RAF Mepal
Mepal,Cambridgeshire in England
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force Station
Code	MP[1]
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command *No. 3 Group RAF
Location
RAF Mepal Shown within Cambridgeshire Show map of Cambridgeshire RAF Mepal RAF Mepal (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	52°23′44″N000°07′11″E / 52.39556°N 0.11972°E /52.39556; 0.11972
Site history
Built	1942 (1942)
In use	June 1943 - 1963 (1963)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	24 metres (79 ft)[1]AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 05/23  Concrete 08/26  Concrete 14/32  Concrete
Other airfield facilities	Runway information[2]

Royal Air Force Mepal or more simplyRAF Mepal is a formerRoyal Air Forcestation located 0.7 miles (1.1 km) south ofMepal,Cambridgeshire,England and 5.9 miles (9.5 km) west ofEly, Cambridgeshire. Construction commenced in July 1942 and opened in June 1943.^[2][3]

Mepal first hostedNo. 75 (NZ) Squadron RAF flyingShort Stirlings and laterAvro Lancasters.^[4]

Tiger Force

It was used towards the end of theSecond World War to prepare Avro Lancaster bombers squadrons such asNo. 44 (Rhodesia) squadron for use inTiger Force which was to bomb Japan.^[5]

Thor missiles

From 1957PGM-17 Thor missiles were based at the airfield in the north east corner.^[2][6]

The following units were also here at some point:^[4]

• No. 7 Squadron RAF
• No. 49 Squadron RAF
• No. 113 Squadron RAF
• No. 1665 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF

Very little remains of the original site, most of it razed to the ground after the USAF and the Thor missiles left. The site is now the Elean business park and is home to the world's only straw burning power station and a few manufacturing and warehousing operations. A small memorial plaque is in place at the entrance to the site.

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

• Falconer, Jonathan (2012).RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing.ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.

Media related toRAF Mepal at Wikimedia Commons

• Royal Air Force – Bomber Command
• Airfield Archaeology – Memorials

• Defunct airports in England
• Royal Air Force stations in Cambridgeshire
• Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
• Military units and formations established in 1942
• Military units and formations disestablished in 1963

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from May 2023
• Use British English from May 2013
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata