Full WW2 control tower details and photos for this wartime airfield are coming soon. Please check back later as this is work progress. If you would like to contribute information or photos please get in touch.
RAF Sleap, north of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, opened in April 1943 and became a key wartime training station whose work linked bomber training to airborne operations. Built as a hard-runway airfield with dispersals and hangars typical of the period, Sleap’s location in the west of England provided valuable airspace away from the most congested bomber bases, while still allowing realistic training for crews destined for operational roles.
The station’s first major unit was No. 81 Operational Training Unit, initially operating Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bombers. OTUs took partially trained aircrew and forged them into combat-ready teams, teaching navigation, night flying, bombing and gunnery procedures, and the crew coordination required for multi-engine operations. At Sleap, 81 OTU’s role evolved as Britain prepared for large airborne operations. From January 1944 the airfield was assigned to No. 38 Group, the RAF formation heavily involved in airborne assault and transport tasks.
Under 38 Group, Sleap’s Whitleys took on glider-towing duties, hauling Airspeed Horsa troop-carrying gliders on training missions. These exercises were designed to simulate the demanding conditions of airborne landings: tug aircraft flew in formation at low speed, gliders held position close behind, and then executed coordinated releases to land on designated zones. This training supported the broader airborne capability that would be used in Normandy and in later operations. In November 1944, Vickers Wellingtons replaced the Whitleys, and by early 1945 Sleap’s strength included dozens of Wellington T.Xs used for Transport Command aircrew training – reflecting the shift from wartime assault preparation to sustaining transport operations as the war moved toward its end.
Sleap also hosted a variety of other specialist units over time, including No. 1380 (Transport Support) Conversion Unit, No. 1665 Heavy Conversion Unit, and navigation-related schools such as the Central Navigation and Control School and the Empire Air Navigation School. This mix highlights the airfield’s versatility: it was not simply an OTU base, but part of a wider system preparing crews for different aircraft types and operational tasks, from heavy bomber conversion to advanced navigation instruction.
After the war, Sleap’s RAF role gradually diminished, but the station remained in aviation use and is still active today as a civilian airfield. That continuity is fitting: Sleap was built to teach people how to fly effectively and safely under pressure, and it continues to be a place where flying skill is developed. Its Second World War history – particularly its glider-towing and transport training – captures an important side of the air war that is sometimes overshadowed by the dramatic stories of frontline combat units.
For researchers and visitors, RAF Sleap can often be understood through the surviving pattern of its runways, perimeter track and dispersal points. Even where buildings have vanished, aerial photographs and ground traces can reveal the technical site, the former station entrance, and the ‘domestic’ camps where personnel lived. These physical clues help connect the local landscape to the wider wartime system of aircrew generation, logistics and operations.