Royal Air Force Cosford or RAF Cosford (formerly DCAE Cosford)
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) an ...
station in
Cosford, Shropshire, just to the northwest of
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...
and next to
Albrighton.
History
Origins
RAF Cosford opened in 1938 as a joint aircraft maintenance, storage and technical training unit. It was originally intended to be opened as RAF Donington (the parish in which it is located) but to avoid confusion with the nearby army camp at Donnington it was named after Cosford Grange House which was located at the south western edge of the airfield. It has remained mainly a training unit to this day. The ''Fulton'' barrack block was built just before 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 ...
as the largest single building barrack block in the UK. The block was named after Captain Fulton (an early Air Force pioneer) and paid for by his widow, Lady Fulton. It is a listed building and is now used for technical training.
No 2 School of Technical Training was formed in 1938 and during the Second World War it trained 70,000 airmen in engine, airframe and armament trades. No 2 School of Technical Training was subsumed into the No 1 School of Technical Training when it moved to Cosford from
RAF Halton
Royal Air Force Halton, or more simply RAF Halton, is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom. It is located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire. The site has been in use since the First World W ...
in
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...
.
In the Second World War No 12 Ferry Pool of the
Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was formed at Cosford. This unit delivered Spitfires from the base and returning with bombers or fighters for No 9 Maintenance Unit. Ferry flights were often flown by women pilots.
Amy Johnson came to Cosford on more than one occasion.
In 1940 after the
Fall of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...
a depôt was established at RAF Cosford for
Free Czechoslovak personnel joining the
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) was established in 1936 to support the preparedness of the U.K. Royal Air Force in the event of another war. The Air Ministry intended it to form a supplement to the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF ...
.
The airfield was originally a grass strip. In 1940–41 there was a bad winter in which landing heavy aircraft such as
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its ...
s and
Avro Anson
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ...
s turned the strip into a mudbath. Thereafter a paved runway was built that was long and wide.
A substantial
Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service staffed
hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...
was established at RAF Cosford, the most westerly such RAF hospital in the UK. It consisted of wooden spurred huts. It was the main centre for repatriated prisoners of war, processing more than 13,000 by 1948. Many from the Far East had to remain for long term-treatment. The hospital was open to the general public as well as servicemen and women. It was closed on 31 December 1977 and demolished in 1980.
The extensive sports facilities at Cosford, located around a banked indoor running track, became well known nationally through televised annual indoor championships that featured top athletes from all over the world.
Defence Training Review
Following the UK Government's 2001
Defence Training Review (DTR), the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
proposed handing over armed forces skills training to a private sector bidder for a 25-year term, and it was announced on 17 January 2007 that the
Metrix consortium had been awarded Preferred Bidder status for Package 1 of this programme. As a consequence, it was anticipated that all technical training would move from Cosford to Metrix's main campus to be built on the
RAF St Athan site over a 5-year period from 2008. This in turn was deferred with no anticipated move from Cosford to St Athan for DCAE and No1 RS staff and trainees before 2014–15 at the earliest. For those other training schools, headquarters and units at present at Cosford, decisions were yet to be made about their future location.
On 31 January 2008, the Government announced that when 1 Signal Brigade and
102 Logistics Brigade withdraw from Germany they would move to Cosford. It was also noted that Metrix proposed to establish a Learning Centre and Design facility at the Cosford site.
In December 2012 the Government announced training facilities from RAF Cosford would be moved by end of 2015 to the site of the
former RAF Station at Lyneham as part of the projected tri-service Defence College of Technical Training, in common with
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
and
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 Fr ...
training facilities that would also be consolidated on the site. However, on 15 September 2015, the Defence Secretary,
Michael Fallon announced in Parliament by written statement that the Lyneham site would only be used by the army and that Cosford would not be closed and remain as a separate RAF training establishment which would be given extra work, with a fourth training school (No 4 School of Technical Training) moving to Cosford from
MoD St Athan in south Wales. The announcement was described in local media as "a Government U-turn".
No. 633 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, which operated the Grob Vigilant T1, was disbanded in November 2016.
Based units
Flying and notable non-flying units based at RAF Cosford.
Royal Air Force
No. 22 Group RAF
No. 22 Group is one of five groups currently active in the Royal Air Force, falling under the responsibility of Deputy Commander-in-Chief (Personnel) in Air Command. Its previous title up until 2018 was No. 22 (Training) Group. It is responsibl ...
