RAF East Kirkby
The Royal Air Force base in East Kirkby opened as an RAF airfield during 1943 and was home to a number of Lancaster Bombers; the aircraft used to drop the bouncing bomb during the Dambuster's raid. On the 17th of April 1945, an accidental explosion occured at this airfield which caused a number of casualties, some of which were fatal. The explosion also resulted in the destruction of six Lancaster Bombers, and the damage of fourteen more. Following the events of World War Two, the airfield was officially closed during 1958 and then sold by the government between 1964 and 1968. Today, a portion of the airfield forms part of the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre. A few hauntings have been reported at this site, mainly around the old control tower. The ghosts of those who died in the accident, along with one connected to a wreckage in the museum have been reported along with footsteps and disembodied voices.
History
This Royal Air Force Base is located in East Kirkby, which is in the county of Lincolnshire, England. The first base, which covered part of this site, opened during 1940 as a decoy site for RAF Manby. Classed as being located in Hagnaby, this small site was used as a 'K'-type decoy. This meant it was designed to distract the enemy aircraft and keep them away from Coningsby and Manby which were located nearby. The decoy base was bombed many times during World War Two by the Luftwaffe. To make the decoy convincing, it was supplied with decoy aircraft for the German Air Force to target. This decoy ceased operation from the 27th of June 1941. In the August of 1941, approval was given for the construction of a class 'A' bomber airfield. Work on this new airfield was carried out between 1942 and 1943, with RAF East Kirkby officially opening in the August of 1943. This station's call sign was 'Silksheen'.
The East Kirkby airfield had three intersecting runways which were connected by a perimeter track. It also had a technical site to the north, which was just off the A155, and it contained two of the three hangars. The two hangars were a T2, and then a later P1. A second T2 hangar was located off the eastern perimeter track. A further four T2 hangars were built on the technical site when East Kirkby became the parent station of 55 Base, which was responsible for the administration and aircraft maintenance of Spilsby and Strubby. The communal and accommodation sites were located in fields north-west of the A155, and the bomb stores were located to the noth-east. These north-east bomb stores were located on the site of the former decoy base.
On the 29th of August 1943, the Lancaster Bombers of 57 Squadron arrived at RAF East Kirkby from Scampton. 'B' Flight 57 Squadron was later expanded on the 15th of November 1943 to form 630 Squadron. The Avro Lancaster was the most famous and successful RAF heavy bomber of World War Two. These aircraft were the pride of Bomber Command when they entered operational service during 1942, and they are most well-known for dropping the bouncing bomb during the Dambuster's raid. 7,377 Lancaster Bombers were produced and over half were lost during the war. An adaptation to the bomb bay meant that it was the only aircraft to be able to carry the 22,000lb Grand Slam bomb, which was the largest bomb to be carried by any aircraft during the war.
The final enemy raid on East Kirkby was performed by the Luftwaffe on the 4th of March 1944 when the German airforce performed a low-level machine gun attack on the airfield. A month later, the headquarters of 55 Base, which was tasked with control of Spilsby and Strubby, was established on the 15th of April 1944. The next event at East Kirkby occured on the 17th of April 1945 when a major accident occured on the site. While bombs were being loaded in preparation for a raid on the marshaling yards at Chem, south-west Germany, a 1000lb bomb exploded. This explosion caused a chain reaction which caused seventeen casualties, four of which were fatal. I have read differing numbers here with some sources saying three airmen were killed and a further sixteen were injured. This explosion also resulted in six Lancaster Bombers from 57 squadron being destroyed and a further fourteen suffering damage.
The final raid occured from East Kirkby on the 25th of April 1945. 212 operations were carried out during the course of the war, across which 121 Lancaster Bombers did not return and 29 aircraft were lost due to operational crashes or accidents. The worst night of aircraft losses occured on the 21st of June 1944 when eleven were lost in a single attack.
On the 8th of May 1945, victory in Europe was declared. As a result, East Kirkby became a work-up base for the aircraft being designed for Tiger Force; a force which was to be created as part of the proposed allied invasion of mainland Japan. Both 57 Squadron and 460 Squadron were to contribute aircraft, and this was going to form 533 Wing. As Japan surrendered following the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was no longer a need for Tiger Force. On the 18th of July 1945, 630 Squadron was disbanded, due to no longer being required for the force, and were replaced by 460 Squadron RAAF.
During the November of 1945, East Kirkby was retained by the RAF and placed on care and maintenance. It did briefly leave this state, but was placed back on care and maintenance during the February of 1948. Between the years of 1951 and 1958, the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command took over the East Kirkby airfield and redeveloped it. The existing facilities were refurbished and large aircraft parking was placed near the four T2 hangars. The east-west runway was extended eastwards by 1226 yards, which made the overall runway length 2626 yards. Following all of this development, the East Kirkby airfield closed in the December of 1958, and was later sold by the government between the years of 1964 and 1967.
