RAF Millom

RAF Millom was a Royal Air Force station established during the Second World War near Millom in Cumbria. It served primarily as a training facility and relief landing ground supporting Operational Training Units and bombing and gunnery schools. The station interacted with a network of RAF bases, Fleet Air Arm units, and civilian industries across northern England and Scotland.

History

Millom opened in 1940 amid the expansion of the Royal Air Force training system that followed the Battle of Britain and the reorganisation under the Air Ministry. Construction involved contractors linked to projects at RAF Waddington, RAF Leeming, RAF Topcliffe, and other northern stations. During 1941–1944 Millom hosted detachments from No. 9 Group RAF, elements tasked by RAF Flying Training Command and coordinated with No. 38 Group RAF for specialist training. The station’s operational life reflected wider RAF responses to threats such as the Norwegian Campaign and the defence of Scapa Flow. As strategic priorities shifted toward the Bomber Command offensive over Germany, Millom’s role evolved to provide aircrew conversion and practical exercises linked to units at RAF Scampton, RAF Coningsby, and RAF Waddington. The station was placed on care and maintenance after 1945 amid demobilisation overseen by the Air Ministry and local authorities including Cumbria County Council.

Station layout and facilities

The airfield comprised concrete runways, perimeter tracks, dispersals, hangars, and technical sites similar to those at RAF Catfoss and RAF Leconfield. Accommodation included Nissen huts, married quarters, and barrack blocks analogous to arrangements at RAF Silloth and RAF Cumbria establishments. Support facilities incorporated a control tower, fuel storage, bomb storage, and maintenance workshops modelled on standards from the Aerodrome Construction Service and wartime plans issued by the Air Ministry. The nearby railway line connecting Millom railway station to Barrow-in-Furness and Whitehaven provided logistic links like those used by Blackpool Central and Workington logistics hubs. Local infrastructure interactions involved the Millom Ironworks workforce and estate proprietors, reflecting patterns seen near Hawarden Airport and West Freugh.

Units and operations

Millom hosted detachments and flights from a variety of RAF units and training organisations. These included elements similar in function to No. 1 Air Gunnery School and components associated with No. 10 Group RAF training structures. Squadrons and training flights cycled through for bombing, gunnery, and radio operator practice; these rotations paralleled movements at RAF Topcliffe and RAF Spitalgate. The station worked in concert with nearby operational units such as No. 9 Squadron RAF and support from maintenance units inspired by No. 14 Maintenance Unit RAF procedures. Coordination extended to naval cooperation with Fleet Air Arm units and to liaison with Air Transport Auxiliary pilots who ferried aircraft between depots like No. 43 Ferry Pool and frontline bases. Civilian contractors from firms such as Vickers-Armstrongs, Avro, and de Havilland occasionally undertook servicing tasks, analogous to practices at Warton Aerodrome and Castle Bromwich.

Aircraft types and training

Training at Millom involved a range of types used in bombing and gunnery instruction, reflecting the inventory of RAF Bomber Command and training schools. Trainees practised on aircraft comparable to the Avro Anson, Handley Page Halifax, Vickers Wellington, and Bristol Blenheim for multi-engine conversion and weapons training. Gunnery and air-to-ground exercises mirrored tactics taught for crews flying Boulton Paul Defiant turrets and using equipment associated with the Browning machine gun and Vickers K machine gun mounts on other types. Radio and navigation instruction employed procedures consistent with instruments found in Decca Navigator installations and radio sets by manufacturers like Marconi Company. Tow target and live bombing ranges were used in patterns similar to ranges supporting RAF Kinloss and RAF Lossiemouth, with safety and range control organised under standards promulgated by the Air Ministry.

Postwar use and legacy

After closure the site passed to civilian control and was partly returned to agriculture, industrial use, and community redevelopment, a pattern seen at former stations such as RAF Cark and RAF Warton. Elements of the airfield survived as roadways, hard standings, and industrial estates, while local memory of wartime activity is preserved by organisations like local history societies and museums comparable to the Cumbria's Museum of Mining and the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment Museum. The legacy includes links to veterans’ associations tied to Bomber Command Memorial remembrance and archival material held by the National Archives (United Kingdom), Imperial War Museums, and regional record offices. Millom’s wartime footprint influenced postwar regional planning by bodies like the Ministry of Civil Aviation and contributed to postwar industrial employment patterns around Barrow-in-Furness and Whitehaven.

Category:Royal Air Force stations in Cumbria Category:Airfields of the Second World War