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RAF Graveley is a former
In 1943, RAF Graveley was the one of the first operational stations to use of the fog dispersal system FIDO. It was tested in July of that year with fog being burnt off and visibility vastly increased, though the descending aircraft had to cope with turbulence caused by the heated air from the burning fog. In November 1943, the first operational use of the FIDO system saw four Halifax aircraft of No. 35 Sqn landing in fog after a bombing operation.
No. 692 Squadron was formed on 1 January 1944 at RAF Graveley, equipped with Mosquito IV bombers, as part of the Light Night Striking Force of No. 8 Group RAF in Bomber Command. It re-equipped with the Mosquito XVI bombers in March.
No. 227 Squadron moved to Graveley from Strubby in June 1945, and was disbanded here on 5 September 1945.
Post-war, the airfield was used as a relief landing ground for No. 206 Advanced Flying School and No. 5 Flying Training School which were based at
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) an ...
station located south of Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
. The station was originally intended to operate under No. 3 Group RAF, alongside RAF Tempsford
RAF Tempsford is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Sandy, Bedfordshire, England and south of St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, England.
As part of the Royal Air Force Special Duty Service, the airfield was perhaps the most ...
and RAF Gransden Lodge.
Station history
Work on the site started in 1941, and it was opened as an operational base in March 1942 with No. 161 Squadron flyingLysander
Lysander (; grc-gre, Λύσανδρος ; died 395 BC) was a Spartan military and political leader. He destroyed the Athenian fleet at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC, forcing Athens to capitulate and bringing the Peloponnesian War to an en ...
aircraft under No. 3 Group RAF, until it transferred to the Pathfinder Force with No. 35 Squadron in August 1942. Originally, the base was intended for special operations and would have operated alongside RAF Tempsford and RAF Gransden Lodge. No. 35 Sqn (No. XXXV Squadron) arrived in August 1942 using the Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.
The Halifax has its orig ...
(which it had used since 1940) it became a pathfinder unit, forming part of No. 8 Group. In March 1944 the squadron re-equipped with the Avro Lancaster and continued at Graveley until it was posted to RAF Stradishall
Royal Air Force Stradishall or more simply RAF Stradishall is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Haverhill, Suffolk and south west of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Part of the site remains in use as Stradishall Traini ...
in September 1946. During November 1945, Michael Beetham
Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael James Beetham, (17 May 1923 – 24 October 2015) was a Second World War bomber pilot and a high-ranking commander in the Royal Air Force from the 1960s to the 1980s. As Chief of the Air Staff during t ...
, then a Squadron Leader, was posted onto the squadron.
In 1943, RAF Graveley was the one of the first operational stations to use of the fog dispersal system FIDO. It was tested in July of that year with fog being burnt off and visibility vastly increased, though the descending aircraft had to cope with turbulence caused by the heated air from the burning fog. In November 1943, the first operational use of the FIDO system saw four Halifax aircraft of No. 35 Sqn landing in fog after a bombing operation.
No. 692 Squadron was formed on 1 January 1944 at RAF Graveley, equipped with Mosquito IV bombers, as part of the Light Night Striking Force of No. 8 Group RAF in Bomber Command. It re-equipped with the Mosquito XVI bombers in March.
No. 227 Squadron moved to Graveley from Strubby in June 1945, and was disbanded here on 5 September 1945.
Post-war, the airfield was used as a relief landing ground for No. 206 Advanced Flying School and No. 5 Flying Training School which were based at RAF Oakington
Royal Air Force Oakington or more simply RAF Oakington was a Royal Air Force station located north of Oakington, Cambridgeshire, England and north-west of Cambridge.
History Second World War
Construction was started in 1939, but was affect ...
. The airfield was closed in December 1968.
In popular culture
Part of the filming for the 1967 movie picture "' Robbery" (which was based on the Great Train Robbery) was filmed at the airfield with a number of exterior shots showing parts of the airfield.Current use
The airfield is mostly agriculture with a few buildings surviving. A wind farm was built on the site in the 2010s.References
Sources
* *External links
* http://www.raf.mod.uk/history/692squadron.cfm {{DEFAULTSORT:Graveley Royal Air Force stations in Huntingdonshire Royal Air Force stations in Cambridgeshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom