Woodhall Spa

Woodhall Spa was not a Pathfinder station, but it was the home of 97 Squadron from 1942 to early 1943 before it moved to Bourn. A satellite station of Coningsby, Woodhall Spa was part of 5 Group. The Officers’ Mess was the Petwood Hotel, a large Tudor-style building of some comfort and style which had been requisitioned for the duration of the war.

Petwood Hotel from the rear gardens — Hind Archive

97 Squadron – Walter Bonar Kirkwood-Hackett, known as Ben, outside the hotel, probably in 1942. Attribute TBC.

It was from Woodhall Spa that 97 Squadron flew on the famous Augsburg Raid, which was described at the time as “the most daring raid of the war”. Ernest Alfred Deverill, who was killed on Black Thursday, was one of the stars of this raid. READ MORE: DEVERILL

Ernest Alfred Deverill, from a group photograph after the Augsburg raid. 1942