Page 17 - Peter Brown

Post war picture of the former RAF Hixon airfield

The airfield opened in May 1942 for RAF Bomber Command. The airfield had three
concrete runways which were strong enough to take the weight of Wellingtons,
Lancasters and Bristol Blenheims. The airfield was also host to Masters, Martinets
and Hurricanes.
During the war four Type T2 and one Type B1 hangars were erected. One of the T2
hangars still remains although it has been reclad and is still in use. The control tower
also remains and is now the offices of Hixon Airfield Services and the old guardroom
still remains and again is occupied.

Two of the runways still exist and although overgrown in places and are on occasion
used by the Police for driver training. The searchlight shed is also still standing
alongside the control tower. The runways can be viewed from the public footpath that
follows the east and south perimeter tracks.

After the war the airfield was used by the RAF as a storage base until it was finally
closed in 1957 and disposed of in 1962. The airfield is now Hixon Airfield Industrial
Estate owned by Hixon Airfield Services.