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Set among the ‘bomber county’ airfields of Lincolnshire, Dunholme Lodge was laid out with three concrete runways, a perimeter track and multiple dispersal pans designed to reduce vulnerability to attack. Living conditions could be austere – Nissen huts, muddy tracks and blackout discipline – yet the station functioned as a small town, with armourers, fitters, riggers, radar and signals staff, medical teams and the RAF Regiment all supporting nightly operations.
Overview
RAF Dunholme Lodge, in Lincolnshire near the city of Lincoln, was a Bomber Command station that came into its own during the heavy-bomber phase of the air war. Although the site was used earlier as a dispersal area for aircraft from nearby stations, it was developed into a standard three-runway ‘Class A’ airfield and opened as an operational base in September 1942.
No. 5 Group and Lancaster operations
The station’s best-known resident was No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron, part of No. 5 Group, Bomber Command. The squadron moved in during May 1943 and flew Avro Lancaster heavy bombers from Dunholme Lodge until September 1944. No. 44 Squadron had already built a formidable reputation and, like many 5 Group units, operated in the core of the Main Force – night raids against industrial cities, transport nodes and military targets deep in occupied Europe and Germany.
Operational life at Dunholme Lodge followed the Bomber Command rhythm: daytime maintenance and armament work, briefing in the afternoon or evening, then the long, tense hours of night operations. Returning aircraft arrived damaged, short of fuel or with wounded crew, while those that did not return were counted in the grim tallies posted each morning. By the end of the war, around 120 Lancasters had been lost on operations from the station – an indication of the intensity of its contribution and the price paid.
Other squadrons and specialist roles
Dunholme Lodge also hosted other Lancaster units for periods, including No. 619 Squadron and No. 170 Squadron, reinforcing the station’s identity as a heavy-bomber base. Training and support flights – such as bombing gunnery, beam approach training and RAF Regiment detachments – formed part of the wider station ecosystem, improving crew proficiency and defending the airfield against attack.
End of wartime flying
Flying operations ceased in late 1944, reportedly due to the proximity of other bomber stations that restricted night flying. Even when active operations ended, the physical footprint of the station – runways, perimeter track, dispersals and domestic areas – remained a visible piece of wartime infrastructure across the Lincolnshire landscape.
Legacy
After the war the site was reused in various ways, including post-war activities unrelated to flying, before parts of the airfield found new purposes. For visitors and researchers today, Dunholme Lodge represents the classic Bomber Command heavy-bomber station: a place built at speed, operated at maximum tempo, and remembered through squadron histories, casualty lists and the surviving geometry of runways that once launched Lancasters into the night.