RAF Credenhill, also known as RAF Hereford, was a non-flying station 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 ...

situated in the village of

Credenhill Credenhill is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. The population of this civil parish taken at the 2011 Census was 2,271. Near Credenhill is the site of the former Royal Air Force station, RAF Credenhill. It was redeveloped b ...

near Hereford,

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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It was commissioned in 1940 and served as home for a range of training schools from 1940 until closure in 1994. The site was subsequently obtained by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

History

First World War

After the outbreak of the

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 ...

, the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...

were required to create a number of Royal Ordnance Factory munitions production facilities quickly and cheaply. In 1912

Herefordshire County Council Herefordshire County Council was the county council of Herefordshire from 1 April 1889 to 31 March 1974. It was based at the Shirehall in Hereford. It was created under the Local Government Act 1888 and took over many of the powers that had pr ...

had bought of the former Rotherwas estate from the Lubienski-Bodenham family, overlooked by Dinedor Hill and bordered by the Wye meadows. A site of was acquired by the Ministry on 15 June 1916, at Lower Bullingham just south of Hereford on the junction of the Welsh Marches Line and the

Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway The Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway (also known as the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway), was a railway which ran for linking Hereford and Gloucester, England, via Ross-on-Wye. It was opened on 1 June 1855 as a broad gauge line, it ...

. Laid out to a standard design, ROF Rotherwas encompassed: *

standard-gauge railway A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...

* of roads * of guard fence * of footpaths and sentry paths *370 buildings varying in floor area; like a typical munitions facility, the buildings were widely spaced on safety reasons, to avoid complete destruction of the facility in case of an explosion For storage purposes, the ROF also acquired railway-connected lands at

the Credenhill Railway Sidings. All components were produced elsewhere, with the facility responsible for final production: inserting explosive into shells and fitting detonators. Shell filling began on 11 November 1916, with both

Lyddite Picric acid is an organic compound with the formula (O2N)3C6H2OH. Its IUPAC name is 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP). The name "picric" comes from el, πικρός (''pikros''), meaning "bitter", due to its bitter taste. It is one of the most acidic ...

and Amatol explosives being used in production. From June 1918, supplied with dichloroethyl sulphide by the

National Smelting Company The National Smelting Company was a nationalised zinc smelting company in Avonmouth, England. It was established by Minister of Munitions Winston Churchill to produce mustard gas during World War I. After World War I, it was bought by private bu ...

Avonmouth Docks The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the Severn estuary, within Avo ...

, the facility produced mustard gas shells. By the end of WW1, the average output of shells from the facility was 70,000 per week.

Second World War

In 1939, the Credenhill Railway Sidings was requisitioned and shortly after the outbreak of 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 ...

preparations and construction started with the station officially opening on 15 June 1940. A 112-bed hospital was established on 15 June 1940, opposite the main camp. The Commonwealth Training Programme was begun in 1942, and the station was used as an assembly point for officers and airmen about to proceed to Canada for training. RAF Hereford - 330 Entry Admin Apprentices graduation photograph - August 1973

RAF Hereford - 330 Entry Admin Apprentices graduation photograph - August 1973

The following units were posted here:- *No. 11 School of Technical Training from 15 June 1940 to 30 September 1945. *School of Torpedo Maintenance from 1942 to 1946. *No. 7 Mobile Parachute Servicing Unit from 17 April 1944 to February 1945. *HQ, No. 24 Group from September 1944 to December 1944. *No. 1 Air Crew Officers School from 1 November 1944 until 1 May 1946. *No. 2 School of Administration and Accounting Training from 1944 to May 1948. *No. 6 School of Recruit Training from 1950 to 1952 *No. 533 Sqn RAF Regiment from 1 July 1952 to ? *Administrative Apprentice Training School from 1953 to 1959, 1962-63 *RAF School of Catering from September 1958 - ? *No. 3 School of Technical Training from April 1959 until 17 May 1974. *School of Basic Training for WRAF from 25 March 1974 to August 1982. *Youth Training Squadron from September 1983 to 1994.

Closure

On 23 April 1994 the station closed. The site was obtained by the British Army to redevelop for the Special Air Service headquarters base with the SAS subsequently moving there from Hereford in 1999. In 2000 the base was designated as Stirling Lines.

References

{{Royal Air Force Hereford