Royal Air Force Alconbury or more simply RAF Alconbury is an active

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 near

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cr ...

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 ...

. The airfield is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

The Stukeleys The Stukeleys is a civil parish in the district of Huntingdonshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, consisting of the villages of Great Stukeley and Little Stukeley, and the new settlement of Alconbury Weald being built on the old RAF Alconbury site. ...

, close to the villages of

Great Stukeley Great Stukeley is a village north-west of Huntingdon. Great Stukeley is in Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as a historic county of England. It lies on the old Roman road of Ermine Street. The E ...

Little Stukeley Little Stukeley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of The Stukeleys, in Cambridgeshire, England. Little Stukeley lies approximately north-west of Huntingdon. Little Stukeley is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a no ...

, and

Alconbury Alconbury is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Alconbury is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as being an historic county of England. Alconbury lies approximately ...

. Flying operations are no longer based at the site, with most of the land, including the runway, having been sold in 2009 to become the new settlement of

Alconbury Weald Alconbury Weald is a new settlement in Cambridgeshire, England, lying to the north-west of the town of Huntingdon. The site was previously part of RAF Alconbury, with planning permission for the first phase of the new settlement being granted in ...

History

Opened in 1938 for use by

RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...

, the station has been used from 1942 by the

United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War I ...

. It was occupied by the 93d Bomb Group of the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forc ...

: visitors included

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

who visited the site and saw the

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Thea ...

es there on 13 November 1942. It was announced by

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

on 8 January 2015 that RAF Alconbury and

RAF Molesworth Royal Air Force Molesworth or more simply RAF Molesworth is a Royal Air Force station located near Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, England with a history dating back to 1917. Its runway and flight line facilities were closed in 1973 and demolished ...

would be closing by 2020. Most of the units at Alconbury and Molesworth will be moved to RAF Croughton, along with the personnel. However, changing security conditions in Europe and resurgent politico-military moves by Russia have caused USEUCOM to begin reconsidering these closure actions in 2017 and actual closures remain in flux.

Royal Air Force use

* 15 Squadron from 15 April 1940 to 15 May 1940 operating the

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

IV - temporary move from

RAF Wyton Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now home to the Joint Forces Intelligence Group. History Flying station Wyton has b ...

. * 40 Squadron from 2 February 1941 to 31 October 1941 operating the Vickers Wellington IC - moved to RAF Luqa, Malta. * 52 Squadron detachments from

RAF Upwood 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. It was a non-flying station which was under the control of the United Sta ...

during 1939 with the

Fairey Battle The Fairey Battle is a British single-engine light bomber that was designed and manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company. It was developed during the mid-1930s for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a monoplane successor to the Hawker Hart and ...

and

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ...

. * 156 Squadron formed at Alconbury on 14 February 1942 from elements of 40 Squadron with the Vickers Wellington, moved to

RAF Warboys RAF Warboys is a former Royal Air Force heavy bomber station, situated just outside the village of Warboys in Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire). History During the early years of the war, Warboys was a relatively conventional bomber statio ...

in August 1942. * A Detachment from

No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (or 1 PRU) was a flying unit of the Royal Air Force, first formed in 1940. History On 24 September 1939, the Royal Air Force formally took over the "Heston Flight", a civilian photo reconnaissance unit h ...

(April 1985) * No. 3 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAF (1941) * No. XV Conversion Flight (January 1942 - May 1942) * Sub site of No. 264 Maintenance Unit RAF (November 1945 - September 1948)

USAAF use

* 92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy) ** 325th Bombardment Squadron ** 326th Bombardment Squadron **

327th Bombardment Squadron The 327th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4170th Strategic Wing, stationed at Larson Air Force Base, Washington. It was inactivated on 1 February 1963. History World War II Activ ...

** 407th Bombardment Squadron *

93rd Bombardment Group The 93d Air Ground Operations Wing (93d AGOW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command, Ninth Air Force. It is stationed as a tenant unit at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. The wing directs the 3d Air Support Operations ...

(Heavy) ** 328th Bombardment Squadron **

329th Bombardment Squadron 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

** 330th Bombardment Squadron **

409th Bombardment Squadron 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

* 95th Bombardment Group (Heavy) **

334th Bombardment Squadron The 334th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 95th Bombardment Wing at Biggs Air Force Base, Texas, where it was inactivated on 25 June 1966. The squadron was first activated in June 194 ...

** 335th Bombardment Squadron ** 336th Bombardment Squadron ** 412th Bombardment Squadron * 482nd Bombardment Group (Provisional) ** 812th Bombardment Squadron ** 813th Bombardment Squadron ** 814th Bombardment Squadron * 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) ** 36th Bombardment Squadron **

406th Bombardment Squadron 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

788th Bombardment Squadron The 788th Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. During World War II, as the 788th Bombardment Squadron, it was assigned to the 467th Bombardment Group as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator squadron in 1943. After t ...

** 850th Bombardment Squadron

United States Air Force use

10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing The 10th Air Base Wing (10 ABW) is a non-flying United States Air Force unit that is the host wing for the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Wing provides all base-level support activities to the Academy ...

(1959-94) * 85th Bombardment Squadron ? * 527th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor Squadron (1976-88)

Based units

Units based at RAF Alconbury. ; United States Air Force

United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(USAFE-AFAFRICA) *

501st Combat Support Wing The 501st Combat Support Wing (501 CSW) is an administrative support wing of the United States Air Force, based at RAF Alconbury, United Kingdom. It is one of three wings located in the United Kingdom as components of the Third Air Force and Uni ...

** Headquarters 501st Combat Support Wing **

423rd Air Base Group The 423rd Air Base Group (423 ABG) is a United States Air Force unit located at RAF Alconbury near the town of Huntingdon in the United Kingdom. Its mission is to support operations at RAF Alconbury and the nearby base of RAF Molesworth. Its p ...

*** 423rd Civil Engineer Squadron *** 423rd Communications Squadron *** 423rd Force Support Squadron *** 423rd Medical Squadron *** 423rd Security Forces Squadron

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *

External links

501st Combat Support Wing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alconbury Royal Air Force stations in Huntingdonshire Royal Air Force stations in Cambridgeshire 1938 establishments in England Installations of the United States Air Force in the United Kingdom Airfields of the VIII Bomber Command in Cambridgeshire Military airbases established in 1938 Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom