RAF Balderton

Royal Air Force Balderton or more simply RAF Balderton was a former Royal Air Force satellite station located 2.0 miles (3.2 km) south of Newark-on-Trent, sandwiched between the now extinct Great Northern Railway (GNR) Bottesford-Newark line and the A1 road in Nottinghamshire, England.

Balderton airfield opened in June 1941 with a grass surface over stiff clay. It was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). During the Second World War, it was used primarily as a troop carrier transport airfield and after for munitions storage before it finally closed. A notice in The Times for 20 May 1957 lists the airfield as one of those no longer needed by the RAF.

The airfield was built to a dispersed plan. By 1943 the airfield had tarmac landing areas with three intersecting runways and 50 hard standings suitable for Heavy Bombers. In 1944 it was used by Bomber Command's 5 Group. There were two T-2 aircraft hangars, two Glider hangars and one B1 type hangar by 1944. There were 1510 male and 208 female personnel stationed on the base at that time. Part of the accommodation was temporary, and the officers accommodation was at a nearby hospital, Balderton Hall, which is now part of the Fernwood development.

During the airfield's short operational life, more than two hundred aircrew failed to return and paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Today, the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields and a gypsum quarry.

The following units were present at some point:

The airfield was assigned to No. 5 Group RAF and received No. 408 Squadron RCAF and its Handley Page Hampdens from RAF Syerston on 9 December 1941.

408 Squadron's first operational flight from RAF Balderton was on 10 December 1941, being a daylight bombing raid on the airfield at Leeuwarden.