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Old Sarum/Ford Farm – Wiltshire.
WW1
A DH9 which was used for conversion to operational flying by 103 Squadron
The land between the Portway Road and the village of Ford was acquired by the War Department in 1917 and Ford Farm airfield was built on the land. A double line of WW1 1917 type hangers were built along the road together with many wooden huts. In August 1917 98 and 99 Squadrons moved to the airfield followed by 103 Squadron in September. These new squadrons were destined to be day Bomber units and trained at Ford farm until leaving for France in the spring of 1918
Armstrong Whitworth FK8. This type was used by 103 Squadron for some training at Old Sarum. This example has suffered a hard landing which has collapsed one side of the undercarriage
In early 1918 the airfield was renamed Old Sarum. 98, 99 and 103 Squadrons were replaced at the airfield by 11 Training Depot Station which remained till the end of the war using Avro 504s, DH4s and DH6 aircraft.
Inter War
In 1919 Old Sarum was one of the airfields retained by the RAF and the School of Army Co-operation was formed there in 1920. Here they ran courses for Army officers and pilots and observers of the Army Co-operation squadrons concentrating on artillery spotting and tactical reconnaissance.
From 1924 a number of Army Co-operation squadrons were based at the airfield among them 13, 16 and 59. 16 Squadron were still in residence at the start of WW2 by which time the school was operating Hawker Hectors, Westland Lysanders, Avro Ansons and Bristol Blenheims. The later aircraft was not really suitable for the airfield and they were moved to Boscombe Down where they formed No 2 School of Army Co-operation.
WW2
The communication problems in France in 1939 led to the idea of the use of light aircraft directly under control of the local Army Commander. A variety of aircraft were tested by No 1 School of Army Co-operation at Old Sarum and eventually the Taylorcraft Model D was chosen for this role. These aircraft were used to form D Flight on February 1940 for field trials and sent to France in April. They were forced to return to the UK at the start of the Battle of France in mid May 1940 when the German forces broke through.
The first RCAF unit that arrived in the UK was 110 Squadron with their Canadian built Westland Lysanders where they joined the 110 AAC Wing in March 1940. Shortly after they exchanged places with 225 Squadron at Odiham. 225 carried out anti invasion patrols from Old Sarum from Selsey Bill to St Albans Head for several weeks before moving to Tilshead.
Old Sarum was strafed at low level by a German Ju 88 on the 21st October 1940 and on the 21st/22nd May 1941 was attacked by another enemy aircraft which destroyed one hanger, the Sgt's Mess and Signals Section.
During the first two years of war it became clear that higher performance aircraft were needed and so a small number of Hawker Hurricanes and North American Harvards joined the unit in early 1941 and were soon followed by a flight of Curtis Tomahawks. Because of the limitations of the landing ground at Old Sarum, a larger satellite was built at Oatlands Hill 5 miles to the north-west. Oatlands Hill was equipped with only basic flying facilities and most of the maintenance work had still to be undertaken at Old Sarum but all higher performance aircraft carried out their training programmes at Oatlands Hill from then on.
In August 1941 the first full Air Observation Post squadron was formed. This was 651 Squadron and was equipped with Taylorcrafts flown by specially trained army pilots. They were frequently detached to Larkhill to train with the gunners there and in the following spring the squadron joined Army manoeuvres thus establishing the practice of sending small detachments of aircraft to improvised advanced landing grounds in the field.
The advances in size and performance of aircraft types from the Lysander to the Tomahawk prompted a reorganisation, and the Training Wing was redesignated 41 Operational Training Unit. The development and teaching of methods of artillery reconnaissance were undertaken here from 1942. However, these activities required a permanent runway instead of a flying field so 41 Operational Training Unit was transferred out in 1942. It was replaced by a new Fleet Air Arm squadron developing tactical reconnaissance.
In 1942 Old Sarum became the principal base for the training of Air Observation Post units with three new squadrons and 43 Operational Training Unit moved from Larkhill to Old Sarum. While it was engaged in training new pilots the facilities at Old Sarum continued to be used for the formation of new Auster squadrons.
655 Squadron formed in December 1942 for Southern Command, and took part in the huge Spartan exercise in East Anglia in July 1943 which tested the efficiency of Army co-operation squadrons under mobile conditions and was effectively a rehearsal for the invasion and liberation of North-West Europe. This led to the formation of Tactical Air Forces which were created to replace RAF Army Co-operation Command.
