RAF Upwood
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Royal Air Force Upwood or more simply RAF Upwood 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 adjacent to the village of
Upwood Upwood is a village in the non-metropolitan district and historic counties of England, historic county of Huntingdonshire, England, although in the administrative county of Cambridgeshire. Upwood lies approximately north of Huntingdon, near Bury ...
,
Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a 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 Northamptonshire to the ...
,
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 ...
, in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. It was a non-flying station which was under the control of the United States Air Force from 1981, and one of three RAF stations in Cambridgeshire used by the
United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
(USAFE). Upwood, along with
RAF Molesworth Royal Air Force Molesworth or more simply RAF Molesworth is a Royal Air Force station located near Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, England with a history dating back to 1917. Its runway and flight line facilities were closed in 1973 and demolished ...
and
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 Alconbur ...
are considered the "Tri-Base Area" due to their close geographic proximity, and interdependency.


History


First World War

The Royal Flying Corps requisitioned of farmland near the village of Upwood in 1917. In September of that year the station opened as Bury (Ramsey). This initial name referred to its location near the village of
Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
and the larger market town of
Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...
. Initially there were no permanent flying units assigned to the station. Instead, No. 75 Squadron flying BE.2 aircraft out of nearby Elmswell, Suffolk, used the station as a night-landing ground and satellite field. Upon opening, there were no permanent buildings at the airfield. By the summer of 1918 a number of huts and five hangars were in place. It was during this time that the field was renamed Upwood. In July 1918, No. 191 (Night) Training Squadron moved to Upwood. In addition to BE.2s, 191 NTS also flew the
DH.6 The Airco DH.6 was a British military trainer biplane used by the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. Known by various nicknames, including the "Clutching hand" and "Skyhook", many survived to be used as a civil light aircraft in the p ...
. Whilst at Upwood they converted to the
FE.2b Between 1911 and 1914, the Royal Aircraft Factory used the F.E.2 (Farman Experimental 2) designation for three quite different aircraft that shared only a common "Farman" pusher biplane layout. The third "F.E.2" type was operated as a day and n ...
. In October 1918, No. 190 (Night) Training Squadron arrived flying the 504K. After the end of the Great War
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in November 1918, the squadrons were no longer needed and were disbanded in May and June 1919. The airfield itself was returned to the local community and the buildings cleared. This ended the first round of activity at RAF Upwood.


The Inter-War years

In the early 1930s, Britain realised its air defence capabilities were in urgent need of expansion. The major expansion of the
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 ...
announced in 1934 resulted in many new airfields opening over the remainder of the decade. One of these was RAF Upwood. The old First World War airfield site was selected to be reactivated and expanded. The new station was designed to accommodate two medium
bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...
squadrons with room for a third. By 1936, construction had begun in earnest with two of five C-type
hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
s started. On 27 February 1937 the first flying unit arrived at Upwood in the form of No. 52 Squadron RAF flying
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 ...
s. This unit was joined on 1 March 1937 by No. 63 Squadron and its
Hawker Audax 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 ...
es. During their time at Upwood, No 52 and 63 Squadrons became training units and took on both
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 ...
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 (RCA ...
aircraft. In August and September 1939, the two squadrons were reassigned opening the field up to its new tenant, No. 90 Squadron 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 ...
s.


