squadrons took up station at the end of the century.
