North Killingholme

North Killingholme Airfield - Home to 550 Squadron

North Killingholme

A World War Two military airfield, North Killingholme was opened in 1943 and closed in 1945; it was an operational bomber station for 550 Squadron part of RAF Bomber Command Group 1. 550 Squadron was credited with opening the D-Day attack from North Killingholme by dropping the first bombs on the night of June 5th 1944, and for this the F/O Kenyon Bowen-Bravery crew were awarded the Croix de Guerre (CdG) by the French Government.

The airfield was equipped with three concrete runways and aircraft hangars Type T2 and Type B1. The technical and administration sites were located east of the flying field. There was a mess, sick quarters, communal and domestic accommodation sites west of the East Halton Road. East of the flying field was a bomb store.

Details about the airfield can be found here: https://www.forgottenairfields.com/airfield-north-killingholme-1028.html.

There were a number of designated emergency stand-by airfields should returning aircraft be in difficulty. One such was Carnaby airfield (RAF Carnaby, also known as RAF Bridlington), see: https://www.forgottenairfields.com/airfield-carnaby-1015.html. Unlike other RAF airfields it had only a single runway, but it was 5 times wider than a standard runway. It provided aircrews, often in battle damaged bombers, with a brightly lit strip indicating the position of the runway. Over 1,400 bombers made an emergency landing at the Carnaby airfield up until the end of the war. After being refuelled and/or repaired, they would return to their respective home bases. Only three such airfields were built, of which RAF Carnaby was one, the others being RAF Manston and RAF Woodbridge. A number of 550 Sqdn aircraft landed at one or other of all of these options during the course of the war.

By 1990 a number of the North Killingholme airfield buildings were still in existance. At that time the airfield was used for industry and for poultry sheds, and indeed this remains the case to this day.

North Killingholme - Photographs

Photographs from in and around the village.

St Denys' Church

St Denys' Church, North Killingholme
A one page summary of the history of the church and brief description of the interior

North Killingholme Village

Information about North Killingholme airfield, the surrounding area, and the connection with 550 Squadron is available in the illustrated booklet shown below.

An illustrated booklet (by Mike Leeman) detailing the connection between 550 Squadron and North Killingholme, including:

views and descriptions of the airfield today
the village today, including St Denys' Church and the 550 Squadon memorial
and going beyond the village to other locations in the area associated with 550 Squadron when it was based there.

The documents are in PDF format.

Booklet Cover		1 page
Contents		1 page
North Killingholme Today		6 pages
Sites Around The Village		3 pages
Beyond The Airfield		1 page
550 Squadron Memorial Window Description		1 page

North Killingholme Airfield Today

See North Killingholme Airfield as it is today, and the latest weather report.

Lancaster on North Killingholme Airfield - January 2017

04/02/2017

Thanks to George Turner for providing these photos taken on 31 January 2017, when he was out around the old airfield.

"... I was driving along the road in this morning when I met a lorry with an unusual load on it. On the trailer was the nose and cockpit of a Lancaster, being transported to the old North Killingholme Airfield. It has been lovingly built by Martin Willoughby, using genuine parts sourced from countries all over the world. He intends to display it at lots of events during 2017 including the Scampton air show and at Buckingham Palace. I have enclosed photos that I took at lunch time."

Lancaster on North Killingholme Airfield - August 2022

12/07/2022

Photographs kindly made available by Paul Crouch (Copyright, Paul Crouch). Many thanks to Paul for providing these photos taken by drone in August 2020.

At the time of adding this section to the web-page (July 2023) a number of the buildings shown in the photos below since have been demolished.