RAF High Ercall

RAF High Ercall, north-east of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, was built at the start of the war and became operational in 1941. It served first as a night-fighter station, defending the West Midlands with Spitfires and other types, and a USAAF fighter squadron passed through in 1942. From 1943 its role shifted increasingly to training and to the maintenance, preparation and storage of aircraft, with operational training and Fleet Air Arm units among those based there. The airfield appeared on Luftwaffe target maps, and after the war it found a small footnote in aviation history as the starting point of an early postwar long-distance flight to Australia. High Ercall continued as a relief landing ground for pilot training into the early 1960s before closing. Several of its hangars still stand and are used for industry, vehicle storage and other purposes, while much of the landing ground has reverted to farmland.