Qualla: RAF Witchford https://qualla.com/raf-witchford en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:11 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: RAF Witchford https://qualla.com/raf-witchford RAF Witchford: Introduction https://qualla.com/raf-witchford/ Two miles southwest of Ely, in the flat Cambridgeshire fenland, there is a business park. It is called Lancaster Way. The name is not accidental. Between 1943 and 1945, this was RAF Witchford — a heavy bomber station that launched hundreds of missions over occupied Europe, lost 99 aircraft in operations, and sent its crews into the dark over Germany night after night in some of the most dangerous flying of the war. Today the runways are gone, the grass has returned, and a light industrial estate occupies the site. But Lancaster Way remembers what this flat, unremarkable field once held.

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]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/2/1/raf-witchford-wp/u121-raf-witchford-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full RAF Witchford: Stirlings and Lancasters https://qualla.com/raf-witchford/ RAF Witchford began receiving aircraft in 1943. No. 196 Squadron RAF arrived in July of that year with Vickers Wellington bombers, transitioning to Short Stirlings during their stay before moving on in November. No. 513 Squadron formed at Witchford on 15 September 1943 with Stirl...

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]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/2/1/raf-witchford-wp/u121-raf-witchford-stirlings-and-lancasters.mp3 0:06 2 full RAF Witchford: The Cost https://qualla.com/raf-witchford/ A total of 99 bombers dispatched from Witchford were lost in operations — 8 Short Stirlings and 91 Avro Lancasters. Each loss represented a crew: pilot, flight engineer, navigator, bomb aimer, wireless operator, mid-upper gunner, rear gunner. Seven men in each aircraft. The losse...

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]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/2/1/raf-witchford-wp/u121-raf-witchford-the-cost.mp3 0:06 3 full RAF Witchford: A Cold War Near-Miss https://qualla.com/raf-witchford/ In 1958, the United States and Britain began deploying PGM-17 Thor intermediate-range ballistic missiles to RAF stations across England under Project Emily. These nuclear-armed missiles were aimed at targets in the Soviet Union and represented one of the Cold War's most significa...

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]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/2/1/raf-witchford-wp/u121-raf-witchford-a-cold-war-near-miss.mp3 0:06 4 full RAF Witchford: What the Fens Kept https://qualla.com/raf-witchford/ RAF Witchford was closed to flying operations after the war, formally standing down by 1946. The runways were eventually removed. Most of the site is now the Lancaster Way Business Park — light industrial units, warehouses, small businesses — occupying the concrete footprint of t...

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]]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/1/2/1/raf-witchford-wp/u121-raf-witchford-what-the-fens-kept.mp3 0:06 5 full