Wittering's use as a military airfield dates back to 5 May 1916 when it began as RFC Stamford. The aerodrome was initially created for A Flight of No. 38 (Home Defence) Squadron.[3] In common with other Home Defence squadrons at the time it was used for training during the day and for air defence at night. From the flight's operational declaration in December 1916 until it deployed to France in November 1917, its BE2cs, RE7s, and FE2bs were involved in anti-Zeppelin patrols.[4]
The station's training role expanded when it became the Royal Flying Corps's No.1 Training Depot Station in 1917.[5] The neighbouring airfield, RFC Easton on the Hill, also dates back to 1916 and it became No. 5 Training Depot Station in 1917.[5] Following the formation of the Royal Air Force, Easton on the Hill became RAF Collyweston on 1 April 1918.[5] Stamford was retitled RAF Wittering on 10 April 1918.[5]
Interwar period
Flying Training
RAF Wittering officially reopened in 1924 following an Air Defence Review in 1923. A significant amount of development took place to re-open the station including four new accommodation blocks for airmen, a corporals and airmen's institute, a Senior Non-Commissioned Officers' Mess, the Officers' Mess,[note 1] and a new guardroom. The station retained two aircraft hangars from 1917 and an aircraft repair shed. The Central Flying School was at Wittering from 1926 until 1935 being replaced by No. 11 Flying Training School until 1938.[6]
Preparation for War – Fighter Command
In April 1938, the station became a Fighter Command station within No 12 Group. This conversion required another expansion with more land being purchased to the south and east of the station which closed the Stamford to Oundle road.[note 2] Further airmen's accommodation, airmen's mess, technical accommodation and station headquarters were constructed as was a sector control room to control fighter squadrons and anti-aircraft gun batteries within 12 Group's 'K' Sector. The airfield was enhanced with the construction of three new Type C (1934 variant) hangars.[7][8]
During the Second World War, the station was very active during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz in 1940–41 in No. 12 Group[9] (controlled from RAF Watnall in Nottingham) as it was the main fighter station for a lot of the southern East Midlands, and fighters from the station would often patrol as far as Birmingham. During the Battle of Britain many squadrons were rotated through Wittering to spells in the south of England with No. 11 Group that was bearing the brunt of the battle. With many of the Luftwaffe raids during the Blitz taking part at night, Wittering-based squadrons were instrumental in the development of night combat techniques. These included the use of the Turbinlite aircraft which replaced the nose with a powerful searchlight insulated in the nose of Havocs and Bostons. In April 1943 No. 141 Squadron were moved in, operating de Havilland Mosquitoes.[10] 1943 also saw the station host 2 USAAF squadrons, albeit temporarily: 63 Fighter Squadron USAAF with its P47s operated from Wittering between January and March before moving to RAF Horsham St Faith; 55 Fighter Squadron operated its P38s and P51s from Wittering between August and March 1944 before moving to nearby RAF Kingscliffe.[11]
RAF Wittering after the attack on 14 March 1941. Bomb damage can be seen to the roof of the left-most hangar. The runway linking RAF Wittering to Collyweston Landing Ground had not yet been constructed. WWII IWM HU 91901
Emergency landing ground K3 was renamed as Collyweston Landing Ground in 1940 with the construction of some blister hangars, a perimeter track and some dispersals, although the next main fighter station further north was RAF Coleby Grange. Embry in Mission Completed states that in 1940 (the station's official history indicates that this was actually in 1941[12]), while used by 25 squadron, equipped with Beaufighter night fighters, the runway was extended from 1,400 yards to 3 miles long to reduce landing accidents at night and in bad weather.[5]
The Station's innovative role continued and developed throughout the war. It became the home of both fighter and gunnery research and development units working with new equipment and techniques. In addition, No. 1426 (Captured Enemy Aircraft) Flight (colloquially known as the RAFwaffe) was based at Collyweston Landing Ground with its wide range of captured Luftwaffe aircraft both evaluating their performance and touring allied bases. In January 1945, the captured enemy aircraft were removed.[13]
Aerial photograph of Wittering airfield, 9 May 1944
Bomber Command
Immediately after the war RAF Wittering, once again, transferred back to Fighter Command in 1946 providing a home to a variety of squadrons operating Spitfires, Mosquitos and Hornets. In 1948, the Station transferred back to Training Command for 2 years before Maintenance Command took responsibility to undertake some significant redevelopment between 1950 and 1952 as the Cold War saw RAF Wittering become a vital part of the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear deterrent under the control of Bomber Command in 1953.[15]
