RAF Hornchurch

RAF Hornchurch
Hornchurch, Essex in England
Station badge
RAF Hornchurch Shown within Greater London Show map of Greater London RAF Hornchurch RAF Hornchurch (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°32′19″N 000°12′17″E / 51.53861°N 0.20472°E / 51.53861; 0.20472
Type	Royal Air Force station parent station 1928 - sector station ? - 1944
Code	HO[1]
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Flying Corps Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Fighter Command 1928–44 * No. 11 Group RAF
Site history
Built	1915 (1915) & 1928
In use	3 October 1915 – 31 December 1919, (As Sutton's Farm), 1 April 1928 – 1 July 1962 (1962), (As RAF Hornchurch)
Battles/wars	First World War European theatre of World War II Cold War
Airfield information
Elevation	18 metres (59 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 02/20  Grass 12/30  Grass 10/28  Grass

Royal Air Force Hornchurch, or more simply RAF Hornchurch, is a former Royal Air Force sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The airfield was known as Sutton's Farm during the First World War, when it occupied 90 acres (360,000 m²) of the farm of the same name. It was used for the protection of London, being 14 miles (22.5 km) east north-east of Charing Cross.

Although the airfield closed shortly after the end of the war, the land was requisitioned in 1923 because of the expansion of the Royal Air Force and it re-opened as a much larger fighter station in 1928. The airfield was ideal to cover both London and the Thames corridor from German air attacks. It was a key air force installation between both wars and into the jet age, closing in 1962.