Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a

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 ...

station near St Ives,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

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 is decommissioned and is now home to the

Joint Forces Intelligence Group Defence Intelligence (DI) is an organisation within the United Kingdom intelligence community which focuses on gathering and analysing military intelligence. It differs from the UK's intelligence agencies (MI6, GCHQ and MI5) in that it is an ...

History

Flying station

Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941

Aerial travel for Business or Pleasure - Thos Cook & Son - 1919 - pp 16+ (map)

Wyton has been a military airfield since 1916, when it was used for training by the

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

and then its successor the

(RAF). 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 ...

it was used primarily as a bomber base, flying

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...

and

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

aircraft. In 1942 it became the home of the

Pathfinder Force The Pathfinders were target-marking squadrons in RAF Bomber Command during World War II. They located and marked targets with flares, which a main bomber force could aim at, increasing the accuracy of their bombing. The Pathfinders were norma ...

under the command of

Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

Don Bennett Air Vice Marshal Donald Clifford Tyndall Bennett, (14 September 1910 – 15 September 1986) was an Australian aviation pioneer and bomber pilot who rose to be the youngest air vice marshal in the Royal Air Force. He led the "Pathfinder Fo ...

. After the war Wyton became home to the

English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...

s of the Strategic Reconnaissance Force.

Vickers Valiant The Vickers Valiant was a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, and in the 1950s and 1960s was part of the Royal Air Force's "V bomber" strategic deterrent force. It was developed by Vickers-Armstrongs in response ...

s arrived for No. 543 Squadron in 1955 and a

Handley Page Victor The Handley Page Victor is a British jet-powered strategic bomber developed and produced by Handley Page during the Cold War. It was the third and final '' V bomber'' to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the other two being the Avro ...

arrived for the Radar Reconnaissance Flight in 1959. In 1974, three Nimrod R1s belonging to No. 51 Squadron arrived for use in the

Elint Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

and

Sigint Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...

role, and in 1975, the T17 and T17A Canberras of No. 360 Squadron arrived: this was a joint RAF and RN Squadron specialising in

Electronic countermeasures An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting info ...

training. In the early 1990s one of its pilots was the rugby union player, Flight Lieutenant

Rory Underwood Rory Underwood, (born 19 June 1963) is an English former rugby union player, he is 's record international try scorer with 49 tries in 85 internationals between 1984 and 1996. Underwood's principal position was wing and he played 236 games for ...

. During a four-month period in 1989, two squadrons of U.S. Air Force

Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republ ...

jets were operated out of RAF Wyton while the runway at their base, nearby

RAF Alconbury Royal Air Force Alconbury or more simply RAF Alconbury is an active Royal Air Force station near Huntingdon, England. The airfield is in the civil parish of The Stukeleys, close to the villages of Great Stukeley, Little Stukeley, and Alconbury. ...

, was resurfaced. In May 1995 both RAF Wyton and

airfields were decommissioned and Wyton was formally amalgamated with

RAF Brampton RAF Brampton was a non-flying Royal Air Force installation near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, England. Formerly the home of RAF Support Command, it also became the home of several elements of Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), which itself was ...

, and later with

RAF Henlow RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG), elements of Defence Equipment an ...

to make all three locations a single RAF Station under a single station commander for administrative purposes. The airfield continued to host light aircraft for the Cambridge and London

University Air Squadron University Air Squadrons are training units under the command of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF of the Royal Air Force and their main role is to attract students into careers as RAF officers. Primarily its goal is achieved through offering b ...

s until they both moved to

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 ...

in 2015.

2011–present

Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review the RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow formation was disbanded:

subsequently became a separate station again and RAF Brampton was demolished. The

, a unit which is responsible for the collection of

signals In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

geospatial Geographic data and information is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to Earth (a geographic location or geographic position). It is also call ...

imagery Imagery is visual symbolism, or figurative language that evokes a mental image or other kinds of sense impressions, especially in a literary work, but also in other activities such as psychotherapy. Forms There are five major types of sensory ima ...

and

measurement and signature intelligence Measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) is a technical branch of intelligence gathering, which serves to detect, track, identify or describe the distinctive characteristics (signatures) of fixed or dynamic target sources. This often incl ...