During the 1970s, the former maintenance area became used as potato storage as the land quickly fell back into agricultural use. Between 1980 and 2007, the 1950s runway extension was used by cropdusters and glider aircraft. All of the other runways and taxiway were largely dug up for use as concrete making aggregate, but most of the original runway does still remain intact. During 1981, Fred and Harold Panton bought part of RAF East Kirkby and opened a museum around the old control tower. They had bought a Lancaster Bomber from an auction at Blackpool, and they moved it to the museum during 1987.
The museum is the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, and it is widely seen as a memorial to the 55,573 men who died while serving Bomber Command during World War Two. The Panton's had lost their brother Christopher while in action with Bomber command, as he died during the 1944 'Black Friday' attack on Nuremburg when 94 aircraft didn't return. Aside retaining the original 1940s control tower, the museum also features a hangar which is built on the original wartime hangar base. The museum is home to the Avro Lancaster NX611, called 'Just Jane'. This Lancaster Bomber has been restored to taxiing condition, and is being further restored to airworthy condition.
The museum also holds two of the rarest aircraft; an Avro Lancaster Bomber MKVII and a DH Mosquito NFII. It also contains many wartime vehicles, such as a Ford WOT1 crew bus; the only one of it's kind. Another item within the museum is the wreckage of a Supermarine Spitfire BL655 which crashed during 1943. This crash killed it's pilot, and one source has said the pilot's body was only discovered while the plane was being moved fifty years later.
Hauntings
It's been said that the RAF East Kirkby airfield is the most haunted airfield in the country, and it's been speculated that this is due to the quantity of plane crashes that have occured on the site. From what I've found, the hauntings all revolve around the spitfire wreck, the accident, and one crash. It's said that the control tower is the most active part of the airfield with footsteps, strange feelings, and murmered voices being reported. Phones ring within the tower, even though they are old-fashioned rotary dials which have been unplugged. Green lights are also said to come from within the tower.
It's said the three airmen who died in the accidental explosion can be seen walking towards the control tower. It's also said that a USAAF officer has been several times in the control tower. It's thought he was killed when a Flying Fortress crash landed near the site during 1944. It's also thought this officer is the same figure you can see on the runway, and that he can be seen dragging his parachute behind him as he slowly makes his way towards the control tower. The final haunting is said to occur around the spitfire wreck. It's believed that the spirit of the pilot, who wasn't found until after the wreckage was moved years later, can be seen walking around the wreckage.
Summary Of Hauntings
1. Spitfire pilot - Spitfire wreckage
2. USAAF officer, drags parachute behind him, walks towards tower - in control tower, runway
3. Three airmen, died in accidental explosion - walk towards control tower
4. Green lights - in control tower
5. Phones ring - in control tower
6. Murmured voices - in control tower
7. Footsteps - control tower
8. Strange feelings - control tower
My Thoughts
Truthfully, from the research I've done for this article, I don't see why people consider this location as the most haunted airfield in the country; unless all of the other airfields have only one or no hauntings. As with most locations I've discussed, I do think there is potential for a few spirits to be here. I think the hauntings regarding those killed in the explosion, plus those connected to various items such as the spitfire wreck are legitimate. I can definitely, through my own theories on the paranormal, see scenarios where these people would still be present at this site after death. It also makes me think that, due to the nature of the items in the museum, many other spirits which haven't been discussed online could also be present.
I don't see why there is a connection to the control tower which describes a sight imaginable in a horror film with ghostly figures walking towards the tower at night. This sounds made up to me, but, the control tower could have been the go-to place for if people on the site needed help. If these hauntings are true, then this could be why they're said to walk towards the control tower; especially as these spirits are said to have died in accidents or crashes on the site. All being said, I haven't visited this site and so don't know for sure, but it seems like it won't be a particularly active location to investigate. It has potential to be active, especially with all of the items which are connected to death, but there is very little to be found about the activity that occurs here.
Thank You!
Thank you for reading this article! I hope you found it interesting, and potentially useful. Even though there wasn't a great deal of information avaliable on this location, I found the article quote tough to write due to how recent the events of World War Two are and how similar things can be seen in the world today regarding casualties of war. It made it quite an emotional article to write, especially when finding out about the Panton's brother and the airfield being seen as a memorial.
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Sources I Have Used
10. 630 Squadron
12. Britain Express
14. Kiddle
20. Geograph
22. Haunted Hovel
23. Hammer
26. TVDB
28. Fandom
Another well researched and informative article
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