Warton Aerodrome

Warton Aerodrome is located in Warton village on the Fylde in Lancashire, England. The aerodrome is 6NM west of Preston, Lancashire, UK.Today the airfield is a major assembly and testing facility of BAE Systems Military Air & Information. It is also part of Lancashire Enterprise Zone.Warton Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P748) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (BAE Systems (Operations) Limited).HistoryEstablishment and military useIn 1940 new runways were built at Warton so that it could act as a "satellite" airfield for the RAF Coastal Command station at Squires Gate airfield in Blackpool.The airfield was first operated as an air depot of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II, as thousands of aircraft were processed on their way to active service in Britain, North Africa, the Mediterranean and mainland Europe. On 14 August 1944 Glenn Miller, recently promoted to the rank of major, played a concert to 10,000 servicemen on a platform erected in front of No. 4 Hangar. On 23 August 1944, the accidental crash of a USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber caused the Freckleton Air Disaster.