In December 1937, Hillside Air Station and a flying school was established for the
Southern Rhodesian Air Unit. Two runways were built, and the airfield was equipped with hangars, workshops, offices, and was inspected by Colonel J. S. Morris, then commanding the Southern Rhodesia Forces. In 1939, Hillside Air Station was renamed to Cranbourne, with the spelling later revised to Cranborne. It was equipped with 4
Hawker Harts, 8
Tiger Moths of various types, and one
de Havilland Dragon Rapide, with the acquisition of aircraft organised by the local Bulawayo Flying Club. It also assisted in providing flying instructors. The
Empire Air Training Scheme was officially activated on 23 January, 1940, at RAF Cranborne with the establishment of the No. 20 Service Flying Training School (SFTS), and the station began operating under the
Rhodesian Air Training Group (RATG). The instructors were initially equipped with four serviceable
Hawker Hart biplanes, one Hawker Audax, eight serviceable
De Havilland Tiger Moths, one Tiger Moth undergoing maintenance, and two
de Havilland Hornet Moths. However, aircraft accommodation became an issue as aircraft were consistently packed into one end of a hangar, with the remainder being used as sleeping quarters. In 1940, there were 137 officers with 16 aircraft available for training at RAF Cranborne. By late 1940, RAF Cranborne and Thornhill were used to train single-engined pilots and fighter-pilots. Aircraft commonly flown included the
North American T-6 Texan, and the
Airspeed Oxford. The Initial Training Wing for pilot trainees was based in the station, and provided preliminary ground training before moving on to service flying schools. By September 1943, the No. 20 SFTS had a relief landing ground at New Martinsthorpe, another at Sebastopol by April 1943, Hienzani by 7 September 1943. On 14 December, 1944, training operations at
RAF Norton were relocated to RAF Cranborne after the station was deactivated. The No. 31 Aircraft Repair Depot was based at the station, which provided maintenance support to training aircraft. The unit was also equipped with a NA Harvard for communications work. By September 1945, it had a relief landing ground at Inkomo. A communications squadron was also established at Cranborne, initially equipped with Leopard Moth SR22 aircraft. On 22 March, 1951, 10 out of the 11 ordered Spitfire aircraft arrived at Cranborne, with the 11th arriving on April 7 of that year. The rapid post-war expansion of Salisbury led to the airfield's closure in 1952, when New Sarum Air Base (now
Manyame Air Base) opened. Subsequently, the No. 1 Squadron was relocated to New Sarum where it was re-organized as the No. 3 Transport Squadron. The site of the former airfield was redeveloped and today, the Cranborne Barracks now partially occupies the site. The hangars and the ancillary facilities still remain visible in satellite imagery. == Units ==