RAF Elsham Wolds

RAF Elsham Wolds
Memorial dedicated to those lost on operations
IATA: none ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Location	Elsham, Lincolnshire
Built	1916 (1916)
In use	1916-1919 1941-1947 (1947)
Elevation AMSL	249 ft / 76 m
Coordinates	53°36′23″N 000°25′19″W / 53.60639°N 0.42194°W / 53.60639; -0.42194Coordinates: 53°36′23″N 000°25′19″W / 53.60639°N 0.42194°W / 53.60639; -0.42194
Map
RAF Elsham Wolds Location in Lincolnshire
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 00/00 0 0 Asphalt 00/00 0 0 Asphalt 00/00 0 0 Asphalt

Royal Air Force Station Elsham Wolds or more simply RAF Elsham Wolds is a former Royal Air Force station in England, which operated in the First World War and the Second World War. It is located just to the north east of the village of Elsham in north Lincolnshire.

An airfield was established at Elsham as early as December 1916 and used by C Flight of 33 squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, initially operating F.E.2 and later Avro 504 and Bristol F.2 Fighter biplanes. From June 1918 to June 1919 it was also the squadron's headquarters, taking over from Gainsborough.

The site was the most northerly of three airfields, along with RAF Kirton in Lindsey (B Flight) and RAF Scampton (A Flight), equally spaced between the cities of Hull and Lincoln for countering Zeppelin night raids. C Flight also acted as observers for the artillery batteries located at Spurn Head and Kilnsea.

The flight stayed at Elsham until June 1918, the wooden huts and a small aircraft shed that had been erected were demolished by 1919 when the station was abandoned back to agriculture at the end of the First World War.

In the late 1930s with a new war on the horizon, extra airfields were again needed to accommodate an expansion of the RAF. Former First World War stations were surveyed for suitability, and an area just to the west of the original Elsham site was deemed to be better suited.