Royal Air Force Bramcote or more simply RAF Bramcote is a former

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 located south-east of Nuneaton,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, England used during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It later became HMS Gamecock and then Gamecock Barracks.

Royal Air Force operations

The airfield was built by John Laing & Son Ltd in the late 1930s. The first unit to use the airfield was No. 215 Squadron RAF which arrived on 10 September 1939 with the

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its ...

and the

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 (RCA ...

before leaving on 8 April 1940. The next unit to use the station was No. 18 (Polish) Operational Training Unit (OTU) flying the

which arrived from RAF Hucknall during June 1940. The unit used

RAF Bitteswell Royal Air Force Bitteswell or more simply RAF Bitteswell is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located west of Lutterworth, Leicestershire and north of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Construction of the grass airfield at RAF Bittesw ...

and RAF Nuneaton as satellites between February 1942 and February 1943. However soon after this the OTU moved to

RAF Finningley 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 ...

during March 1943. During the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron was formed at the airfield on 1 July 1940 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 ...

I before moving to

RAF Swinderby 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 Swind ...

on 22 August 1940 accompanied by

No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron "Land of Pomerania" ( pl, 301 Dywizjon Bombowy "Ziemi Pomorskiej") was a Polish World War II bomber (1940-1943) and special duties squadron (1944-1946), belonging to Polish Air Forces in Great Britain. It fought alo ...

which formed 21 days later and left for Swinderby 6 days later on 28 August. These squadrons were replaced by No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron and No. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron which formed at the airfield during August 1940 flying Battle I's and switched to

IC's during November 1940 before moving to

RAF Syerston Royal Air Force Station Syerston, commonly known as merely RAF Syerston , is a Royal Air Force station in the parish of Flintham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire. Opened in 1940, it was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber base during t ...

on 2 December 1940. No. 151 Squadron RAF moved in on 28 November 1940 with the

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

with a detachment going to

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire i ...

. On 22 December 1940 the unit moved to Wittering to equip with the

Boulton Paul Defiant The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter", without any fixed forward-firing guns ...

I. Sometime in 1941 No. 1513 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF arrived using

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery roles throughout the Seco ...

s and after five years the unit moved out. During April 1943 No. 105 (Transport) Operational Training Unit formed at the airfield flying

s, which were supplemented with

Douglas Dakota The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

s in March 1945. Between November 1944 and July 1945 Bitteswell was used as a satellite providing some relief for the busy station before the unit was renamed 1381 (T) Conversion Unit in August 1945 and moved out to RAF Desborough. The gap was somewhat filled by 1510 BAT Flight using the Oxford who arrived during July 1946. However, after four months the flight moved out. With the airfield being transferred to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

being renamed HMS Gamecock.

Royal Navy operations

RNAS Bramcote was given the ships name HMS Gamecock following RN normal practice and it was used by flying units of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve between August 1947 and October 1957. The first unit to be based was 1833 Naval Air Squadron equipped with Supermarine Seafire fighters. Initially the Seafire F15 and F.17 were used, but from June 1952, the unit became the only RNVR squadron to be equipped with the Seafire FR.47, fitted with contra-rotating propellers. These were replaced by the

Hawker Sea Fury The Hawker Sea Fury is a British fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. It was the last propeller-driven fighter to serve with the Royal Navy, and one of the fastest production single reciprocating engine aircraft ...

FB.11 in February 1954. The jet-powered

Supermarine Attacker The Supermarine Attacker is a British single-seat naval jet fighter designed and produced by aircraft manufacturer Supermarine for the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA). The type has the distinction of being the first jet fighter to enter oper ...

was received in October 1955, and because these required better runway facilities, the squadron then moved to nearby

RAF Honiley Royal Air Force Honiley or RAF Honiley is a former Royal Air Force station located in Wroxall, Warwickshire, southwest of Coventry, England. The station closed in March 1958, and after being used as a motor vehicle test track, it has been sub ...

. The Midland Air Division was formed on 1 July 1953 to control Bramcote-based squadrons. 1844 Naval Air Squadron formed at Bramcote on 15 February 1954, being equipped with

Fairey Firefly The Fairey Firefly is a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft that was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was developed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Avia ...

AS.6 anti-submarine aircraft.

Grumman Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval a ...

AS.5 aircraft replaced the Fireflies in March 1956. Both squadrons ceased to exist on 10 March 1957 when all of the United Kingdom's reserve flying units were disbanded as an economy measure. In 1959 the airfield was transferred to the British Army as Gamecock Barracks.

Units and aircraft

* No. 151 Squadron RAF (1940) Hawker Hurricane I then

. * No. 215 Squadron RAF (1939)

I. * No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron (1940)

. *

(1940)

. * No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron (1940)

then

IC. * No. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron (1940)

then

IC. * No. 18 Operational Training Unit RAF (1940–1943)

and

* No. 1 Air Traffic School (November 1945 - April 1946) * No. 1 School of Air Movement * Detachment from No. 6 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF (February 1941) * No. 17 Air Crew Holding Unit * No. 42 Gliding School RAF (January 1947 - November 1949) * No. 1381 (Transport) Conversion Unit RAF (August - November 1945) * No. 1510 (BABS) Flight RAF (July - November 1946) *

No. 1513 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF This is a List of Beam Approach beacon system Units of the Royal Air Force. The first system to guide RAF aircraft safely down onto a runway was called the Standard Blind Approach (SBA) system and was trialled in the late 1930s. It was also being ...

(September 1945 - May 1946 & October - December 1946) * No. 2735 Squadron RAF Regiment * Oxford Test Flight (December 1945 - July 1946) * Squadron & Flight Commanders School (November 1945 - April 1946) * Transport Command Air Crew Examining Unit * Transport Command Examining Unit * Transport Command Initial Conversion Unit (July - October 1946)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Control Towers - RAF Bramcote
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bramcote Military history of Poland during World War II Royal Air Force stations in Warwickshire Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom