RAF Collyweston is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

satellite station located south west of Stamford,

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

and north east of

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The airfield was a satellite station of

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford, Lincolnshire, Sta ...

and used by the Enemy Aircraft Flight during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

Founded in 1917 as No. 5 Training Depot Station, the station was renamed RAF Collyweston following formation of the Royal Air Force, via

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

of the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

(RFC) and the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

(RNAS) on 1 April 1918. The airfield was absorbed as a satellite station of

in 1939. A unit at Collyweston during the war was No. 1426 (Captured Enemy Aircraft) Flight, they flew and assessed enemy aircraft that crashed or forced landed. In 1941 the runways of Wittering and Collyweston were joined to make one 2-mile long, grass runway. The following units were here at some point: *

No. 23 Squadron RAF ("Always on the attack") , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = , b ...

(1940) *

No. 133 Squadron RAF 133 Squadron RAF was one of the famous Eagle Squadrons formed from American volunteers serving with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. History 133 Squadron was first formed in 1918 at RAF Ternhill. It was a training unit fo ...

(1941) *

No. 152 Squadron RAF No. 152 (Hyderabad) Squadron RAF was an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force during both World War I and World War II. Squadron history World War I No 152 Squadron was first formed on 1 October 1918 at RAF Rochford as a Sopwith Camel night ...

(1941-42 & 1942) *

No. 266 Squadron RAF No. 266 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. History First World War The squadron was formed from Nos 437 and 438 Flights at Mudros, Greece on 27 September 1918 to carry out anti-submarine patrols in that area, flying Sh ...

(1940 & 1941) * Detachment from

No. 288 Squadron RAF No. 288 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed as an anti-aircraft co-operation unit in World War II. History Formation in World War II The squadron formed at RAF Digby on 17 November 1941 and was equipped with Lysanders, Blen ...

(1943 & 1944 & 1945) * No. 349 Squadron RAF (1943) *

No. 658 Squadron RAF No. 658 Squadron was a Royal Air Force Air Observation Post squadron associated with the 21st Army Group during World War II. No.s 651 to 663 Squadrons of the RAF were Air Observation Post units working closely with British army, Army units in a ...

(1944)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collyweston, RAF Royal Air Force stations in Northamptonshire Military units and formations established in 1917 1917 establishments in England