RAF Cosford opened in 1938 .It was originally intended to be opened as RAF Donington (the parish in which it is located) but to avoid confusion with the nearby army camp at Donnington it was named after Cosford Grange House which was located at the south western edge of the airfield.  It has remained mainly a training unit to this day. The Fulton Mess barrack block was constructed just before WW2 as the largest single building barrack block in the UK.

No 2 School of Technical Training was formed in 1938 and during the Second World War it trained 70,000 airmen in engine, airframe and armament trades.

During the Second World War, No 12 Ferry Pool of the Air Transport Auxiliary was formed at Cosford, which involved delivering Spitfires from the base and returning with bombers or fighters for No 9 Maintenance Unit. These ferrying flights were often crewed by women pilots and Amy Johnson came to Cosford on more than one occasion.

The airfield was originally a grassed strip. After a really bad winter in 1940/41 when the effect of landing heavy aircraft such as Wellingtons and Ansons turned the strip into a mudbath, a paved runway was constructed