RAF Worthy Down was 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 built in 1918, north of

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, Hampshire, England. After it was transferred to

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

control in 1939 as RNAS Worthy Down (HMS Kestrel), the airfield remained in use throughout the Second World War and then housed an engineering school from 1952. The airfield was in use until 1960. The site is now

Worthy Down Camp Worthy Down Camp is a tri-service establishment near Winchester, in Hampshire, England. It forms part of the wider Winchester Garrison and houses the headquarters of the Defence College of Logistics, Policing and Administration (DCLPA), as well ...

History

The site was first used as a military establishment when the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

acquired the site for a Wireless and Observers School in 1917 before changing to the school of Army Co-operation in 1918 on the site of the Winchester Racecourse. In 1918 an airfield was built for the

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

(RFC), but before it was completed the RFC was amalgamated with 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 ...

to form the

. Nonetheless, the RFC do seem to have operated there to some degree prior to amalgamation, as Lieutenant Harold Percy Dawson, RFC, was killed in an air accident stated to be at Worthy Down on 9 March 1918.

Royal Air Force

The first squadron to use the airfield was No. 58 Squadron RAF which was reformed there on 1 April 1924. The squadron flew the

Vimy Vimy ( or ; ; Dutch: ''Wimi'') is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Located east of Vimy is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Canadian soldiers ...

and the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

before moving to

RAF Upper Heyford RAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. In the Second World War the airfield was used by Bomber Command. During the Cold War, Upper Heyford was one ...

on 13 January 1936. On 7 April 1927

No. 7 Squadron RAF No. 7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook (UK variants), Boeing Chinook HC6 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire. History Formation and early years No. 7 Squadron was formed at Farnborough Airfield on 1 May 1914 as the last squa ...

moved from

RAF Bircham Newton Royal Air Force Bircham Newton or more simply RAF Bircham Newton is a former Royal Air Force station located south east of Docking, Norfolk and north east of King's Lynn, Norfolk, England. History The site was first used during the First Wo ...

and stayed until 3 September 1936 flying the Virginia IX/X and the Heyford II/III before moving to

RAF Finningley Royal Air Force Finningley or RAF Finningley was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The station straddled the historic county boundaries of both ...

. During this

No. 102 Squadron RAF No. 102 Squadron was a Royal Air Force night bomber squadron in the First World War and a heavy bomber squadron in the Second World War. After the war it flew briefly as a transport squadron before being reformed a light bomber unit with the Secon ...

formed at the airfield flying the Heyford II/III on 1 October 1935 before leaving on 3 September 1936 moving to RAF Finningley. On 1 October 1939 the same day as when 102 Sqn formed

No. 215 Squadron RAF No. 215 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron formed as a night bomber squadron in the First and Second World Wars, becoming a transport squadron near the end of the Second World War. History ;First World War No. 215 Squadron was ...

also reformed at the airfield but they flew the Virginia X instead and left on 14 March 1936 moving to RAF Upper Heyford. On 8 August 1936 No. 49 Squadron RAF moved from

flying the

Hawker Hind The Hawker Hind was a British light bomber of the inter-war years produced by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force. It was developed from the Hawker Hart day bomber introduced in 1931. Design and development An improved Hawker Hart bomber d ...

before leaving on 14 March 1938 moving to

RAF Scampton Royal Air Force Scampton or RAF Scampton is a Royal Air Force station located adjacent to the A15 road near to the village of Scampton, Lincolnshire, and north-west of the city of Lincoln, England. RAF Scampton stands on the site of a First ...

. The next squadron to join was No. 35 Squadron RAF. The squadron moved to RAF Worth Down on 26 August 1936 flying the

Fairey Gordon The Fairey Gordon was a British light bomber (2-seat day bomber) and utility aircraft of the 1930s. The Gordon was a conventional two-bay fabric-covered metal biplane. It was powered by variants of the Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIa engine. A ...

, Vickers Wellesley and the

Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and Hi ...

before moving to

RAF Cottesmore Royal Air Force Station Cottesmore or more simply RAF Cottesmore is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. On 15 December 2009, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth announced that the ...

on 20 April 1938. The last squadron to join RAF Worthy Down was

No. 207 Squadron RAF ("Always prepared")Halley 1988, p. 268. , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , equipment = Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning , equipment_label = Aircraft , battles = , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = ...

which had moved to the airfield on 29 August 1936 flying the Gordon and Wellesley before leaving on 20 April 1938 to

. The only Royal Air Force Squadron to use the airfield when it was under Royal Naval control was the Southampton University Air Squadron, which flew their

Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary trainer aircraft. ...

trainers there during 1945–46.

Station commanders

*data from

Royal Navy

The site was recommissioned by the

in 1939 as HMS Kestrel and used as a flying station by the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

. During this time the site was featured on the news when

Lord Haw-Haw Lord Haw-Haw was a nickname applied to William Joyce, who broadcast Nazi propaganda to the UK from Germany during the Second World War. The broadcasts opened with "Germany calling, Germany calling", spoken in an affected upper-class English acc ...

(William Joyce) claimed HMS Kestrel was sunk by the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

. In 1950 it was placed in a state of care and maintenance until 1952 when it was re-established as HMS Ariel II and used as an engineering training school. The following squadrons were based at Worthy Down at some point: *

700 Naval Air Squadron 700 Naval Air Squadron (700 NAS) is an experimental test squadron in the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. History 700 NAS was originally formed on 21 January 1940 at RNAS Hatston (HMS ''Sparrowhawk'') in Orkney in a plan to centralise the operations ...

between June 1945 and 1945 *

734 Naval Air Squadron 734 Naval Air Squadron (734 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was active between 1944 and 1946, formed as a naval Engine Handling Unit. Initially operating out of RNAS Worthy Down, it subsequently relocated to R ...

used the airfield between February 1944 and sometime in 1945 with the

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a British medium bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was one of three twin-engined, front line medium bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the Second World ...

GRVII. *

739 Naval Air Squadron 739 Naval Air Squadron (739 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was formed as the Blind Approach Development Unit for the Fleet Air Arm, operating with Fulmar and Swordfish aircraft, at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Dae ...

(BADU) between September 1943 and September 1944 with the

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

. *

755 Naval Air Squadron 755 Naval Air Squadron (755 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land a ...

formed at the airfield during 1939 and flew various aircraft including the

Blackburn Shark The Blackburn Shark was a carrier-borne torpedo bomber designed and built by the British aviation manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was originally known as the Blackburn T.S.R., standing for ''torpedo-spotter-reconnaissance'', in reference to ...

Hawker Osprey The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircra ...

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 ...

and

Curtiss SO3C Seamew The Curtiss SO3C Seamew was developed by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation as a replacement for the SOC Seagull as the United States Navy's standard floatplane scout. Curtiss named the SO3C the ''Seamew'' but in 1941 the US Navy began calling it b ...

. *

756 Naval Air Squadron 756 Naval Air Squadron (756 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was initially formed as a Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron, operating from May to August 1939, out of RNAS Worthy Down (HMS ''Kestrel)'', ...

- 1939 - 1943 *

757 Naval Air Squadron 757 Naval Air Squadron (757 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. It was first formed as a Telegraphist Air Gunner Training Squadron in 1939, operating out of RNAS Worthy Down (HMS Kestrel), but after three months it ...

- 1939 - 1943 * 763 Naval Air Squadron - December 1939 - June 1940 *763 (FAA Pool) Naval Air Squadron - February - July 1941 *

800 Naval Air Squadron () , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , battles_label = , decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , flying_hours = , website = , cur ...

- 1938 - 1939 *

803 Naval Air Squadron 803 Naval Air Squadron was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadron. History Interwar 803 NAS was formed on 3 April 1933 by promoting No 409 (Fleet Fighter) Flight to the status of a squadron, with nine Ospreys. In the same month it embarked on fo ...

- 21 November 1938 *

806 Naval Air Squadron 806 Naval Air Squadron (806 NAS) was a fighter squadron in the Fleet Air Arm that existed from February 1940 to December 1960 and saw active service in the Norwegian campaign, the Dunkirk evacuation and the Malta Convoys. History Formation A ...

- May 1940 *

807 Naval Air Squadron 807 Naval Air Squadron (807 NAS) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy. Second World War 807 Squadron was formed at RNAS Worthy Down in September 1940, equipped with Fairey Fulmar Is. Three were embarked on HMS ''Pegasus'', where they re ...

- 15 September 1940 *

808 Naval Air Squadron 808 Naval Air Squadron is a ship-based helicopter squadron of the Royal Australian Navy. The squadron was originally part of the British Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm; it was formed in July 1940 as a fleet fighter squadron. It served on a number ...

- 1 July 1940 – 5 September 1940 * 811 Naval Air Squadron - October 1939 * 815 Naval Air Squadron - 15 October 1939 - May 1940 *

822 Naval Air Squadron 822 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadron before and during World War II. History Pre-war 822 squadron was formed on 3 April 1933 from a merger of No's 442 and 449 (Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance) Flights at Netheravon and posted ...

- October 1939 *

848 Naval Air Squadron 848 Naval Air Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. It operated the Westland Sea King HC.4 helicopter and previously provided advanced flying training to pilots for the other squadrons in the Commando Helicopter Force. The s ...

- November 1959 - March 1960 *Air Electrical School - June 1952 - 1 November 1960 Additionally

Supermarine Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that is most famous for producing the Supermarine Spitfire, Spitfire fighter plane during World War II as well as a range of seaplanes and flying boats, and a series of Jet engine, jet-powered figh ...

used the airfield in the development of the

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

from December 1940 to March 1944.

Current use

The technical site is now

with the runway area open grassland.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

Airfield Information Exchange - RAF Worthy Down
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worthy Down Royal Air Force stations in Hampshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Hampshire Airports in Hampshire