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RAF Manby, near Louth in Lincolnshire, was part of a county whose landscape was reshaped by air power. Unlike many Lincolnshire stations remembered primarily for bomber squadrons, Manby’s wartime importance leaned heavily toward training, technical development and the specialist instruction that sat behind operational success. In other words, it contributed not just by flying missions, but by improving how the RAF fought and by producing people with the skills needed to maintain effectiveness under pressure.
The station became closely associated with armament and gunnery-related training. In the air war, weapons competence was a life-or-death factor, and it had to be taught and refreshed continuously as aircraft and tactics changed. A station devoted to armament work meant repeated, structured sorties: teaching correct handling of guns and sights, stoppage drills, harmonisation principles, and the practical realities of firing in the air – vibration, recoil, poor visibility, cold, fatigue and time pressure. Training culture also mattered. The goal was to make correct procedure automatic so that a crew’s first experience of a jam or a mis-feed did not occur over hostile territory.
Manby’s wartime rhythm would have been dominated by instruction, ranges, workshops and methodical routine rather than by a single set of headline operations. That also meant a high concentration of specialist ground trades. Armourers, instructors and engineering staff had to keep both aircraft and training equipment reliable. Because training flying is repetitive by design, wear accumulates quickly, and the station’s output depended on disciplined maintenance scheduling and careful record keeping. In a large wartime system, a well-run specialist station reduced avoidable losses and prevented bottlenecks by producing competent personnel who could be posted onward into operational units.
Lincolnshire’s airspace was crowded, and Manby’s value also included capacity. Training and specialist sorties needed space to operate without interfering with the heavy bomber stream and the constant movements between stations, depots and training schools. By hosting structured instruction away from the most congested circuits, Manby helped distribute risk and kept the wider flying programme flowing. It also contributed to institutional learning: lessons from the front could be translated into training updates, which were then spread through graduates and posted instructors.
- Primary wartime role: specialist training and technical armament-focused work within the wider Lincolnshire air network.
- Typical activity: gunnery/armament instruction, method-driven flying training, equipment maintenance and standardisation.
- Why it mattered: raised competence, reduced avoidable losses, and improved effectiveness across units by feeding trained personnel into the operational system.
After 1945, many such specialist wartime stations shifted role or reduced as training demand fell. RAF Manby’s Second World War significance remains strong because it represents the ‘skills factory’ side of air power: the deliberate, systematic work that made operational performance more reliable and survivable over a long, demanding conflict.
Manby also demonstrates how the RAF institutionalised expertise. Specialist courses were constantly updated as aircraft types and armament fits changed, and graduates carried those standards outward to squadrons across commands. That spreading of best practice – by postings, manuals and instructor exchange – was one of the RAF’s strongest advantages in a long war of learning.