RAF Hornchurch | |||||||||||
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Hornchurch, Essex in England | |||||||||||
Coordinates | 51°32′19″N 000°12′17″E / 51.53861°N 0.20472°E | ||||||||||
Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||||||
Code | HO | ||||||||||
Site information | |||||||||||
Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||
Operator | Royal Flying Corps Royal Air Force | ||||||||||
Controlled by | RAF Fighter Command 1928–44 | ||||||||||
Site history | |||||||||||
Built | 1915 | & 1928||||||||||
In use | 3 October 1915 – 31 December 1919, (As Sutton's Farm), 1 April 1928 – 1 July 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 | ||||||||||
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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.