Bottesford Airfield: Vincent Holyoak Collection

The Bottesford Airfield Archive was collected by Vincent Holyoak when researching “On the Wings of the Morning: RAF Bottesford 1941-1945. There are now ??? items in the collection, consisting mainly of photos and documents relating to the squadrons that were stationed at Bottesford Airfield during WW2.

Approximately half the collection consists of original letters from surviving service members and their relatives written in response to Vincent Holyoak’s research enquiries. The remainder are copies of original war time and reunion photographs that are in the care of the contributors.

Most of the photos show crew, aircraft and buildings associated with the airfield. There are also oral history interviews concerning war time service recorded by Vincent Holyoak.

The collection is organised into groups of items associated with each of the squadron’s based at Bottesford, known locally as Normanton Airfield. Built in 1940 by George Wimpey & Co. Ltd it became operational in September 1941 and was used by the RAF, RAAF and USAAF:
• November 1941 – September 1942 RAF No. 207 Squadron;
• November – December 1942, RAF No. 90 Squadron;
• November 1942 – November 1943 No. 467, RAAF;
• January 1944 – March 1944 AAF 436th Troop Carrier 50th Troop Carrier Wing US IXth;
• April 1944 – July 1944 AAF 440th Troop Carrier 50th th Troop Carrier Wing, US IXth;
• July 1944 – September 1945, RAF No. 5 Group Bomber Command No. 1668 Heavy Conversion Unit.