RAF_Waterbeach

RAF Waterbeach

RAF Waterbeach

Former Royal Air Force station in England

Royal Air Force Waterbeach or more simply RAF Waterbeach is a former Royal Air Force station located in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire which is about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) north of Cambridge, England. The site was transferred to the Royal Engineers, part of the British Army, in 1966, as Waterbeach Barracks.

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History

Royal Air Force

The airfield was built in 1940 on the northern edge of Waterbeach village and operated under the control of RAF Bomber Command.[5] The original control tower and many RAF buildings, including several hangars, are still present.[6]

RAF units and aircraft – Bomber Command, WW2

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Transport Command, 1945-1949

After the Second World War, Consolidated Liberators and Douglas Dakotas from RAF Transport Command flew from RAF Waterbeach.[7]

RAF units and aircraft – Transport Command

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Fighter Command, 1950-1963

RAF Fighter Command took over the base on 1 March 1950 and used Gloster Meteors, Supermarine Swifts, de Havilland Venoms, de Havilland Vampires and Gloster Javelins. In addition Hawker Hunter fighters arrived in May 1955 and, two years later, the prototype English Electric P1 (Lightning) visited RAF Waterbeach.[citation needed]

RAF units and aircraft – Fighter Command

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After the last RAF fixed-wing aircraft, from No. 54 Squadron RAF, left in August 1963,[8] the site was used by the Airfield Construction Branch RAF until 1966.[9]

Royal Engineers

In 1966 the station and airfield remained the property of the Ministry of Defence, but was transferred from the Royal Air Force to the Royal Engineers, part of the British Army, as Waterbeach Barracks.[10] Until the closure of nearby RAF Oakington in the early 1970s, the main runway at Waterbeach remained active, along with the control tower, and was used as a relief landing ground for Varsities used in the advanced pilot training role. The former airfield was used as a training area for troops, with occasional visits by helicopters and, in the past, by the Hawker Siddeley Harrier.[11]

See also

References

Citations

  1. [1]
    Birtles 2012, p. 52.
  2. [2]
    Delve 1994, p. 77.
  3. [3]
    Delve 1994, p. 85.
  4. [4]
    Delve 1994, p. 89.
  5. [5]
    Hamlin & Merrington 2011, p. [page needed].
  6. [6]
    Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum, displays and unpublished archives.
  7. [7]
    Hamlin & Merrington 2011, pp. 31–35.
  8. [8]
    Jefford 1988, p. 42.
  9. [9]
    Hamlin & Merrington 2011, pp. 21–22.
  10. [10]
    Planning Application CP88 – Denny St Francis (Waterbeach), Cambridgeshire County Council, retrieved 2011-07-20
  11. [11]
    Waterbeach Barracks, 12 (Air Support) Engineer Group

Bibliography

  • Birtles, Philip (2012). UK Airfields of the Cold War. Midland Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-346-4.
  • Delve, Ken (1994). The Source Book of the RAF. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-451-5.
  • Hamlin, John F.; Merrington, Oliver J. (2011) [updated 2014]. At the Beach: the story of Royal Air Force Waterbeach and Waterbeach Barracks. Peterborough: GMS Enterprises. ISBN 978-1-904514-63-3.[verification needed]
  • Jefford, C. G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
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