* Defence College of Technical Training (DCTT)
** Defence School of Aeronautical Engineering (DSAE)
*** Defence School of Aeronautical Engineering Headquarters
***
No. 1 School of Technical Training
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, ...
(No. 1 SoTT)
**** Headquarters No. 1 School of Technical Training
****
No. 238 Squadron
**** Aerosystems Training Squadron
**** Mechanical Training Squadron
**** Trenchard Squadron
*** RAF Aerosystems Engineering and Management Training School (AE&MTS)
**
Defence School of Communications and Information Systems (DSCIS)
***
No. 1 Radio School
* Defence College of Intelligence
**
Joint Intelligence Training Group (JITG)
***
Defence School of Photography
The Defence School of Photography (DSoP) is a training centre for all photographers drawn from the three arms of the British Military and the Civil Service.The Royal Marines are part of the Royal Navy. The School has been located at RAF Cosford in ...
* RAF School of Physical Training
*Robson Academy of Resilience
*
No. 6 Flying Training School
No. 6 Flying Training School RAF is a Flying Training School (FTS) within No. 22 (Training) Group of the Royal Air Force that delivers flying training to University Air Squadrons and Air Experience Flights.
History
The school was formed by renam ...
**
University of Birmingham Air Squadron
The University of Birmingham Air Squadron, commonly known as UBAS, is a squadron within the Royal Air Force established on 3 May 1941. It is based at RAF Cosford, Shropshire, and flies a fleet of six Grob Tutors. In 2009 the squadron upgrad ...
–
Grob Tutor T1
**
No. 8 Air Experience Flight – Grob Tutor T1
*
Air Training Corps
** Wales and Western Region Headquarters
*** West Mercia West Wing
**** West Mercia West Wing Headquarters
**** No. 2497 (Cosford) Squadron
No. 38 Group (Air Combat Service Support) RAF
* An element of
85 Expeditionary Logistics Wing, RAF A4 Force
**
No. 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron (Royal Auxiliary Air Force)
RAF Museum
*
RAF Museum Cosford
RAF Voluntary Bands Association
* RAF Cosford Voluntary Band
Civilian
* RAF Cosford Flying Club ––
Piper PA-28
*
Midlands Air Ambulance –
Airbus Helicopters H145
Role and operations
Training
Cosford became part of the
Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering (DCAE), which was formed on 1 April 2004. The Defence College at RAF Cosford came under the Defence Technical Training Change Programme (DCTTP) and as such, with effect from 1 October 2012, was renamed the Defence School of Aeronautical Engineering (DSAE).
Air Ambulance
RAF Cosford's airfield site is home to one of the
Midlands Air Ambulance helicopters. The first aircraft arrived on site in October 1991 with two other platforms based elsewhere in the region. Cosford remains the operations hub for the service.
RAF Museum Cosford
There is also the Aerospace Museum at the site, which is a branch of the
Royal Air Force Museum. Amongst the large collection of military aircraft is a unique collection of research and development aircraft, including one of two existing examples of the
TSR2, a multi-role combat aircraft, controversially scrapped by the
Wilson
Wilson may refer to:
People
*Wilson (name)
** List of people with given name Wilson
** List of people with surname Wilson
* Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender
* Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson R ...
Government and still a point of discussion within the RAF.
The Cold War Exhibition opened on 7 February 2007 by former prime minister
Baroness Thatcher and
HRH Princess Anne. Exhibits include the only collection of three V bombers (
Valiant,
Victor and
Vulcan) in the same place in the world.
RAF Cosford Air Show
The Cosford Air Show is the only
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 ...
air show that is officially supported by the Royal Air Force in Britain after the closure of
RAF Leuchars
Royal Air Force Leuchars or RAF Leuchars was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the station was home to fighter aircraft which policed northern UK airspa ...
and the runway resurfacing at
RAF Waddington[The airshow at Waddington was cancelled and has been reborn at ]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 Fi ...
; however, the Air Force Board only support the Cosford Air Show directly within the RAF. meant the air shows at those respective bases were stopped.
The event is held on the airfield of RAF Cosford and regularly hosts flying and static displays which attract more than 50,000 people.
