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 Tilstock was a wartime airfield at near Whitchurch, Shropshire. During the Second World War it served as a bomber crew conversion and heavy conversion satellite, preparing crews for four-engined aircraft. built as a bomber base and used mainly for training and conversion work in 1942-45.
Like most British wartime stations, RAF Tilstock 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.
Who flew from here
Aircraft commonly associated with wartime flying here: Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, Short Stirling, Handley Page Halifax.
Records for RAF Tilstock 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.
- No. 81 Operational Training Unit (Whitley)
- No. 1665 Heavy Conversion Unit (Short Stirling and Handley Page Halifax conversion)
Operations and highlights
Conversion flying was demanding: crews moved from twin-engined types to heavy four-engined bombers, learning asymmetric handling, systems management and multi-crew coordination.
Tilstock’s role mattered because it reduced the ‘step change’ shock before crews reached front-line bomber squadrons.
How the station ‘worked’: aircraft were usually kept on dispersal pans connected by a perimeter track. Crews moved between briefing rooms, parachute/oxygen sections, and the flight line; ground crew handled refuelling, re-arming and engine changes. The watch office coordinated flying, and on busy days the airfield operated like a factory – turning time, fuel and maintenance hours into sorties.
Legacy and remains
As a training field, Tilstock’s wartime impact is best measured through the crews it produced rather than headline raids; its footprint still echoes a standard bomber-station plan.
Landscape and flying conditions: RAF Tilstock’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.
People and local impact: wartime stations drew in thousands of personnel and contractors. Nearby villages saw billets, transport convoys, blackout rules, and the sudden arrival of foreign accents – from Commonwealth aircrew to American units. Many airfields formed strong links with local communities through dances, sports, and fundraising, but also through tragedy when aircraft crashed or when raids hit technical sites and domestic camps.