Royal Air Force Sydenham or more simply RAF Sydenham is a former
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
station in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. In the 1970s it was the main servicing base for
Blackburn Buccaneer
The Blackburn Buccaneer is a British aircraft carrier, carrier-capable attack aircraft designed in the 1950s for the Royal Navy (RN). Designed and initially produced by Blackburn Aircraft at Brough Aerodrome, Brough, it was later officially k ...
aircraft, employing 650 civilian workers.
[Northern Ireland Committee of Irish Congress of Trade Unions, "The Defence Stations in Northern Ireland: The Case for Retention", March 1976]
History
The following units were posted here at some point:
;Royal Air Force
*
No. 88 Squadron RAF
*
No. 226 Squadron RAF
No. 226 Squadron RAF was a unit of the British Royal Air Force that existed as a bomber squadron during the First and Second World Wars, and as part of the UK's nuclear ballistic missile force in the early 1960s.
Squadron history
First formed o ...
;Units
*
No. 3 Civilian Fighter Control Co-operation Unit RAF (March 1957 – June 1958)
* Detachment of
No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (1943)
*
No. 8 Ferry Pilots Pool ATA (March 1941 – May 1942) became
No. 8 Ferry Pool ATA (May 1942 – August 1945)
*
No. 13 Air Experience Flight RAF
*
No. 23 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF (September 1939)
*
No. 24 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF (January – September 1939) became
No. 24 Elementary Flying Training School RAF (September 1939 – February 1942)
*
No. 75 (Bomber) Wing RAF (June 1940 & February – April 1941) became
No. 31 Wing RAF (April – June 1941)
*
No. 79 Wing Calibration Flight RAF
*
No. 203 Gliding School RAF (September 1949 – November 1952)
* Detachment of
No. 1480 (Anti-Aircraft Co-operation) Flight RAF (September 1942)
*
No. 1494 (Target Towing) Flight RAF (April 1942 – April 1943)
*
Belfast University Air Squadron (January – May 1941) became
Queens University Air Squadron (May 1941 – December 1945 & March 1947 – January 1992)
*
RAF Northern Ireland Communication Flight RAF (October 1940 – October 1942 & December 1945 – December 1946)
Current use
The site is now
George Best Belfast City Airport
Belfast City Airport, officially George Best Belfast City Airport , is an international airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Belfast Harbour and is from Belfast City Centre. It shares the si ...
.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
External links
Northern Ireland base closes ''
Flight International
''Flight International'', formerly ''Flight'', is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", i ...
'', 15 April 1978, v. 113, no. 3604, p. 1035.
{{Royal Naval Air Stations
Sydenham Sydenham may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Sydenham railway station, Sydney
* Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...