Places
Runways, dispersals, and the human geography of wartime flying. Each place connects to the aircraft and squadrons that passed through it.
Airfield
RAF Tangmere was a historic sector station near Chichester, West Sussex, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain as a base for 10 Group Fighter Command. Home to Battle of Britain ace Douglas Bader and the site of Prince Charles's first flying lessons.
Royal Air Force Tangmere was established near Chichester, West Sussex, originally founded in 1917 as a Royal Flying Corps training base during the First World War. After the war it was sold, then re-purchased by the Crown in 1923 and re-opened as an RAF station in 1925, serving as a base for new fighter aircraft through the interwar period.
During the Battle of Britain, Tangmere was the headquarters of No. 10 Group Fighter Command, under Air Vice-Marshal Sir Quintin Brand. The station was home to several notable pilots including the legless ace Wing Commander Douglas Bader, who flew from Tangmere in 1941, and the young Johnnie Johnson who would become one of the RAF's most successful pilots. The airfield later served as a USAAF base and the Fleet Air Arm operated from Tangmere between 1942 and 1948.
The station continued in RAF service until October 1970, when the RAF ensign was lowered for the last time and a solitary Spitfire flew over the airfield. Today the majority of the site has been returned to farmland, with the runways progressively removed from 1979 onwards. The Tangmere Military Aviation Museum occupies a portion of the former technical site, preserving the station's heritage with exhibits covering the Battle of Britain and the station's other incarnations.
On the map
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Sources used for verification and further reading:
RAF Tangmere — Wikipedia
