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 Great Orton, near Carlisle in Cumbria, was one of the wartime airfields developed in Britain’s north-west to support training, dispersal and regional defence. The region’s geography mattered. Cumbria sat away from the main bomber corridors and the heaviest Luftwaffe pressure, but it was close to important industrial and transport routes and to the western coastal approaches. That made northern airfields valuable as places to train, to move aircraft safely, and to provide contingency capacity when other stations were unavailable.
Great Orton’s wartime identity is best understood as supportive. Smaller northern stations were commonly used as relief landing grounds and satellites for larger bases in the area. They absorbed training circuits, navigation practice and instrument flying, helping keep the training pipeline flowing while reducing congestion at parent stations. They also provided diversion options for aircraft returning in poor weather. For crews, that meant Great Orton could be the difference between a safe landing and a dangerous search for a clear runway in fading light.
Training airfields carried risk. High sortie rates, inexperienced pilots and the changeable weather of the north-west made accidents an ever-present possibility. Ground services – flying control, signals, crash and fire response – were therefore important even at smaller sites. A disciplined station routine improved safety: standard circuit patterns, strict radio procedures, and careful briefing and debriefing processes that identified errors before they became disasters. These practices, repeated across the RAF system, raised reliability and reduced avoidable losses.
Great Orton also fitted into the wartime dispersal logic. As air threat and accident risk persisted, the RAF sought to avoid concentrating aircraft at a small number of major stations. Dispersal to smaller fields reduced vulnerability and allowed units to continue flying if a main base was damaged or temporarily unusable. Northern fields contributed to national resilience by providing additional runway capacity and space for aircraft movement and holding.
- Primary wartime role: northern support airfield used for relief landings, training-related flying and dispersal capacity.
- Typical activity: circuits and landings practice, navigation and instrument training, and diversion support during poor weather.
- Why it mattered: improved safety and resilience for training and operational movement in the north-west.
After the war, as the RAF contracted and training demand fell, Great Orton’s military role ended and much of the site returned to civilian use. Its historical significance remains as part of the hidden support structure of the wartime RAF: a practical airfield whose value was measured in the steady flow of safe landings, training hours and contingency capacity rather than headline operations.
Northern support fields were also useful for the post-raid and post-training ‘recovery problem’. Aircraft returning low on fuel or with instrument issues needed clear, reliable options. By providing additional runway capacity in the region, Great Orton reduced pressure on larger stations and helped prevent accidents that could otherwise have cost crews and aircraft even without enemy involvement.