RAF Stoke Hammond

Military decommissioning. As a Relief Landing Ground (RLG), its existence was directly tied to the intensive pilot training programs of World War II. With the end of the war and the subsequent scaling down of the Royal Air Force's training command, the airfield was deemed surplus to requirements and was decommissioned.

The site has been fully returned to its pre-war use as agricultural land. There are virtually no visible remnants of the airfield today; the grass runways and any temporary structures were removed, and the land was reclaimed for farming. The ICAO code GB-1176 is a historical identifier used in some databases for closed airfields and does not correspond to any active aviation facility.

RAF Stoke Hammond was a World War II Relief Landing Ground that opened in June 1942. Its primary function was to serve as a satellite airfield for the much larger RAF Cranfield. It was used by No. 17 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit ((P)AFU) for training pilots on multi-engine aircraft, predominantly the Airspeed Oxford. RLGs like Stoke Hammond were crucial for handling the high volume of training flights, allowing trainee pilots to practice circuits, landings, and take-offs without congesting the main airbase. The airfield itself was rudimentary, consisting of grass landing strips and minimal infrastructure, which was typical for this type of facility. Its significance lies in its contribution to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and the overall Allied war effort by facilitating the training of new pilots.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening the airfield. The land is privately owned farmland, and its original purpose as a temporary military training ground is obsolete. Re-establishing an airfield on this site would be economically unviable and face significant planning and environmental challenges.