Newton Airfield
RAF Newton Oxford AT480
Newark Air Museum Archive
RAF Newton Chipmunks
Newark Air Museum Archive
RAF Newton Vulcan XA908
Newark Air Museum Archive
RAF Newton Control Tower
Howard Heeley
By Howard Heeley
Grid Ref: Sheet 121; SK670410; 7 miles E of Nottingham
Opened: July 1940
Squadrons: 103 Sqn: 150 Sqn; 16 (Polish) SFTS; 1524 BAT Flt; 93 MU; 12 Group Comms Flt; Nottingham UAS; 9 SOTT; East Midlands UAS; ATC; 644 Gliding School.
Aircraft: Battle; Wellington; Oxford; Tiger Moth; Magister; Anson; Harvard; Chipmunk; Bulldog; assorted gliders
Nationalities: Commonwealth; Polish
Things of note: Established during the expansion period and having retained grass runways throughout its use; in some sources is reported as being “the largest grass airfield in the East Midlands”. It once housed the RAF's Missile Collection, including the Blue Steel nuclear missile that is now displayed at Newark Air Museum. Used as a location for filming many TV programmes after its closure in March 2001, including 'Robot Wars'.
Current status: Many of the original buildings survive for a variety of industrial uses and some of the accommodation quarters are privately owned. Housing developments have taken over some parts of the site and fund raising is underway to raise a memorial to the former personnel that served at the station.
(This information was originally published in the 2011 booklet “Aviation in Nottinghamshire”, which was produced by the Newark Air Museum thanks to a Local Improvement Scheme grant from the Nottinghamshire County Council. Photographs sourced from the Newark Air Museum Archive.)