Second World War

With the invasion of
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
on 1 September 1939,
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 ...
was underway. However No 90 Squadron spent most of its time in air-to-air firing and bombing practice. They were joined in February 1940 by another medium bomber unit, No. 35 Squadron, flying both Blenheims and Ansons. Both Upwood squadrons were not destined to see front-line combat as, on 8 April 1940, they were merged into the new No. 17 Operational Training Unit RAF and tasked with training aircrews. Although the Upwood units were not taking a direct part in the war, they did see some action. On two occasions in 1940 and once in 1942 the airfield was attacked by
Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
aircraft. However, only one person was killed during these raids. On 1 February 1941 a German spy,
Josef Jakobs Josef Jakobs (30 June 1898 – 15 August 1941) was a German spy and the last person to be executed at the Tower of London. He was captured shortly after parachuting into the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Convicted of espionage unde ...
, was captured by farmers after he had parachuted into the area, breaking a leg in the process. He was discovered to have maps of the RAF Upwood area, a code device and almost £500 cash in his possession. Jakobs was sent to London where, after a preliminary interrogation by MI5, he spent several months at Dulwich Hospital. Jakobs was transferred to
Camp 020 Camp 020 at Latchmere House in southwest London was a British interrogation centre for captured German agents during the Second World War. It was run by Lieutenant Colonel Robin "Tin Eye" Stephens. Although other wartime interrogation centres we ...
in April 1941 where he was interrogated by agents of
MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...
. On August 4 and 5, Jakobs was tried by court-martial at the
Duke of York's Headquarters The Duke of York's Headquarters is a building in Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, England. In 1969 it was declared a listed building at Grade II*, due to its outstanding historic or architectural special interest. History ...
where he was found guilty of
treachery Treachery is the betrayal or violation of trust. Treachery may also refer to: *Treachery (law), an offence in several countries, related to treason * Treachery (''Revenge''), the eighth episode of the American television series ''Revenge'' * ''Tr ...
. Jakobs was executed by
firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are ...
at the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...
on 15 August 1941. Since its opening in 1937, Upwood had seen frequent periods where flying operations had to be curtailed or halted altogether due to the grass airfield being unserviceable. This unserviceability was caused by the levels of rain and general dampness of the area. When No 17 OTU was chosen for transition to
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 ...
bombers, it was decided to move the unit from Upwood as the field would never take the pounding from these heavier aircraft. When 17 OTU departed for
RAF Silverstone Royal Air Force Station Silverstone or more simply RAF Silverstone is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station, the site is now used as Silverstone Circuit. It straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border and is named after the near ...
in April 1943, Upwood was left with no aircraft. The RAF took this opportunity to begin construction of three concrete runways. These runways were completed by October. The first flying unit to use the new runways at Upwood was No 139 Squadron flying De Havilland Mosquitoes. They arrived in late January 1944 and flew their first mission against on 2 February, a single plane mission to drop target indicators over
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. On 5 March 1944 Upwood became home to No 156 Squadron and its Avro Lancasters. They flew their first mission from Upwood on 15 March 1944, attacking
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
with 22 aircraft. At its wartime peak, the station had a working population of over 2,500 people. A total of 210 aircrew from the two squadrons were killed as a result of operations.