The current airfield was created by the merging of RAF Wittering and nearby Collyweston Relief Landing Ground, by the construction of a 1.7-mile runway between them in 1941. Conversion to a Bomber airfield saw the construction of a new concrete runway (slightly to the south of the 1941 runway), taxiways and dispersals (with further H-dispersals and QRA dispersals being added later) that still form the majority of the Station's aircraft operating surfaces. A wide-span Gaydon hangar for the Canberra B2 bombers was constructed along with a new control tower, avionics building and nuclear storage and maintenance facilities.[16]
RAF Victor B.2
In its new guise as a bomber station, RAF Wittering initially operated Avro Lincolns from 1953 although these were replaced by English Electric Canberras later that year.[15] The first British operational atomic bomb, the Blue Danube, was deployed to RAF Wittering in November 1953.[15] The first V-bombers (the Vickers Valiant, the Handley Page Victor and the Avro Vulcan) were delivered in July 1955. In 1957–58 tests were carried out on the first British hydrogen bomb. This was fitted into the existing Blue Danube casing, and four Valiant bombers flew out of Wittering to Christmas Island in the Pacific, one of them dropping the first device on 15 May 1957 on Operation Grapple.[17]
Until January 1969 two squadrons (100 and 139) of Victor B.2 bombers equipped with Blue Steel stand-off missiles were part of the QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) force of the RAF. Two nuclear armed aircraft were permanently on 15 minutes readiness to take off. They were parked within 100 m (110 yd) of the westerly runway threshold. In times of higher tension, four bombers could be stationed beside the runway on the ORP (Operational Readiness Platform). If the aircraft were manned they could all be airborne within 30 seconds, a feat often demonstrated at V force stations across the country. Since the incoming missile warning from the RAF FylingdalesBMEWS array was only four minutes before impact this ensured if the country came under attack, the bombers would be scrambled and able to retaliate.[18]
In 1968, the base became part of Strike Command. From October 1972 until August 1976, there were two squadrons flying the Hawker Hunter No. 45 Squadron[19] initially and then 58 Squadron as well.[19]
Harriers
A Harrier is seen landing, at RAF Wittering, on a Forward Operating or MEXE Pad. The pad measures 100ft X 100ft and is made from prefabricated surface aluminium interlocking (PSAI) matting. The pads were used by novice pilots and veterans alike to practice the accuracy of their vertical landings.
In May 1971, four aircraft from 1(F) Sqn operated from HMS Ark Royal, the first time the Harrier had operated from an aircraft carrier, under Wing Commander (later Sir) Kenneth Hayr, later killed at the Biggin Hill airshow on 2 June 2001.[21]
In 1982, six Harrier GR3 aircraft were taken down to the Falklands on SS Atlantic Conveyor,[22] and survived the Exocet attack, later to board HMS Hermes in May 1982. In June 1982, 12 GR3 aircraft were flown from Wittering, via RAF Ascension Island and mid-air refuelling with Victor tankers, on an 8,000-mile journey to the Falklands in 17 hours, which set an RAF record. The Harriers were from 1(F) Sqn. On 27 May 1982, Sqn Ldr (later Gp Capt) Bob Iveson was hit by anti-aircraft fire from GADA 601's 35mm cannon, and he ejected seconds before his aircraft exploded in mid-air near Goose Green. He evaded capture for two and a half days before being rescued by helicopter.[23]
The Queen visited the station in June 1982 as part of the RAF Regiment's 40th anniversary celebrations.[24]
During January 1992, a new station museum opened in the original station church, which was built in 1944.[25]
It was announced in December 2009 that RAF Wittering was to become the sole operational base for the Harriers of Joint Force Harrier after the announcement that RAF Cottesmore was to close. However, as a result of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Harrier fleet was withdrawn in December 2010.[26]
In 2016 the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the Station would be one of the RAF's 'well found centres of specialisation for' 'Support Enablers' along with RAF Leeming.[29]
In November 2011 the Ministry of Defence announced that 44 Service personnel from HQ 12 (Air Support) Engineer Group, part of the Royal Engineers, would move from Waterbeach Barracks to RAF Wittering in 2012–13.[37]
Based units
Flying and notable non-flying units based at RAF Wittering.[38][39][40]
^'The Station's Officers' Mess is one few that predates College Hall Officers' Mess at Cranwell
^'The road from the southern boundary of the Station to the A47 road is called the 'Old Oundle Road'
^Group Captain Haward was named as the new station commander at RAF Wittering in December 1998. A week later, on 18 December 1998, his Harrier aircraft crashed near to Barnard Castle in County Durham. Gp Capt Haward died at the scene.
Birtles, P. (2012). UK Airfields of the Cold War. Midland Publishing. ISBN978-1857803464.
Falconer, J. (2013). RAF Airfields of World War 2. Crécy. ISBN978-1857803495.
Jefford, C.G. (1988). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912 (1st ed.). Shrewsbury, Shropshire: Airlife Publishing. ISBN978-1853100536.
March, P. (1993). Royal Air Force Yearbook 1993. Fairford, UK: Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.
Oulton, W. E. (1987). Christmas Island Cracker: An Account of the Planning and Execution of the British Thermonuclear Bomb Tests, 1957. London: Thomas Harmsworth. ISBN978-0-948807-04-6. OCLC15593703.
External links
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