RAF Bawtry

Last updated

RAF Bawtry
Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
Bawtry, South Yorkshire in England
Bawtry Hall, East side (geograph 3482406).jpg
East side of Bawtry Hall
South Yorkshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
RAF Bawtry
Shown within South Yorkshire
Coordinates 53°25′43″N1°01′21″W / 53.4286°N 1.0226°W / 53.4286; -1.0226 Coordinates: 53°25′43″N1°01′21″W / 53.4286°N 1.0226°W / 53.4286; -1.0226
Site information
Owner Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
Operator Royal Air Force
Controlled by RAF Bomber Command
RAF Strike Command
Site history
Built1785 (1785)
In use1941–1986
Garrison information
Past
commanders		 David Parry-Evans
(AOC 1 Gp 1982) [1]

Royal Air Force Bawtry or more simply RAF Bawtry is a former Royal Air Force station located at Bawtry Hall in Bawtry, South Yorkshire, England and was No. 1 Group RAF Bomber Command headquarters and administration unit during and following the Second World War.

Contents

The site is currently being used as a Luxury Wedding Venue, working with the Crown Hotel in Bawtry

History

Bawtry Hall itself is a large redbrick house in two storeys with attics which was erected around 1785 by Pemberton Milnes, a prosperous wool-merchant from Wakefield, Yorkshire. It descended in the Milnes family for several generations before being sold to Major George Peake, a well-known amateur pilot, in 1905. It is a Grade II* listed building. [2]

During the Second World War the RAF took it over and it became an RAF command centre. RAF Bawtry did not have its own airfield but instead took advantage of RAF Bircotes, which was located nearby. Here the station based a number of communications aircraft. [3]

Bawtry Hall served the Royal Air Force from 1941–1984; first as HQ for No. 1 Group, Bomber Command during and after the Second World War, then as HQ No. 1 Group as part of Strike Command up to and including the later stages of the Cold War. The famous bombing of the airfield at Port Stanley by Vulcan bombers from RAF Waddington during the Falklands War was co-ordinated from the operations room at Bawtry Hall. [4]

RAF Bawtry became the centre of the RAF Meteorological Service for many years [5] and ceased military operations in 1986. [6] In June 1987 Bawtry Hall was purchased by The Welbeck Estate Group.

No. 1 Group Bomber Command units based at RAF Bawtry comprised as follows: –

Airfield .SquadronAircraft TypeNumber of Aircraft .
RAF Elsham Wolds 103 Sqn Avro Lancaster I and III17
RAF Elsham Wolds 576 SqnLancaster I and III8
RAF Kirmington 166 SqnLancaster I and III23
RAF Ingham 300 (Polish) Sqn Vickers Wellington X23
RAF Ingham 300 (Polish) SqnLancaster I and III0 – Re-equipping
RAF Wickenby 12 SqnLancaster I and III16
RAF Wickenby 626 SqnLancaster I and III14
RAF Grimsby 100 SqnLancaster I and III18
RAF Grimsby 550 SqnLancaster I and III7
RAF Ludford Magna 101 SqnLancaster I and III22
RAF Binbrook 460 Sqn RAAFLancaster I and III27
RAF Kelstern 625 Sqn RAAFLancaster I and III17

+data from: [7]

During the Miners' Strike in the mid-1980s, police officers were based at RAF Bawtry to provide a central Operations and co-ordination point on the South Yorkshire / Nottinghamshire border. [8]

Present

The Air Training Corps 2008 Squadron is still located at the former site on Park Road in Bawtry, in a new building that replaced the former ones. [9]

It was sold by Defence Estates in the mid 1980s to a Roger Byron-Collins company who owned Bawtry Hall for 3 years together with the nearby technical and domestic site at RAF Hemswell and the post war married quarters sites at RAF Finningley and RAF Scampton. Later the building was bought by Action Partners Corporation, a Christian organisation, and has been used as teaching and conference centre for the past 24 years. [4]

The trustees had taken the decision to close the hall on 31 December 2013 and a buyer was being actively sought. [10] The hall was sold in 2014 for £1.6 million to Bawtry Hall properties who would be moving various video gaming enterprises into the building. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bawtry</span> Market town in South Yorkshire, England

Bawtry is a market town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It lies 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Doncaster, 10 miles (16 km) west of Gainsborough and 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Retford, on the border with Nottinghamshire and close to Lincolnshire. The town is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Its population of 3,204 in the 2001 UK census increased to 3,573 in 2011, and was put at 3,519 in 2019. Nearby settlements include Austerfield, Everton, Scrooby, Blyth, Bircotes and Tickhill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Dishforth</span> Former Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Dishforth or more simply RAF Dishforth is a former Royal Air Force station near to Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. Opened in 1936, the base was used as a bomber airfield during the Second World War with both British and Canadian squadrons flying missions from the airfield. After the war, the base was used by various squadrons and training units before being disposed of in 1992 and handed over to the Army Air Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Finningley</span> Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Finningley or RAF Finningley was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The station straddled the historic county boundaries of both Nottinghamshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Swinderby</span> Former Royal Air Force base in Lincolnshire, England

Royal Air Force Swinderby or more simply RAF Swinderby was a Royal Air Force station airfield opened in 1940, one of the last of the stations completed under the RAF's expansion plans started in the 1930s. It was built near the village of Swinderby, Lincolnshire just off the south east side of the A46 between Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire and Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Middleton St George</span> Former military airfield now in civilian use

RAF Middleton St George is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Bomber Command station during the Second World War. It was located in County Durham, 6 mi (9.7 km) east of Darlington, England. The station's motto was Shield and Deter. The aerodrome remains active as Teesside International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Wombleton</span> Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Wombleton or RAF Wombleton is a former Royal Air Force sub-station located 3.8 miles (6.1 km) east of Helmsley, North Yorkshire and 11.8 miles (19 km) north-east of Easingwold, North Yorkshire, England.

Royal Air Force Carnaby or more simply RAF Carnaby is a former Royal Air Force emergency landing strip that offered crippled bombers a safe place to land near the English coast during the Second World War. It was situated 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Hemswell</span> Former RAF station in Lincolnshire, England

Royal Air Force Hemswell or more simply RAF Hemswell is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located 7.8 miles (12.6 km) east of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England.

Royal Air Force Bircotes or more simply RAF Bircotes is a former Royal Air Force satellite airfield located within South Yorkshire, England. Although it was named after the village of Bircotes which is in Nottinghamshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Lindholme</span> Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Lindholme or more simply RAF Lindholme is a former Royal Air Force station in South Yorkshire, England. It was located 3.9 miles (6.3 km) south of Thorne and 6.9 miles (11.1 km) north east of Doncaster and was initially called RAF Hatfield Woodhouse.

Royal Air Force Sandtoft or more simply RAF Sandtoft is a former Royal Air Force station in North Lincolnshire between Doncaster, South Yorkshire and Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Elsham Wolds</span>

Royal Air Force Elsham Wolds or more simply RAF Elsham Wolds is a former Royal Air Force station in England, which operated in the First World War and the Second World War. It is located just to the north east of the village of Elsham in north Lincolnshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF North Killingholme</span> Airport in Lincolnshire, England

Royal Air Force North Killingholme or more simply RAF North Killingholme is a former Royal Air Force station located immediately west of the village of North Killingholme in North Lincolnshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Skipton-on-Swale</span> Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force station Skipton-on-Swale or more simply RAF Skipton-on-Swale is a former Royal Air Force station operated by RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War. The station was located at Skipton-on-Swale 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England. The village of Sandhutton is located just to the east. RAF Skipton-on-Swale was a sub-station of RAF Leeming.

Royal Air Force Full Sutton or RAF Full Sutton is a former Royal Air Force station located 2 miles (3.2 km) south east of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire and 4.7 miles (7.6 km) north west of Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The base did not open until May 1944, and so was the last airfield built for Bomber Command.

Royal Air Force Firbeck or more simply RAF Firbeck is a former Royal Air Force station located west of Firbeck, South Yorkshire, England.

Royal Air Force Doncaster or more simply RAF Doncaster, also referred to as Doncaster Aerodrome, is a former Royal Air Force station near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RAF Cottam</span> Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Cottam or more simply RAF Cottam is a former Royal Air Force satellite airfield near Cottam in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England and 3.9 miles (6.3 km) north west of Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire. The airfield was used only occasionally for flying, mostly being utilised as a bomb storage site.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Douglas-Home, Charles, ed. (13 December 1982). "Appointments in the Forces". The Times. No. 61413. p. 14. ISSN   0140-0460.
  2. ↑ Historic England. "BAWTRY HALL (1151550)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  3. ↑ Halpenny 1981, p. 47.
  4. 1 2 "Bawtry Hall played an important role in history". Retford Guardian. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 Bateman, Stephanie (27 March 2014). "Bawtry treasure sold for £1.6 million". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Magnificent Bawtry Hall '" its history and timeline". Doncaster Free Press. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  7. ↑ "Bases of Bomber Command Then and Now". After the Battle. Archived from the original on 17 September 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
  8. ↑ Dowden, Richard; Bevins, Anthony (5 July 1984). "Havers joins police cash fight". The Times. No. 61875. p. 1. ISSN   0140-0460.
  9. ↑ "Bircotes and Bawtry". Abandoned, forgotten and little known airfields in Europe. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  10. ↑ "Bawtry Hall Closure Plans". Action Partners Corporation. Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2013.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.