1944 marked the end of a period of major expansion of the Air Observation Post squadrons and the the spare hangar space at Old Sarum Airfield was used by 3505 Servicing Unit which maintained numerous aircraft operating in small and scattered detachments to provide practice facilities for Anti-Aircraft and Searchlight sites.
Plans for the D Day Landings were well advanced by early 1944 and included the requisition of all of the facilities at Old Sarum to form part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force Concentration Area. This was the hinterland and supply location of the many ports and embarkation points of the ships and landing craft of the invasion forces. All flying training was terminated and 43 Operational Training Unit left the station.
Thousands of ground personnel and most of the RAF motor transport vehicles destined for Normandy passed through Old Sarum in the D-Day period making it an integral part in the organisational structure of the D-Day landings. Seven large tented camps were set up in the countryside around the airfield and a force of over a thousand fitters was established to undertake the waterproofing of the 25,000 invasion vehicles. A large part of the airfield was used to assemble the long lines of trucks and other vehicles and the station hangars were pressed into service as the workshops.
The School of Army Cooperation had been reformed at Old Sarum in June 1943 and was subsequently renamed the RAF School of Army Cooperation. In 1944 it was reorganised as the School of Air Support with its own small fleet of aircraft. The experiences of war had highlighted the importance of inter-service cooperation and increasingly personnel from all three services became based at Old Sarum.
As D-Day approached there were 34 aircraft at Old Sarum Airfield from 658, 659 and 662 Squadrons waiting to be called forward. Ground support units ranging from Sector Headquarters and Signals Wings to Servicing Parties and Repair Units continued to pass through until the flow finally ceased in November.
Post War
In May 1947, the School was re-designated the School of Land/Air Warfare training Air Force, Army and Navy officers from both the UK and other NATO countries. In the summer of 1956 the the station became the home of the Army Air Training and Development Centre which was run by the Parachute Regiment but mainly consisted of other corps. REME developed parachute drops of light vehicles and artillery whilst RE undertook the training.
An RAF flying club called the Bustard Flying Club was formed in 1957 flying two de Havilland Tiger Moth aircraft. The aircraft were used for flying training, with RAF instructors.
One new aspect of post war aviation, which was of interest to all three services was the widespread use of helicopters. On 1st June 1961 the RAF element of the Helicopter Development Unit was formed at Old Sarum with a handful of Bristol Sycamores and Westland Whirlwinds to explore their military potential. In 1965 a new Joint Helicopter Development Unit was formed at Old Sarum and it immediately absorbed the former Helicopter Development Unit which became the Short Range Transport Development Unit. In 1963 622 (Volunteer) Gliding School became based at Old Sarum and the School was amalgamated with the Amphibious Warfare School from Poole in Dorset to form the Joint Warfare Establishment equipped with a few Whirlwinds and Wessexes.
The final change was the amalgamation of Army Air Transport Development and the Joint Helicopter Development Unit in 1968 to become the Joint Air Transport Establishment. Old Sarum was transferred from the RAF to the Army in December 1971. The Joint Helicopter Development Unit was disbanded in 1976 but flying continued until November 1978 when 622 Volunteer Gliding School moved to Upavon. From 1979 the airfield was no longer used as a military airfield.
Civil Use
It has however continued as a civil airfield and was used by Edgley Aircraft Ltd for test flying their Edgley Optica aircraft. The Old Sarum Flying Club have also operated from the airfield from 1982. In 1986 Brooklands Aerospace who took over the Edgely company and undertook subcontracting work at Old Sarum for McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace before eventually moving to Hurn. The Dorset Gliding Club used the site from 1981 before moving to Eyles Field in 1989.
The Old Sarum Flying Club ceased to exist in 2008 to be replaced by the Old Sarum Flying School. It now trades as GoFly using Piper PA 28s. AirSport UK and Shadow Flight Centre also provide flight training at the airfield. GoSkyDive began skydiving at Old Sarum from 2009 and the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection moved to the site in 2012 and occupy Hangar 1. Several privately owned aircraft are also based at Old Sarum using Hangar 3.
Sadly Hanger 3 and the adjoining restaurant and cafe were destroyed by a fire on the 18 April 2025. See the ITV Meridian News report on this link
Item written by David Fell with reference to Action Stations Military Airfields of the South West by Chris Ashworth and Wiki. Photo from my own archive
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