Stonehenge Aerodrome
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Stonehenge Aerodrome or Stonehenge Airfield was a short-lived military airfield of the Royal Flying Corps on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, in use from 1917 to 1921. It was built around 300 metres (980 ft) south-west of Stonehenge on the site of existing cottages, and spanned both sides of the New Direct Road turnpike (later designated as the A303).[1] The base was opened in November 1917, construction having started earlier in that year, as part of the scaling up of military flying capability for World War I. The aerodrome was not complete when the war ended, but construction continued past the end of the war.[2]
The airfield closed in 1921, and was fully demolished by the early 1930s as part of a concerted effort to restore the natural landscape around Stonehenge.
Closure
The airfield was used for the training of bomber pilots at the No 1 School of Aerial Navigation and Bomb Dropping. The establishment has been described as a "finishing school" for bomber pilots and navigators, and provided both day and night training.[3] At the height of its activity in mid-1918, 60 day crews and 60 night crews were trained each month.[3] The biography of David Clendon Hale, an American airman attached to the RAF, states that he completed a 32-day course as an observer at the night flying school at Stonehenge in May 1918.[4]
There was also a presence of the Royal Naval Air Service with Handley Page heavy bombers.[2] The No. 108 Squadron RAF unit was formed at Stonehenge (or possibly the nearby Lake Down Aerodrome)[5] in November 1917, and was equipped with Airco DH.9 bombers.[6]
The site was closely linked to Larkhill military camp, and from 1917[7] the two sites were connected through spurs of the Larkhill Military Light Railway.[8][9][10]
In 1919, a flight sergeant from the base was charged with stealing six gallons of petrol and selling it to the local bus company.[11]
The Under-secretary of State to the Air Ministry George Tryon was asked in Parliament in early 1920 if the aerodrome was to be pulled down to remove the visual impact on Stonehenge, to which he replied "The retention of the aerodrome at Stonehenge has been the subject of very careful consideration, as the Air Council are in full sympathy with the desire that existing disfigurements in the neighbourhood of Stonehenge should be removed at the earliest moment possible. The station is, however, of great importance to the Royal Air Force owing to its proximity to Larkhill and other artillery camps, and until an alternative arrangement can be found the aerodrome will have to remain".[12]
Flying operations were stopped in 1920,[7] leading to formal closure in 1921, when the last units transferred to the School of Army Co-operation at Old Sarum Airfield. Disused huts and equipment were disposed of by auction.[13]
