Full WW2 control tower details and photos for this wartime airfield are coming soon. Please check back later as this is work progress. If you would like to contribute information or photos please get in touch.
RAF Old Sarum, on the outskirts of Salisbury in Wiltshire, is one of the RAF’s oldest operational airfield sites and carried a distinctive wartime role that leaned strongly toward Army cooperation, liaison and the practical business of connecting air power to the ground war. In the Second World War, the RAF’s relationship with the Army matured rapidly – from the early-war need for reconnaissance and artillery observation to the later requirement for integrated tactical air power in support of major operations. Old Sarum’s significance lies in how it contributed to that maturing practice through training, organisation and liaison-based flying.
Army cooperation and liaison flying required a different set of skills from bomber or fighter operations. Pilots needed excellent low-level navigation, the ability to interpret terrain, and the discipline to operate safely in crowded airspace near training areas. Communications mattered: accurate reporting, radio procedure and coordination with ground units. Aircraft associated with Army cooperation in this period included the Westland Lysander, the de Havilland Tiger Moth and other liaison and communications types used for training and observation tasks. Old Sarum’s work therefore sat at the ‘edge’ between flying and soldiering – helping ensure that information, observation and coordination could move quickly.
The station’s Wiltshire location also placed it close to major military training areas and to the increasingly intense build-up for 1944. Salisbury Plain and its surrounding region became one of the most important training environments in Britain. Airfields supporting liaison, communication and coordination were part of that preparation. They helped maintain the flow of instructors, observers and staff, and they supported the practical drills that turned planning into repeatable joint procedure. In the invasion era, the ability to coordinate across services – Army, RAF and, often, Allied partners – was itself a weapon.
Old Sarum also illustrates the importance of administrative and instructional infrastructure. Liaison and observation work depended on training syllabi, standard operating procedures and disciplined record keeping. Instructors and standards staff shaped how pilots flew, how information was reported, and how safety was maintained. Ground personnel supported this with reliable maintenance, communications equipment upkeep and the steady running of a station whose output was competence rather than bomb tonnage.
- Primary wartime role: Army cooperation and liaison-oriented flying, supporting the growing integration of air power with ground operations.
- Typical activity: observation and liaison training, communications movements, low-level navigation practice and support to nearby Army training areas.
- Why it mattered: strengthened the RAF-Army interface, improving coordination and reducing friction as Britain prepared for large-scale joint operations.
RAF Old Sarum’s Second World War significance lies in that connective function. It reminds us that air power’s value was not only destructive; it was also informational and organisational. Stations that trained and supported liaison and observation capability helped ensure that the Army and RAF could operate together effectively when it mattered most.
Old Sarum’s ‘unit’ story is often best told through function: Army co-operation and liaison training elements, observation and communications activity, and the staff-and-instructor layer that supported the Salisbury Plain training environment. These are the kinds of units that shaped the station’s wartime day-to-day life and its long-term significance.