An air show at Cosford was first proposed in 1978 and continues to the present day. The event was cancelled in 2003 due to an inability to secure enough serving military aircraft. The war in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
had meant that most aircraft were deployed operationally and the RAF could not commit to the air show. The runway at Cosford is only in length so most flying displays will either arrive on the day or stay overnight at
RAF Shawbury which has a longer airfield.
The air show varies from year to year, but mostly consists of flying and static displays, fun fair rides, concession stands, food outlets, trade stands and also serves to raise money for charity whilst also being seen by the Royal Air Force as a recruitment event as part of its wider public engagement role. Recent years have seen the promotion of
STEM
Stem or STEM may refer to:
Plant structures
* Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang
* Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure
* Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
events
with guests such as
Carol Vorderman highlighting the STEM approach. All profits raised at the event go to supporting officially recognized charities by the air show committee with the event in 2016 raising £115,000 for RAF charities.
In 2013,
Prince Harry
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...
, as part of No. 662 Squadron of the
Army Air Corps, took part in the Apache helicopter demonstration at the air show, and, in 2018, Cosford hosted an RAF air show dedicated to the
centenary
{{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation)
A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years.
Notable events
Notable centennial events at a ...
of the Royal Air Force.
Because of the restricted access by vehicle, all roads into the Cosford site become one-way with traffic flow inwards on the morning of the event and outwards on the afternoon and evening of the event. Sometimes the
M54 suffers tailbacks and queuing and the slip and access roads have to be closed due to the site reaching its 18,000 vehicle parking limit. The local train operator,
Arriva Trains Wales
Arriva Trains Wales (ATW; cy, Trenau Arriva Cymru) was a British train operating company owned by Arriva UK Trains that operated the Wales & Borders franchise. It ran urban and inter-urban passenger services to all railway stations in Wales, ...
, have a deal whereby a combined rail and air show ticket offers a discount and allows users direct access on foot to the air show event.
Cosford railway station is next to the main crash gate access point onto the eastern edge of the airfield.
There is an aspiration to make the air show run over two days as a perceived rival to the
Royal International Air Tattoo which attracts 150,000 spectators.
Heritage
Station badge and motto
The
RAF Cosford Badge is adorned with an oak tree and the motto is ''Seul Le Premier Pas Coute'', which translates as ''Only the Beginning is Difficult''. The oak tree is symbolic of the nearby oak at
Boscobel which
King Charles II took refuge in after the
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...
. The idea of this association is that of being from little acorns, great oak trees grow (from trainees the airmen of the future grow). This badge was also shared with the No. 2 School of Technical Training until 1986, when the School adopted a new badge with the iron bridge of
Ironbridge on it and the motto of ''Scientia Pons Perpetuus Est'' which translates as ''Knowledge is a Lasting Bridge.''
Built heritage
The station's Fulton Block, a combined barracks block, institute and
mess
The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...
, was
grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
in December 2005. Built between 1938 and 1939 as permanent accommodation for 1,000 personnel, it was designed in the
Moderne architectural style by J H Binge, of the
Air Ministry's Directorate of Works and Buildings.
Station Commanders
The following are the Station Commanders for RAF Cosford, DCAE and DSAE Cosford.
† Died in office May 2011.
Accidents and incidents
On 4 March 2000, Julian Paszki of Wrekin Gliding Club was killed when his Ex-RAF Chipmunk aircraft crashed. The aircraft was seen to veer left and dive into the ground despite being only in the air at the time. Mr Paszki was pulled alive from the wreckage but died at
Selly Oak Hospital later that same day.
In popular culture
RAF Cosford is the location for
James May
James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme '' Top Gear'' alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also ...
's ''Toy Stories'', where the BBC's
Top Gear presenter constructed a 1:1 scale
Supermarine 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 Gri ...
in the style of an
Airfix kit with the help of students from the Thomas Telford school and
Air Cadets from the ATC.
See also
*
List of Royal Air Force stations
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
*
Cosford Apprentice– RAF Cosford station magazine
Cosford Flying Club Home PageRAF Cosford Air ShowRAF Cosford Voluntary BandRAF Museum CosfordUK Military Aeronautical Information Publication – Cosford (EGWC)
{{authority control
Cosford
Military units and formations established in 1938
Cosford
633 VGS