RAF Woolfox Lodge

Military redundancy and strategic downsizing. The station was placed on care and maintenance after World War II in 1945. It was reactivated during the Cold War but was ultimately closed in 1965 after the PGM-17 Thor Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile program, for which it was a host site, was terminated in 1963. The base was no longer required by the Royal Air Force.

The site is now a large industrial and storage area known as Woolfox Depot or Woolfox Industrial Estate. The former runways, taxiways, and hardstandings are extensively used for vehicle storage, particularly for new cars awaiting distribution, and for lorry parking. Several large industrial and commercial units have been built on the site, housing various businesses including logistics and food processing companies. While much of the original airfield layout is still discernible from the air, many original buildings, including the control tower, have been demolished. Some WWII-era T2 hangars and other structures remain, repurposed for industrial or agricultural use. Parts of the site have also been returned to farmland.

RAF Woolfox Lodge was a significant airfield during both World War II and the Cold War.

- **Construction and WWII:** Opened in 1940 as a satellite airfield for RAF Cottesmore. It was upgraded to a full station for RAF Bomber Command in 1941. It primarily hosted No. 61 Squadron, which operated Handley Page Hampdens, Avro Manchesters, and most famously, Avro Lancaster heavy bombers. The station also housed No. 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit for training bomber crews. In 1943, it was transferred to the USAAF Ninth Air Force, where it was designated Station 478 and used by the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group flying Spitfires and North American F-6 Mustangs. It returned to RAF control in 1944 for transport operations before being placed on care and maintenance in late 1945.

- **Cold War:** The airfield was reactivated in the late 1950s to become one of twenty RAF launch sites for the American-made PGM-17 Thor nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. From 1959 to 1963, the site was operated by No. 254 (SM) Squadron RAF. Three rocket launch pads were constructed, the remains of which are still visible today. The withdrawal of the Thor missiles from the UK led to the station's final closure.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening RAF Woolfox Lodge as an airport. The site's extensive conversion to industrial, commercial, and storage use, combined with the degradation of the original aviation infrastructure, makes any potential reactivation as an airfield prohibitively expensive and logistically unfeasible. The site is firmly established in its current non-aviation role.