Cold War era

With the end of the Second World War came a change in missions for the two squadrons at Upwood. No 156 Squadron was tasked with bringing food to the Netherlands in support of Operation Manna then help repatriate former Prisoners of War as part of Operation Exodus. On 27 June 1945 the squadron was moved from Upwood. In place of the departing No 156 Squadron came No 105 Squadron, also flying Mosquitos. Both 105 and 139 Squadrons continued flying from RAF Upwood until February 1946. On 1 February 1946 No 139 Squadron moved to
RAF Hemswell Royal Air Force Hemswell or more simply RAF Hemswell is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located east of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Located close to the village of Hemswell in Lincolnshire, England the disestablished airfield ...
. On 4 February 1946 No. 105 Squadron was disbanded. Flying operations didn't cease for long. On 15 February 1946 Upwood became home to No. 102 Squadron flying Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers. They spent the next several months bring British troops home from India. On 1 March 1946 the squadron was redesignated No 53. Squadron. The squadron was disbanded on 25 June 1946 soon after its last ferry flight. Two new squadrons of Lancasters called Upwood home starting on 29 July 1946 with arrival of No. 7 Squadron and No. 49 Squadron. On 4 November 1946 No. 148 Squadron and No. 214 Squadron were both reformed at Upwood. These new additions were part of a transition of Upwood from a training to attack mission. Both of the new squadrons also flew Lancasters. The four squadrons continued to fly their Lancasters until 1949 when they were transitioned to Avro Lincolns. Lincolns from 148 Squadron deployed to
RAF Shallufa 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 ...
in January 1952 to reinforce British units in the Suez Canal Zone. This was in response to riots in Cairo and a generally unstable political situation in Egypt. During 1954 each of the four squadrons deployed to either
RAF Tengah ''Tengah'' is an Indonesian and Malay word meaning "Central". It can be found in topography, e.g. *Kalimantan Tengah *Tengah Islands or Central Archipelago. *Tengah, Singapore *Tengah Air Base The Tengah Air Base is a military airbase of ...
in Singapore in support of anti-communist operations in Malaysia or to
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...
in support of operations against the Mau Mau. Additionally, Lincolns from No 214 Squadron and No 7 Squadron took part in a secret mission in connection with nuclear trials conducted near Woomera,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. During this time a film production company produced a war time film play called ''
Appointment in London ''Appointment in London'' (known as ''Raiders in the Sky'' in the U.S.) is a 1953 British war film set during the Second World War and starring Dirk Bogarde. The film was directed by Philip Leacock and based on a story by John Wooldridge, who ...
''. The company used three Lancasters in making the film but the background shots are of the four Squadrons of Lincolns and the film uses much of the airfield and buildings in its production showing a good view of Upwood at that time On 31 December 1954 Upwood lost one of its four flying units when No. 214 Squadron disbanded. This unit was replaced on 22 May 1955 when No. 18 Squadron moved to Upwood from
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 ...
. This squadron brought something completely new to the base in the form of their
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 ...
jet bombers. This was followed by more Canberras when No. 61 Squadron moved in from
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 ...
on 3 July 1955. Two more Lincoln squadrons disbanded on 1 August, 49 and 148. This was followed by the disbanding of the last Lincoln squadron, No. 7, on 1 January 1956. These were replaced throughout 1956 by more Canberra units; No. 50 Squadron on 9 January, No. 35 Squadron on 16 July and No. 40 Squadron on 1 November. However, this last squadron was disbanded on 15 December 1956. Eight Canberras B2 each from Nos. 7, 18,35,50 and 61 Squadron flew to
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
on 19 October in support of
Operation Musketeer (1956) Operation Musketeer (french: Opération Mousquetaire) was the Anglo-French plan for the invasion of the Suez canal zone to capture the Suez Canal during the Suez Crisis in 1956. The operation had initially been given the codename Operation Hami ...
. Over four days in early November, these aircraft took part in raids on various targets in Egypt. This was the first combat operations by Upwood aircraft since the Second World War. The 32 planes returned to Upwood just in time for
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
, arriving home on 24 December 1956. The next two years saw a series of unit disbandments and arrivals culminating in a slow winding down of flying operations at Upwood. On 1 February 1957, No. 18 Squadron was disbanded. On 31 March 1958 No. 61 Squadron disbanded. No. 542 Squadron arrived on 17 July along with No. 76 Squadron. No 542 Squadron was renamed to No. 21 Squadron on 1 October. The year 1959 saw the disbanding of No. 21 Squadron (15 January) and No. 50 Squadron (1 October). On 31 December 1960 No. 76 Squadron disbanded. The final flying unit No. 35 Squadron was disbanded on 11 September 1961. With the disbanding of No. 35 Squadron Upwood was transferred to
RAF Strike Command The Royal Air Force's Strike Command was the military formation which controlled the majority of the United Kingdom's bomber and fighter aircraft from 1968 until 2007 when it merged with Personnel and Training Command to form the single Air C ...
who quickly set about transforming the airfield into a hub of various support activities. Over the next several months the station became home to No 4 Ground Radio Servicing Section,
Radio Technical Publications Squadron Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
, the
Aeromedical Training Centre Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...
, the Joint School of Photographic Interpretation and three squadrons of
HQ No 33 Field Wing HQ may refer to: * Headquarters * High quality (disambiguation) Games * ''HQ'' (video game), a live trivia game app * ''HeroQuest'' (role-playing game) * ''Chase H.Q.'', an arcade racing game Businesses and utilities * HQ an imprint of Harp ...
,
RAF Regiment The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regiment) is part of the Royal Air Force and functions as a specialist corps. Founded by royal warrant in 1942, the Corps carries out soldiering tasks relating to the delivery of air power. Examples of such ta ...
. The different units had barely settled in when change came again. In early 1963 the RAF Regiment units departed. In 1964 the other units left as well, leaving Upwood with only a token care-taker staff. In March 1964, 22 Group of
Technical Training Command The United States Army Air Forces during World War II had major subordinate Commands below the Air Staff level. These Commands were organized along functional missions. One such Command was the Flying Training Command (FTC). It began as Air Corp ...
arrived and set up their School of Management and Work Study. July saw the arrival of the
School of Education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences en ...
and the RAF Central Library, followed in September by the
School of Administration A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
. Upwood was again becoming focused on training. Later training units included the Equipment Officers Training Centre and the Air Cadet Training Centre. These various training activities lasted, in one form or another, until the late 1970s. By 1981, the station was again almost dormant.


