RAF Warmwell

RAF Warmwell Virtually on the doorstep, in the neighbouring village of Warmwell, was the airfield named after the village. In fact it lay 2 miles to the north of Warmwell Church and just south of the railway line. It is described in the book ‘Wings Over Dorset’ (Leslie Dawson) as ‘a grass airfield in the rural depths of Dorset, between the Heathlands and the Frome Meadows, to the east of Dorchester’. It was initially known as RAF Woodsford. It was from here that young pilots of 152 and 609 Squadrons were scrambled away in their Spitfires to combat the menace of the German bombers. British Spitfires were also flown from Warmwell by American pilots. Lightnings, Thunderbolts and Typhoons also operated from the airfield.

On 9th April, 1945 Warmwell ceased to be an operational airfield. 152 Squadron who had been operating from the airfield since the dark days of 1940 was withdrawn and the station was retained only for training by the Central Gunnery School. The airfield has now long since vanished under gravel extractions and extensive potato and vegetable cultivations. New housing developments have also taken place particularly in the Crossways area, where memories live on in street names such as Hurricane Close, Spitfire Close and Airfield Close.

At the far end of Watergates Lane, opposite the wash-ponds, is Watergates Cottage, used as Officers' Quarters during the war. A solitary RAF cap badge cemented into the base of the gable wall looking towards the former airfield is a small, yet significant, reminder of those dark days. For a small village, Broadmayne had its fair share of bombing. Several lots of incendiary bombs were dropped at Culliford Tree and along the ridgeway. Three bombs were dropped between Woodlands and Osmington Drove, shattering windows and doors in nearby houses. Bombs were also dropped on the Airfield, with subsequent casualties and loss of life.

At the far eastern end of the village on the right is the drive to Conygar, a large Victorian house built in 1898. During the war, the owners were prisoners of war in Japanese hands and the house was occupied by the Army.

The Great War (1914 - 1918)
Second World War (1939-1945)
D-day