RAF Stanmore Park | |
---|---|
Located within Stanmore, Middlesex in England | |
Coordinates | 51°36′51″N0°19′03″W / 51.614167°N 0.3175°W Coordinates: 51°36′51″N0°19′03″W / 51.614167°N 0.3175°W |
Type | Disestablished Military Administration Headquarters (Non Flying) |
Site information | |
Owner | Air Ministry |
Operator | Royal Air Force |
Controlled by | RAF Fighter Command RAF Balloon Command |
Condition | Now converted to private housing. One former RAF building is retained by No. 2236 (Air Cadets) Squadron |
Site history | |
Built | 1938 |
In use | 1939–1997 |
Battles/wars | Battle of Britain July – October 1940 Air Offensive, Europe 1942–1945 Cold War 1946–1991 |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | No. 11 Group RAF |
Royal Air Force Stanmore Park or more simply RAF Stanmore Park is a former Royal Air Force station in Stanmore, Middlesex (now the London Borough of Harrow).
The unit was opened in 1939 and closed in 1997. In 1939 RAF Balloon Command was established at Stanmore Park. The unit was built on the grounds of Stanmore Hall that was purchased by the Air Ministry in 1938 and the hall was demolished during the station development programme. [1]
RAF Stanmore Park formed part of No 11 Group, which was originally at RAF Uxbridge and then transferred to nearby RAF Bentley Priory until its closure. The station closed in April 1997, [2] with housing built on much of the site. One building was retained for the use of 2236 Air Training Corps The building currently in use is the converted / extended NAAFI building which was between the Married Quarters and Junior Ranks Mess. The Community Centre now houses Army Youth Services, Nursery School, a Mums and Tots group and 2236 ATC Sqn. A number of activities now take place at the centre when not in use by these organisations.
Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at 152 metres (499 ft) high. The district, which developed from the ancient Middlesex parishes of Great and Little Stanmore, lies immediately west of Roman Watling Street and forms the eastern part of the modern London Borough of Harrow.
Royal Air Force Halton, or more simply RAF Halton, is one of the largest Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom. It is located near the village of Halton near Wendover, Buckinghamshire. The site has been in use since the First World War but is due to close by 2025.
Royal Air Force Burtonwood is a former Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces base that was located in Burtonwood, 2 miles (3.2 km) Northwest of Warrington in Cheshire, England. The base was opened in 1940 in response to World War II by the RAF and in 1942 it was transferred to the United States of America for war operations. The base was home to 18,000 American servicemen at the end of the war. In 1946 the base was transferred back to the United Kingdom however United States operations continued. The base officially closed in 1991 and since then the runway and most of the associated buildings have been demolished. RAF Burtonwood Heritage Centre was opened on part of the former base and focuses on the lives of the servicemen, the war and the airplanes at the base.
RAF Bentley Priory was a non-flying Royal Air Force station near Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow. It was the headquarters of Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain and throughout the Second World War. During the war, two enemy bombs destroyed a wooden hut near the married quarters, a blast from a V-1 flying bomb broke a few windows, the windows in the Officers' Mess were shattered by a V-2 rocket, and a Vickers Wellington crashed outside the Sergeants' Mess.
RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG), elements of Defence Equipment and Support, and the Signals Museum. It formerly hosted light aircraft flying and 616 Volunteer Gliding Squadron. The Ministry of Defence announced on 6 September 2016 that the base is set to be closed following a consultation.
RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a 44.6-hectare (110-acre) site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three years before the founding of the RAF. Until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the station was open to the public.
RAF Kai Tak was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Hong Kong, based at Kai Tak Airport. It was opened in 1927 and used for seaplanes. The RAF flight operated a few land based aircraft as well as having spare aircraft for naval units.
RAF Carlisle was a Royal Air Force establishment, now closed after being used for a variety of roles over a period of fifty eight years and formerly located 2 mi (3.2 km) north of Carlisle city centre in Cumbria, England.
Royal Air Force Hooton Park or more simply RAF Hooton Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, is a former Royal Air Force station originally built for the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 as a training aerodrome for pilots in the First World War. During the early/mid-1930s, it was one of the two airfields handling scheduled services for the Merseyside region. Hooton Park was home to No. 610 Squadron and, post Second World War, to No. 611 and No. 663 (AOP) Squadron.
RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air Forces, and the Air Transport Auxiliary were also stationed at the airfield.
Bicester Aerodrome, formerly RAF Bicester, is an airfield on the outskirts of the English town of Bicester in Oxfordshire. Dating back to 1916, this military airfield is notable as the location of the first flight of the prototype Handley Page Halifax in 1939 and was later the home of No. 71 Maintenance Unit, RAF ; the RAF finally left in 2004.
RAF Little Rissington is an RAF aerodrome and RAF station in Gloucestershire, England. It was once home to the Central Flying School, the Vintage Pair and the Red Arrows.
Royal Air Force Upwood or more simply RAF Upwood is a former Royal Air Force station adjacent to the village of Upwood, Cambridgeshire, England, in the United Kingdom.
RAF Yatesbury is a former Royal Air Force airfield near the village of Yatesbury, Wiltshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) east of the town of Calne. It was an important training establishment in the First and Second World Wars, and until its closure in 1965. For a time in the 1950s, part of the site became RAF Cherhill.
Royal Air Force Hethel or more simply RAF Hethel is a former Royal Air Force station which was used by both the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. The airfield is located 7 miles (11 km) south west of Norwich, Norfolk, England and is now owned by Lotus Cars.
RAF Bridgnorth was a Royal Air Force Station, created after the outbreak of World War II on 6 November 1939, at Stanmore, to the east of Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England. However, as RAF Stanmore Park already existed in Middlesex, it was named RAF Bridgnorth. Although during its existence various static aeroplanes were displayed as Gate Guardians, RAF Bridgnorth never had a runway.
Project MoDEL is a project run for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) by the ministry's Defence Infrastructure Organisation and VSM Estates, a joint venture established between Vinci PLC and St. Modwen Properties to bid for the contract. The project involves the consolidation and sale of surplus Ministry of Defence properties around Greater London into around £180m of new developments at RAF Northolt. A total of 80% of the existing buildings at RAF Northolt were demolished and replaced by the newly built facilities.
Royal Air Force Barton Hall or more simply RAF Barton Hall is a former Royal Air Force station situated between the villages of Barton and Broughton, near Preston, Lancashire, England.
Royal Air Force Kirton in Lindsey or more simply RAF Kirton in Lindsey is a former Royal Air Force station located 15 miles (24 km) north of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.
RAF Belton Park was established in 1942 as the Royal Air Force Regiment Depot, for training RAF Regiment personnel in airfield defence. Belton Park is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the centre of Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. The site of the Depot was on farmland on the opposite side of Londonthorpe Lane from the Park.