Royal Air Force Staverton or more simply RAF Staverton 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) an ...

station about west of Cheltenham,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England. The station was used for training and operations from 1936 until the 1950s. The site is now

Gloucestershire Airport Gloucestershire Airport , formerly Staverton Airport, is a small airport at Churchdown, England. It lies west of Cheltenham, near the city of Gloucester and close to the M5 motorway. Its operator claims it to be Gloucestershire's largest g ...

History

Staverton aerodrome aerial photograph 1941 IWM MH 26559

From 1931 there was an airfield near Down Hatherley, and plans were in place pre-war to develop the new site. The RAF took over the site as a training school on 16 July 1936 for training until August 1946. Flying training was conducted at the site on de Havilland Tiger Moths, but for the first 18 months, during construction, the practical element of the course had to be undertaken at the relief landing ground at RAF Worcester. No. 31 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School was based at Staverton between 29 September 1938 and 3 September 1939. 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 opposi ...

a number of units and flights were based at the airfield including No. 44 Group Communication Flight RAF, which operated between 15 August 1941 and 9 August 1946. No. 6 Air Observers Navigation School RAF was also based at Staverton from 1 November 1939 until 17 January 1942. Post-war, a number of small units and detachments used the airfield including a sub-site of No. 7 Maintenance Unit RAF between 4 June 1945 and 11 August 1953. The Ministry of Aircraft Production Guard Dog School was formed in late 1942, located at Woodfold in Down Hatherley. In 1946 the unit, by now called the RAF Police Dog Training School, moved from Woodfold to Staverton. In February 1951, the School left Staverton and moved to

RAF Netheravon 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) ...

. The following units were also here at some point: * No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School RAF became No. 6 Flying Instructors School (Supplementary) RAF became No. 6 Flying Instructors School RAF became No. 6 Flying Instructors School (Elementary) RAF became No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School RAF * No. 6 Civil Air Navigation School RAF became No. 6 Air Observers Navigation School RAF became

No. 6 Air Observers School RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a Typography, typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal number, ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For exampl ...

became

No. 6 (Observers) Advanced Flying Unit RAF ''No. 6'' is a Japanese novel series written by Atsuko Asano and published by Kodansha in nine volumes between October 2003 and June 2011. A manga adaptation drawn by Hinoki Kino was serialized in Kodansha's ''Aria'' magazine from January 20 ...

* No. 7 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF * No. 24 Group Communication Flight RAF * A detachment of

No. 225 Squadron RAF No. 225 Squadron RAF is a former Royal Air Force squadron. History World War One No. 225 Squadron RAF was formed on 1 April 1918 at Otranto, Alimini, Italy from part of No. 6 Wing Royal Naval Air Service, RNAS, and was equipped with Sopwith Cam ...

between 1 July 1940 and 29 July 1941 operaring

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

II's & III's

Staverton Airport

In civilian hands, the site was known as Staverton Airport before changing its name to

in 1993.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

BBC History - Continuation of My War Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Staverton Royal Air Force stations in Gloucestershire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom