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.
Wartime role
RAF Tangmere was a wartime airfield at near Chichester in West Sussex, on the South Coast frontline. During the Second World War it served as a key Fighter Command sector station and later a 2nd Tactical Air Force base, central to south-coast defence and offensive ‘sweeps’. expanded just before and during 1939-40; heavily attacked during the Battle of Britain; continued in use for fighter and special operations through the war.
Like most British wartime stations, RAF Tangmere functioned as a small, self-contained town. Beyond the runways were technical areas for maintenance and armament, dispersed hardstandings to reduce losses during raids, and domestic sites where airmen, WAAFs or naval personnel lived, trained, and waited for the next tasking. On operational nights or intensive training days the routine revolved around briefings, meteorology, aircraft servicing, and a tight rhythm of take-off and recovery windows.
Squadrons, units and types
Aircraft commonly associated with wartime flying here: Hurricane, Spitfire, Ju 87 Stuka (attacker), Westland Lysander.
Records for RAF Tangmere show a mix of operational and support activity. Some units were long-term residents with a stable identity, while others arrived as detachments – often for conversion training, gunnery work-ups, dispersal, or to cover a specific operational requirement. That pattern is typical of the RAF’s wartime system: stations were constantly re-tasked as the air war shifted from defence to offence, from the Battle of the Atlantic to the bomber offensive, and later to preparations for the invasion of Northwest Europe.
- Pre-war fighter strength included Nos. 1 and 43 Squadrons (biplanes progressing to Hurricanes)
- Battle of Britain period linked closely with the Westhampnett satellite (e.g., No. 602 Squadron Spitfires)
- No. 616 Squadron arrived in 1941
- No. 161 (Special Duty) Squadron Lysander flight used the station for clandestine pick-ups/insertions
- From 1944, 2nd TAF / 84 Group fighter wing structures controlled multiple squadrons for the run-up to D-Day
Operations and highlights
On 16 August 1940 a major Luftwaffe raid caused severe damage and casualties, yet the station returned to operations quickly.
Associated with famous aces including Douglas Bader and Johnnie Johnson during 1941.
Wider context: the RAF and its Allies depended on layered infrastructure. Training stations produced crews, conversion units taught them to survive in heavier or faster aircraft, and operational bases launched combat sorties. Even a ‘quiet’ airfield could be strategically important as a diversion, a dispersal site, or a specialist hub for ferrying, target-towing, glider operations, or meteorology.
After the war
Tangmere’s museum and surviving structures keep the story visible, including the wider ‘Tangmere Wing’ legend and the SOE connections of Tangmere Cottage.
Landscape and flying conditions: RAF Tangmere’s geography influenced operations. Prevailing winds dictated runway selection, while local terrain and weather shaped training and safety. In winter, short daylight and low cloud increased the workload; in summer, longer hours enabled intensive training programmes and high sortie rates. These practical factors are often reflected in accident reports and ORBs, which mention crosswinds, icing, fog, and diversion landings.