RAF Wing

Post-World War II military drawdown. With the end of the war, the vast network of training airfields was no longer required by the Royal Air Force, and RAF Wing was declared surplus to requirements.

The site has been almost entirely returned to agricultural land, though the ghostly outlines of the three main runways are still clearly visible in aerial and satellite imagery. A large portion of the former technical and domestic sites has been redeveloped into the Wing Industrial Park. The original control tower and most other wartime buildings have been demolished. The site is a historical landmark, but very little physical infrastructure from its time as an active airfield remains.

RAF Wing was a Class A airfield constructed between 1940 and 1941. Its primary role during World War II was as a major training base for Bomber Command. It was home to No. 26 Operational Training Unit (OTU), which trained entire bomber crews (pilots, navigators, bomb aimers, wireless operators, and air gunners) primarily using Vickers Wellington bombers. The airfield also served as a satellite station for RAF Bicester. A significant tragic event in its history occurred on April 2, 1945, when a Wellington bomber from the base crashed into a school in the nearby village of Wing, killing the six-man crew and three young children on the ground. After the OTU departed in March 1945, the airfield was briefly used by the Transport Command Development Unit before its operational life ended.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening RAF Wing as an airport. The land has been privately owned and used for agriculture and industry for over 60 years, and the original runways are no longer paved or serviceable. Redevelopment of the site makes any return to aviation use virtually impossible.