United States Air Force Use

With the end of RAF use of the station in 1981, the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
was given control of Upwood by 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 states ...
. USAF airmen from
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 Alconbur ...
had been living in the Upwood housing area since the mid-1970s, however when the
10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing The 10th Air Base Wing (10 ABW) is a non-flying United States Air Force unit that is the host wing for the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Wing provides all base-level support activities to the Academy ...
took over as the host unit in December 1981, it started a whole new round of activity. Upwood soon became a satellite station of RAF Alconbury, providing housing and support services for personnel stationed there. In May 1986, all contracting support services moved from RAF Alconbury to the Headquarters building at RAF Upwood. Operating Location 'C', Detachment 4, 7000 Contracting Squadron (OL-C Det 4, 7000 CONS) was an Operating Location out of Detachment 4, 7000 Contracting Squadron at RAF Lakenheath and provided all contracting support services for RAF Alconbury and RAF Upwood. Also in 1986, a multimillion-dollar medical facility was opened to provide out-patient services to American military members and dependents in the area. Upwood was also home to the USAF's 3rd AF Mathies/UK campus for the NCO Academy and NCO Leadership School for USAF enlisted Professional Military Education (PME). The Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS) operated numerous buildings as classrooms for dependent children on RAF Upwood. In the event of a NEO (Non-combatant Evacuation Order), dependents would be evacuated from the base, and the buildings would be converted into a contingency hospital with supplies and equipment stored in a climate-controlled hangar on the base.


Post-Cold War

With the end of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
in 1991, and the phasedown of RAF Alconbury beginning in 1994, the USAF activities at Upwood were curtailed. RAF Upwood was returned to the British government control in September 1995 and with the number of airmen assigned to the area reduced, the need for housing became less and less. By 2005 the last USAF family moved out of the Upwood housing area and it was returned to the MOD. The medical facilities, however, remain open albeit in a reduced capacity as a medical flight until 16 January 2007, when the 423rd Medical Squadron was formed. The squadron provided some outpatient medical and dental care for the community. The host unit for RAF Upwood was the 423d Air Base Group, headquartered at nearby RAF Alconbury. RAF Upwood was the home of the 423rd Medical Squadron. The squadron operated a medical complex which housed out-patient and dental care facilities for active-duty, dependents of active duty, Department of Defense civilians, and retired military personnel stationed in the Tri-base area. Most standard medical care was available. Complex medical cases could be referred to
RAF Croughton Royal Air Force Croughton or more simply RAF Croughton is a Royal Air Force station which is currently a United States Air Force communications station in Northamptonshire, England. It is southeast of the village of Croughton. The station is ...
(approximately west of RAF Alconbury) for care which is unavailable at RAF Upwood, or to local British civilian National Health Service facilities. On 26 October 2012 RAF Upwood 423rd MDS closed its door to patients for the last time and merged with its sister station and became part of RAF Alconbury. In 1999 the entire NCO married quarter estate including both pre war and post housing and the former NAAFI building were sold to Roger Byron-Collins' the Welbeck Estate Group and were renamed Fairmead Park and underwent a major upgrading.


Current status

Since 1982, the Nene Valley Gliding Club has conducted its
glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...
operations from a field that occupies the site of the old runways. Initially these operations were under an agreement with the Ministry of Defence. However, in 1995 the club was told they would need to find a new home as the land was going to be sold off. The club was unable to locate a suitable new home and was preparing for the possibility of having to close when the purchaser of the land, Marshal Papworth, agreed to lease the land to the club for 10 years. This has allowed the club to continue flying from Marshals Paddock (so named by the club after their benefactor's death in 2000). Much of the RAF Upwood is unused, closed by 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 states ...
in 1994. Most of the station was vacated and the land and buildings sold off to civil ownership. Upwood is also the home of No. 511 (Ramsey) Squadron Air Training Corps who have been on the site since the early 70s. Originally housed in the old fire station the squadron moved to a number of buildings before settling in the old
nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure for military use, especially as barracks, made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. Designed during the First World War by the American-born, Canadian-British engineer and inventor Majo ...
church building. When the station was closed by the MOD in 1995, the squadron moved to the Upwood school. The squadron finally settled into the present building inside the fence in 1997. In 2004 Turbine Motor Works purchased a large amount of property on the former base including the four C-type hangars. Their plan is to convert the property into a state-of-the-art jet engine overhaul facility. Together with the Nene Valley Gliding Club and the Air Cadet Squadron, this facility will ensure that the former RAF base will continue its aviation legacy well into the 21st century. Part of the facility is now used by airsoft players. For a number of years, the site was home to the ''Ramsey 1940s Weekend'', an event dedicated to recreating the sights and sounds of the 1940s. The event is held in aid of several local charities and has been rewarded with a tourism award. The weekend features living history re-enactors, period dancing, food, exhibitions and trade stands. This has now moved to the north-west side of Ramsey to "The Camp", a former searchlight base. The American medical wing was disused as of early 2013, and was demolished over the period of September/October 2015 to make way for private housing.


In popular culture

RAF Upwood was extensively used as a filming location during the making of the 1953 war film
Appointment in London ''Appointment in London'' (known as ''Raiders in the Sky'' in the U.S.) is a 1953 British war film set during the Second World War and starring Dirk Bogarde. The film was directed by Philip Leacock and based on a story by John Wooldridge, who ...
starring
Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Organ ...
, directed by Phillip Leacock.


See also

*
List of former Royal Air Force stations This list of former RAF stations includes most of the stations, airfields and administrative headquarters previously used by the Royal Air Force. The stations are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the du ...
*
List of United States Air Force installations This is a list of installations operated by the United States Air Force located within the United States and abroad. Locations where the Air Force have a notable presence but do not operate the facility are also listed. Background The locatio ...
*
United States Air Force in the United Kingdom Since 1942 the United States has maintained air bases in the United Kingdom. Major Commands of the USAF having bases in the United Kingdom were the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Strategic Air Command (SAC), and Air Mobility Command ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * *


External links


The History of RAF Upwood
* Airfield Focus 70: Upwood. Author: John F. Hamlin. Publisher
GMS Enterprises



Turbine Motor Works web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Upwood Gliderports in the United Kingdom Installations of the United States Air Force in the United Kingdom Royal Air Force stations in Cambridgeshire Royal Air Force stations in Huntingdonshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom