This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(January 2012) |
RAF Fighter Command | |
---|---|
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | Royal Air Force |
Role | Defence of Great Britain |
Engagements | Battle of Britain |
During the Battle of Britain , the defence of the UK's airspace was divided up within RAF Fighter Command into four Groups, each comprising several airfields and squadrons. [1]
The groups involved, 10, 11, 12 and 13, saw very different levels of activity during the battle. No. 11 Group, responsible for the defence of London and the south-east saw the heaviest fighting, and pilots were often rotated among the groups to allow them to rest and recuperate after several weeks of fierce contact with the enemy. Each group was commanded by an Air Vice-Marshal, who served under the head of Fighter Command during the battle, Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding.
Key:
10 Group defended Wales and the West Country and was commanded by Air Vice-Marshal Sir Quintin Brand.
Station name | BoB role | Grid reference | Station opened | Flying ceased | RAF station closed | Current use |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RAF Box | HQ | ST843707 | 1940 | N/A | 2000 | Decommissioned, in use by Defence Equipment & Support |
RAF Middle Wallop | SS | SU306385 | 1940 | - | 1 September 1957 | 2 (Training) Regiment Army Air Corps and School of Army Aviation |
RAF Filton | SS | ST590802 | 1916 | 2012 | 1960s | Bristol Filton Airport |
RAF Boscombe Down | SA | SU176393 | 1939 | - | MoD Boscombe Down | |
RAF Colerne | SA | ST800712 | 1940 | - | 21st Signal Regiment, Bristol University Air Squadron, 3 AEF | |
RAF Exeter | SA | SY002937 | 1937 | - | Exeter International Airport, The Hunter Flying Club | |
RAF Pembrey | SA | SN403042 | 1939 | - | 1957 | Pembrey Airport, Pembrey Sands AWR Support, Pembrey Circuit |
RAF Roborough | SA | SX504902 | 1931 | 2011 | Plymouth City Airport | |
RAF St Eval | SA | SW873685 | 1939 | 1959 | 6 March 1959 | RAF St Eval HIVE, MOD Ariel Field |
RAF Warmwell | SA | SY756887 | 1937 | 1945 | Crossways village |
11 Group covered the southeast of England and the critical approaches to London and was commanded by Air Vice-Marshal Keith Park.
Station name | BoB role | Grid reference | Station ppened | Flying ceased | RAF station closed | Current use |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RAF Uxbridge | HQ | TQ061836 | 1918 [lower-alpha 1] | N/A | 31 March 2010 | Battle of Britain Bunker remains open. Hillingdon House, the HQ of 11 Fighter Group, to be refurbished as restaurant |
RAF Biggin Hill | SS | TQ416610 | 1916 [lower-alpha 2] | - | 1992 | London Biggin Hill Airport, Planned heritage site & conservation area |
RAF Debden | SS | TL562350 | 1937 | 1960 | 21 August 1974 | 33 Engineer Regt EOD, NATS Radar Station |
RAF Hornchurch | SS | TQ532846 | 1915 | 1962 | July 1962 | Hornchurch Country Park, Housing Estate, Conservation Area |
RAF Kenley | SS | TQ329579 | 1917 | 1959 | Housing and conservation area | |
RAF Northolt | SS | TQ097850 | 1915 | - | - | Current RAF Station, HQ Music Services, 63 Squadron, RAF Regt (QCS) |
RAF North Weald | SS | TL488047 | 1916 | - | 1964 | North Weald Airfield |
RAF Tangmere | SS | SU909060 | 1917 | 16 October 1970 | Tangmere Military Aviation Museum | |
RAF Croydon | SA | TQ310636 | 1939 | 30 September 1959 | 1946 | Business park, museum |
RAF Detling | SA | TQ813597 | Light industry, agriculture | |||
RAF Eastchurch | SA | TQ982701 | HM Prison Swaleside | |||
RAF Ford | SA | SU993028 | HM Prison Ford | |||
RAF Gosport | SA | SU592006 | HMS Sultan, Rowner Housing Estate | |||
RAF Gravesend | SA | TQ670716 | Riverview Housing Estate, Golf Course, Cascades Leisure Centre | |||
RAF Hawkinge | SA | TR211395 | Kent BoB Museum, Housing | |||
RAF Hendon | SA | TQ217905 | 1908 | 1957 | 1987 | RAF Museum, Hendon Police College, Grahame Park Housing Estate |
RNAS Lee-on-Solent | SA | SU561020 | 1917 | - | 29 March 1996 | HM Coastguard, Unlicensed Private Airfield, Maritime & Aviation Industry |
RAF Lympne | SA | TR114353 | 1916 | 1984 | 1 January 1946 | Industrial Park |
RAF Manston | SA | TR334663 | 1916 | - | 31 March 1999 | Kent International Airport, Defence Fire Training and Development Centre |
RAF Martlesham Heath | SA | TM242454 | 1917 | 1963 | Major British Telecom site. Control Tower Museum – 14.00 to 16.45 each Sunday April until October, 3 Memorials at Barrack Square. see www.mhas.gov.uk or Facebook – Martlesham Heath Aviation Society and Control Tower Museum. | |
RAF Rochford | SA | TQ866308 | 1939 | - | 1946 | Now London Southend Airport |
RAF Stapleford Tawney | SA | TQ491399 | Stapleford Aerodrome | |||
RAF Thorney Island | SA | SU762025 | 1938 | |||
RAF Westhampnett | SA | SU873180 | Goodwood Circuit | |||
RAF West Malling | SA | TQ680555 | 1930 | 1969 | Kings Hill a mixed development of (eventually) around 2,500 homes and 1 million square feet (93,000 m2) of commercial space. |
12 Group defended the Midlands and East Anglia and was led by Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory.
Station name | BoB role | Grid reference | Station opened | Flying ceased | RAF station closed | Current use |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RAF Watnall | HQ | SK 506 454 | 1940 | N/A | Housing / industrial / Nature Reserve [lower-alpha 3] | |
RAF Church Fenton | SS | SE 530 380 | 1 April 1937 | 19 December 2013 | Leeds East Airport | |
RAF Digby | SS | TF 048 560 | ||||
RAF Duxford | SS | TL 458 460 | 1918 | 1961 | Imperial War Museum Duxford | |
RAF Kirton in Lindsey | SS | SK 943 970 | ||||
RAF Wittering | SS | TF 031 027 | 1916 | Expeditionary Engineering and Logistics. Flying training with elements of 3 Flying Training School and 6 Flying Training School. | ||
RAF Collyweston | SA | TF 014 016 | 1916 | 1942 | Merged with the neighbouring RAF Wittering when a 2-mile long grass runway was built linking the two airfields in 1942 | |
RAF Coltishall | SA | TG 270 225 | HM Prison Bure, industrial use, solar farm | |||
RAF Fowlmere | SA | TL 410 447 | 1918 | Fowlmere Airfield | ||
RAF Leconfield | SA | TA 030 435 | Defence School of Transport (part of Defence College of Logistic, Policing, and Administration) | |||
RAF Tern Hill | SA | SJ 640 305 |
13 Group covered the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and was commanded by Air Vice-Marshal Richard Saul.
Station name | BoB role | Grid reference | Station ppened | Flying ceased | RAF station closed | Current use |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RAF Newcastle | HQ | Housing Estate | ||||
RAF Acklington | SS | NU230010 | 1938 | 1972 | HMP Acklington | |
RAF Dyce | SS | Aberdeen Airport | ||||
RAF Turnhouse | SS | NT156734 | 1916 | Edinburgh Airport | ||
RAF Usworth | SS | NZ340585 | 1916 | Factory for Nissan cars | ||
RAF Wick | SS | ND363527 | 1939 | 1978 | Wick Airport | |
RAF Catterick | SA | SE250968 | 1914 | Part of the Catterick Garrison complex. | ||
RAF Drem | SA | NT505810 | 1917 | 1946 | Decommissioned | |
RAF Grangemouth | SA | NS946820 | 1939 | 1945 | ||
RAF Kirkwall | SA | |||||
RAF Sumburgh | SA | Sumburgh Airport | ||||
RAF Castletown | SA | ND220668 | 1940 | 1944 | 1945 |
Royal Air Force Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley is a former airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britain as one of the three RAF stations specifically tasked with the defence of London. It is located near Kenley on the edge of Greater London. The site remains in use with the Ministry of Defence, as Kenley Airfield.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Rodney Park, was a New Zealand-born officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF). During the Second World War, his leadership of the RAF's No. 11 Group was pivotal to the defeat of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain.
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Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby, is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located 13.7 kilometres (8.5 mi) south-west of Horncastle, and 15.8 kilometres (9.8 mi) north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and home to three front-line Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 units, No. 3 Squadron, No. 11 Squadron and No. 12 Squadron. In support of front-line units, No. 29 Squadron is the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit and No. 41 Squadron is the Typhoon Test and Evaluation Squadron. Coningsby is also the home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) which operates a variety of historic RAF aircraft.
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No. 10 Group RAF was a former operations group of the Royal Air Force which participated in the Second World War.
No. 13 Group RAF was a group in the Royal Air Force for various periods in the 20th century. It is most famous for having the responsibility for defending the North of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain.
No. 11 Group is a group in the Royal Air Force first formed in 1918. It had been formed and disbanded for various periods during the 20th century before disbanding in 1996 and reforming again in 2018. Its most famous service was in 1940 in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War, when it defended London and the south-east of the United Kingdom from attacks by the German Luftwaffe. It was reformed in late 2018 as a "multi-domain operations group" to ensure the service thinks and acts in a networked way.
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