RAF Croydon

Better known to the travelling public as Croydon Airport, this aerodrome on the southern edge of London began life as a military landing ground during the First World War and opened as Britain’s principal civil airport in March 1920. It was here that the first dedicated air traffic control tower was established, and through the inter-war years it became the country’s gateway for international air travel, handling carriers such as Imperial Airways and welcoming famous arrivals including Charles Lindbergh in 1927 and Amy Johnson’s 1930 departure for Australia.

On the outbreak of war the site was taken over by the Royal Air Force as RAF Croydon and pressed into service as a fighter station within Fighter Command, sitting in the front line during the Battle of Britain. Numerous squadrons passed through, among them No. 92 Squadron flying Supermarine Spitfires, alongside Hurricane units and later Polish and Canadian formations. On 15 August 1940 the station was struck by a heavy Luftwaffe raid that killed scores of civilians in the surrounding area, one of the more destructive attacks of that summer.

As the war progressed Croydon’s role shifted towards transport and communications work, and RAF Transport Command was formed there in 1943. The airport reverted to civil use after the war but was eclipsed by Heathrow and Gatwick, closing in September 1959. The Grade II*-listed terminal and control tower survive, and the wider site was redeveloped for housing and parkland.