, moved from Feltham in Middlesex to RAF Wyton in 2013. 42 Engineer Regiment relocated from

Denison Barracks Denison Barracks is a military installation at Hermitage in Berkshire, England. History The site was used as an American military hospital during the Second World War and became the home of Royal School of Military Survey in 1949. The barracks w ...

in Hermitage to RAF Wyton to co-locate with the Joint Forces Intelligence Group in July 2014 and No. 1 Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Squadron moved from

RAF Marham RAF Marham is a Royal Air Force station and military airbase near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia. It is home to No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (138 EAW) and, as such, is one of the RAF's "Main Operating ...

to Wyton in April 2017. Wyton hangars 2013

Former units

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1916 and 1935: * No. 46 Squadron RFC between 1916 and 1916. * No. 65 Squadron RFC between 1916 and 1917. * No. 83 Squadron RFC between 1917 and 1917. * No. 96 Squadron RAF between 1918 and 1918. * No. 104 Squadron RFC between 1917 and 1917. *

No. 117 Squadron RAF No. 117 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron formed to be a bomber unit in World War I and reformed as a transport and communications unit in World War II. History Formation and World War I No. 117 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed ...

between 1918 and 1919. *

No. 119 Squadron RAF No. 119 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force, flying with RAF Coastal Command during the World War II, Second World War. It was the only Royal Air Force, RAF unit flying the Short S.26, Short G class and Short Empire, Short C class ...

between 1918 and 1918. *

No. 120 Squadron RAF Number 120 Squadron or No. CXX Squadron is a squadron of the Royal Air Force which was established as a Royal Flying Corps unit late in World War I, disbanded a year after the end of the war, then re-established as a RAF Coastal Command squadro ...

between 1918 and 1918. *

No. 130 Squadron RAF No. 130 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was a Second World War and Cold war fighter squadron, and later a strategic missile squadron. History The squadron was first formed on 1 March 1918 as part of the Royal Flying Corps. Based at RAF Wyton it ...

between 1918 and 1918. *

No. 156 Squadron RAF No. 156 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force Squadron that was active as a bomber unit in World War II. History Formation and World War I No. 156 Squadron Royal Air Force was first formed on 12 October 1918 at RAF WytonJefford 2001, p. 66. and e ...

between 1918 and 1918. *

No. 211 Squadron RAF No. 211 Squadron RAF was a squadron in the Royal Air Force active from 1917 to 1919 and from 1937 to 1946. In World War I it operated as a bomber and later a reconnaissance unit on the Western Front. In World War II it operated as a medium bombe ...

between 1919 and 1919. The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1935 and 1939: * No. 44 Squadron between 1937 and 1937. * No. 114 Squadron between 1936 and 1939. * No. 139 Squadron between 1936 and 1939. The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1939 and 1945: * No. 15 Squadron between 1939 and 1940. * No. 15 Squadron for a second time between 1940 and 1942. * No. 40 Squadron between 1939 and 1941. * No. 57 Squadron between 1940 and 1940. * No. 57 Squadron for a second time between 1940 and 1940. * No. 83 Squadron for a second time between 1942 and 1944. * No. 105 Squadron between 1942 and 1945 * No. 109 Squadron between 1942 and 1942. * No. 109 Squadron for a second time between 1942 and 1943. * No. 128 Squadron between 1944 and 1945. * No. 139 Squadron for a second time between 1943 and 1944. * No. 156 Squadron for a second time between 1945 and 1945. * No. 163 Squadron between 1945 and 1945. The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1946 and 2011: * No. 13 Squadron between 1978 and 1982. * No. 15 Squadron for a third time between 1946 and 1950. * No. 25 Squadron between 1983 and 1989. * No. 26 Squadron between 1969 and 1976. * No. 39 Squadron between 1970 and 1982. * No. 44 Squadron for a second time between 1946 and 1951. * No. 51 Squadron between 1963 and 1995. * No. 58 Squadron between 1953 and 1970. * No. 82 Squadron between 1953 and 1956. * No. 85 Squadron between 1989 and 1991 * No. 90 Squadron between 1946 and 1950. * No. 100 Squadron between 1956 and 1956. * No. 100 Squadron for a second time between 1982 and 19??. * No. 138 Squadron between 1946 and 1950. * No. 207 Squadron between 1969 and 1984. * No. 360 Squadron between 1975 and 19??. * No. 540 Squadron between 1953 and 1956. * No. 542 Squadron between 1954 and 1955. * No. 542 Squadron for a second time between 1955 and 1955. * No. 543 Squadron between 1955 and 1974. Other units moved (now disbanded) The following other units were posted to Wyton at some point: * No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF * No. 2 Group Communications Flight RAF *

No. 4 Blind Approach Training Flight RAF This is a List of Beam Approach beacon system Units of the Royal Air Force. The first system to guide RAF aircraft safely down onto a runway was called the Standard Blind Approach (SBA) system and was trialled in the late 1930s. It was also being ...

* No. 7 Group Communications Flight RAF *

8th Aero Squadron The 8th Aero Squadron was an Air Service, United States Army unit that fought on the Western Front during World War I. The squadron was assigned as a Corps Observation Squadron, performing short-range, tactical reconnaissance over the IV Corps ...

* No. 8 Group Communications Flight RAF * No. 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group RAF * No. 13 Aircraft Modification Unit RAF * No. 70 (Bomber) Wing RAF *

No. 231 Operational Conversion Unit RAF No. 231 Operational Conversion Unit was a Royal Air Force Operational conversion unit. Operational history 231 OCU first formed in the aftermath of the Second World War during on 15 March 1947 at RAF Coningsby. Initially the OCU was formed ...

* No. 1323 (Canberra) Flight RAF * No. 1409 (Meteorological) Flight RAF *

No. 1499 (Bombing) Gunnery Flight RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

* No. 1504 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF * No. 1655 Mosquito Training Unit RAF * No. 2730 Squadron RAF Regiment * No. 2763 Squadron RAF Regiment *

No. 2781 Squadron RAF Regiment This is a list of units of the Royal Air Force Regiment. The RAF Regiment is the ground fighting force of the Royal Air Force and is charged mainly with protecting military airfields, among other duties. First formed in 1942 to protect the airfi ...

* No. 2844 Squadron RAF Regiment * Canberra Air Race Flight RAF (1953) *

Canberra Standardisation and Training Flight RAF No. 231 Operational Conversion Unit was a Royal Air Force Operational conversion unit. Operational history 231 OCU first formed in the aftermath of the Second World War during on 15 March 1947 at RAF Coningsby. Initially the OCU was formed ...

* Electronic Warfare Detachment RAF * Electronic Warfare Division RAF * Electronic Warfare Engineering and Training Unit RAF (-1976) became Electronic Warfare and Avionics Unit RAF (1976-1993) * Electronic Warfare Operational Support Establishment RAF (1983-1995) becoming part of Air Warfare Centre 1993 * Equipment Support (Air) Group RAF * Ground Controlled Approach Operators School RAF * Logistics Command RAF * Radar Reconnaissance Flight RAF Currently operational units moved On 25 March 2013 it was decided to relocate the following flying units from Wyton due to the high maintenance costs of the airfield. * 57(R) Squadron relocated to

RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trai ...

in Summer 2013. *

Cambridge University Air Squadron Cambridge University Air Squadron, abbreviated CUAS, formed in 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Cambridge and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. It is the oldest of 15 University Air Squadro ...

relocated to

in mid-2014. *

University of London Air Squadron A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

relocated to RAF Wittering in mid-2014. * 5 Air Experience Flight also relocated to RAF Wittering in mid-2014.

Based units

Notable units based at RAF Wyton.

Strategic Command

Defence Intelligence Defence Intelligence (DI) is an organisation within the United Kingdom intelligence community which focuses on gathering and analysing military intelligence. It differs from the UK's intelligence agencies (MI6, GCHQ and MI5) in that it is an ...

* Joint Forces Intelligence Group (JFIG) ** Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre (DIFC) Defence Digital * Defence Assurance and Information Security

Royal Air Force

No. 1 Group (Air Combat) RAF * No. 1 Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Wing ** No. 1 Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Squadron * RAF Wyton Area Voluntary Band No. 22 Group (Training) RAF *Headquarters, Central & Eastern Region, Air Training Corps *Headquarters, Bedfordshire and Cambridgshire Wing, Air Training Corps *No. 2331 (St Ives) Squadron (Air Training Corps)

British Army

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

* 42 Engineer Regiment (Geographic) ** 13 Geographic Squadron ** 14 Geographic Squadron ** 16 Geographic Support Squadron ** 135 Geographic Squadron

Ministry of Defence

Defence Infrastructure Organisation Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is an operating arm of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in the United Kingdom, which is responsible for the built and rural estate. Its Chief Executive is Graham Dalton. History The DIO was formed in 2011 ...

* Defence Intelligence Estates Rationalisation Team (PRIDE) *

Ministry of Defence Police The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) is a civilian special police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The MDP's primary responsibilities are to provide armed security and counter terrorism services to designated hig ...

United States Department of Defense

* Defense Contract Management Agency – United Kingdom

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * RAF Annual Review 2012

External links

Official site

RAF Wyton Area Voluntary Band
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyton Royal Air Force stations in Huntingdonshire Royal Air Force stations in Cambridgeshire Royal Flying Corps airfields Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Airports established in 1916 1916 establishments in England

History

Flying station

2011–present

Former units

Based units

Strategic Command

Royal Air Force

British Army

Ministry of Defence

United States Department of Defense

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links