Shobdon Aerodrome
Shobdon Aerodrome is an airport 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) west of Leominster, Herefordshire, England.RAF ShobdonShobdon started as a British Army camp. Out of range of long range German Luftwaffe bombers, it acted as a reception point for casualties received from Southampton distributed to existing local hospitals. With a depot railway station developed on the Leominster and Kington Railway, its first casualties arrived after the Battle of Dunkirk.The camp was developed further by the United States Army from 1943, to act as a distribution point for two locally developed general hospitals. They also added a runway in cooperation with the Royal Air Force, but due to the marshy land only one runway was developed.In 1943, RAF No.1 Glider Training School moved from RAF Thame to Shobdon, enabling an increase in training of glider pilots in preparation for Normandy and Arnhem landings.The RAF Gliding School closed in 1953, when the site was handed to Herefordshire County Council.
