The full story of
RAF Woodhall Spa
is told in the book

written by
Nigel Press.

It is available from Thorpe Camp at £12 or by mail order at £14 (inc. P&P) from
The Secretary,
Lancaster Farm,
Tumby Woodside, Boston,
Lincs, PE22 7SP

The South Hall of the Visitor Centre houses displays covering the airfield itself, and separate areas for each of the squadrons which operated from RAF Woodhall Spa during WWII.

RAF Woodhall Spa became operational in February 1942 as a heavy bomber airfield within 5 Group. It was a satellite of RAF Coningsby and from January 1944 a substation of No.54 Base (Coningsby, Metheringham and Woodhall Spa).

	97 Squadron (brief history) transferred from Coningsby on 1 March 1942. As the second unit to be equipped with the Lancaster, the squadron was heavily involved with early operations with this aircraft, including the low level mission to bomb the MAN diesel engine factory in Augsburg on 17 April 1942. The squadron moved to Bourn, Cambridgeshire, in 1943 leaving three crews as a nucleus for . . .
	. . . 619 Squadron (brief history), which formed here on 18 April 1943. They moved to RAF Coningsby on 1 January 1944 to be replaced at Woodhall Spa by . . .
	. . . 617 Squadron, "The Dambusters"(brief history), with 34 Lancasters and two Mosquitoes, the latter being used for low-level target marking. 617 Squadron operated from the airfield until the end of hostilities, pioneering the use of ultra-heavy bombs - the 12,000lb Tallboy and 22,000lb Grand Slam - both of which were used on special targets in operations from the airfield.
	Low level target marking, developed by 617 Squadron, was so successful that 627 Squadron, a Mosquito unit in No 8 (PFF) Group, was "loaned" to 5 Group to operate in this role. The squadron arrivied at Woodhall Spa on 14 April 1944 and stayed until the end of the war.

With the end of the war in Europe the airfield was used as an assembly and kitting-out point for ground personnel for Tiger Force, the planned heavy bomber force for the Far East. After VJ Day Tiger Force was dispersed, and with 627 Squadron disbanded and with 617 Squadron moving to RAF Waddington, the airfield was closed. In the years that followed the site was used by 92 MSU for the storage of bombs.

From the late 1950's to 1965 Woodhall Spa became a base for Bloodhound SAM missiles. With the rest of the airfield sold off for agriculture or mineral extraction, the former missile site has remained under the control of RAF Coningsby and was used for the servicing of Tornado engines until 2003 when it was mothballed.

This Avro Lancaster Propeller, recovered from The Wash, is dedicated to the personnel of the Royal and Allied Air Forces who have served at Royal Air Force Woodhall Spa since 1942. It was orignally erected on the airfield in 1993 by the officers and airmen of the Propulsion Flight, RAF Woodhall Spa, and was moved to Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre (formally No.1 Communal Site, RAF Woodhall Spa) when the Propulsion Flight closed down in 2003.