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 Blyton in Lincolnshire was built as part of the wartime airfield expansion and opened in November 1942, initially intended to support Bomber Command operations. Like several stations in the region, Blyton’s story quickly became one of training and conversion rather than long-term front-line operations. That shift reflects how Bomber Command continuously adjusted its basing to balance the need for operational squadrons with the equally urgent requirement to create trained crews for a growing heavy bomber force.
Even before the station officially opened, aircraft associated with No. 18 Operational Training Unit arrived, using Blyton as part of the training system. Shortly afterwards, No. 199 Squadron re-formed at Blyton with Wellington aircraft but moved on in early 1943. This brief operational presence gave way to Blyton’s more enduring wartime role: heavy conversion training. Conversion was a critical step in the pipeline, where crews who had trained on twin-engined aircraft learned to operate the larger four-engined bombers that dominated late-war Bomber Command.
Blyton became associated with No. 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit, which operated a mix of aircraft including Manchesters, Halifaxes and Lancasters during its time at the station. The transition to Halifaxes and Lancasters reflects the rapid evolution of the bomber force. Heavy conversion training demanded realism: crews practised night flying, cross-country navigation, engine-out drills, bombing runs and emergency procedures. They also learned the practical teamwork required in a heavy bomber – pilot, navigator, bomb aimer, wireless operator and gunners functioning as a coordinated unit under pressure.
This training role also shaped the daily life of the station. Rather than long operational briefings for raids deep into Germany, Blyton’s routine revolved around instructor-led sorties, debriefs focused on technique, and a constant turnover of students. The airfield’s infrastructure – runways, dispersals, hangars and accommodation – was used at high intensity, and the accident risk remained real. Heavy aircraft in training could be unforgiving, particularly in poor weather or at night, making the station’s crash and rescue services an essential part of operations.
Blyton continued as a bomber training base into 1946, and later saw limited post-war flying. Its wartime significance is therefore rooted in preparation: Blyton was one of the places where crews learned to handle the heavies that would then operate from Lincolnshire’s front-line bomber stations, turning training hours into operational capability across the broader air campaign.
Heavy conversion units were the bridge between training and combat, and their output determined how quickly Bomber Command could replace losses and expand the heavy bomber force.
Stations like Blyton also functioned as safety valves, absorbing overflow aircraft and crews when weather closed other fields or when operational demands forced rapid redistribution.
The station’s wartime footprint is often reconstructed from aerial photographs, unit records and personal logbooks that record the constant pattern of circuits and training sorties.
For visitors and researchers today, the most rewarding approach is to combine surviving site evidence (perimeter tracks, dispersal loops, building footprints) with squadron ORBs, logbooks and local testimony, which together recreate how the station worked day to day.