RAF Baginton

RAF Baginton lay just south of Coventry in Warwickshire, on an aerodrome that the city’s council had laid out in the 1930s. With the approach of war the site took on a military character, and during the Second World War it served principally as a fighter station within No. 9 Group of RAF Fighter Command. Its three grass runways and its position guarding the industrial Midlands made it a useful base for the air defence of the region, and the airfield itself was hit during the heavy German raids on Coventry in 1940.

A succession of fighter and other units passed through Baginton, among them No. 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron, the locally raised Auxiliary Air Force unit, together with No. 32, No. 79, No. 134 and No. 135 Squadrons and the Polish-manned No. 308 Squadron. Commonwealth squadrons also used the field, including No. 403 Squadron RCAF and No. 457 Squadron RAAF, while specialist formations such as No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit, an early camouflage unit and No. 63 Operational Training Unit were based there at various times. The station rose to sector-station status in September 1940 before being reduced to a satellite of nearby RAF Honiley in August 1941.

Aircraft manufacturing was a defining feature of the site, as Armstrong Whitworth established a factory on the aerodrome. After the war Baginton returned fully to civil flying, growing into Coventry Airport and later home to the Midland Air Museum.