Royal Air Force Oakington or more simply RAF Oakington 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) an ...

station located north of

Oakington Oakington is a small rural Anglo-Saxon village north-west of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire in England, and belongs to the administrative district of South Cambridgeshire. Since 1985 the village has formed part of the parish of Oakington and West ...

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 t ...

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 ...

and north-west of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

History

Second World War

Construction was started in 1939, but was affected by the outbreak of war. The original plan called for

Type-C hangar The Type-C hangar is a specific design of aircraft hangar built by the Royal Air Force during its expansion period of the 1930s. The hangar type generally measured in length, with a width of , and a clear height of . Whilst the type was design ...

s but two type J were erected instead. It was used by No. 2 Group in July 1940 for No. 218 Squadron which had recently returned from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In September, Oakington was passed on for the No. 2 Group which stationed the first

Short Stirling The Short Stirling was a British four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber to be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Stirling was designed during t ...

Squadron No. 7. The newly formed

No. 3 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF No. 681 Squadron RAF was a photo-reconnaissance squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. History It was formed out of No. 3 PRU, at Dum Dum in India on 2 January 1943, as part of RAF Far East Air Force. Initially it was ...

started to use RAF Oakington to conduct high altitude work for Bomber Command's target. However, there were poor surface conditions at RAF Oakington so No. 3 PRU often operated 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 ...

Post war

During the 1950s RAF Oakington was an Advanced Flying Training School, No. 5 Flying Training School RAF (5 FTS), which reformed at the airfield on 1 June 1954. Its initial role was to convert trainee pilots to jets using De Havilland Vampire FB5 single seat jets and Vampire T11 twin-seat jets. In March 1962 these types were exchanged for the Vickers Varsity T.1 twin piston-engine pilot trainers. 5 FTS was disbanded on 31 December 1974 when the need for training on piston engined aircraft reduced. The airfield was then closed, becoming a

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 Gurkha ...

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

. The airfield's land area had contracted after the war, and much evidence of this former military use is visible in farmland surrounding the current perimeter.

British Army use

The barracks were used in the late 1970s and through the 1980s as a transit camp for units moving between Germany and Northern Ireland. It was also a permanent base for 657 Squadron Army Air Corps in the 1980s. The barracks were occupied by the https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/corps-regiments-and-units/infantry/royal-anglian-regiment/1st-battalion-the-royal-anglian-regiment/ from 1980 to 1984, the 1st Bn The Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment (29th and 45th) from 1986 to 1989,

Royal Highland Fusiliers The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (2 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Prior to 28 March 2006, the Royal Highland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment in its own right, ...

from 1989 to 1993 and by the

Cheshire Regiment The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. ...

from 1993 to 1996.

Immigration Reception Centre

In 2000 the station domestic area was leased to the Home Office, and converted for use as

Oakington Immigration Reception Centre Oakington Immigration Reception Centre was an immigration detention centre located in Cambridgeshire run by UK Visas and Immigration. Originally a World War II airfield, RAF Oakington was used by RAF Bomber Command flying Short Stirling air ...

until November 2010.

Future use

Since 2007 plans have been developed to build

Northstowe Northstowe is a new town that will eventually have up to 10,000 homes, with an anticipated population of 24,400 in Cambridgeshire, England, UK. On 1 April 2021 Northstowe became a civil parish, the parish was formed from Longstanton and Oakingt ...

, a new settlement of 9,500 houses on the site. Demolition of parts of the site commenced in late January 2011 by the contractor Sovereign Plant Ltd. Work started on the first 1500 homes and related facilities in 2014.

Bibliography

* Sturtivant, Ray, Hamlin, John and Halley, J.J., ''Royal Air Force Flying Training and Support Units'', 1997, Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd,

References

External links

Pictures of RAF aircraft taken at the base
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oakington Royal Air Force stations in Cambridgeshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom