Royal Air Force Bramcote, or more simply RAF Bramcote, 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 Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

located south-east of

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire to the north-east.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, England used during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was later transferred to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

and was known as Royal Naval Air Station Bramcote, (RNAS Bramcote), and when commissioned became HMS ''Gamecock''. When it subsequently transferred to the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

from the Admiralty, it was called

Gamecock Barracks Gamecock Barracks is a British Army installation located at Bramcote, south-east of Nuneaton in Warwickshire. History The barracks was established on the site of the former RAF Bramcote airbase in 1959. It was named after HMS ''Gamecock'', the ...

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 No. 215 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron formed as a night bomber squadron in the First and Second World Wars, becoming a transport squadron near the end of the Second World War. History ;First World War No. 215 Squadron was ...

which arrived on 10 September 1939 with the

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is 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 t ...

and the

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engine, 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), R ...

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 Hucknall Aerodrome was a former general aviation and RAF aerodrome located north north-west of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, and west of Hucknall town. The aerodrome had been operated by the Merlin Flying Club since 1971 and then by ...

during June 1940. The unit used RAF Bitteswell 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 more simply RAF Finningley is a former 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 bo ...

during March 1943. During the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () 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 defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

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 Ha ...

I before moving to

RAF Swinderby Royal Air Force Swinderby or more simply RAF Swinderby is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station airfield opened in 1940, one of the last of the stations completed under the RAF's expansion plans started in th ...

on 22 August 1940 accompanied by No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron 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 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 by ...

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 ...

. 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" to meet the RAF requirement for day and ...

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 Ltd, Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training Commonwealth of Nations, British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombin ...

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 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. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

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 Royal Air Force Desborough or more simply RAF Desborough is a former Royal Air Force station located near Desborough, Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in t ...

. 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 naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

being renamed HMS Gamecock.

Royal Navy operations

On 1 December 1946 the airbase was transferred from No. 4 Group RAF to the

, and then known as Royal Naval Air Station Bramcote, (RNAS Bramcote). A couple of days later, on 3 December, it was commissioned as HMS ''Gamecock''. RNAS Bramcote was given the

ships A ship is a large vessel that travels the world's oceans and other navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, ...

name HMS ''Gamecock'' following normal Royal Navy practice and it was used by flying units of the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

between August 1947 and October 1957. The first unit to be based was 1833 Naval Air Squadron which was equipped with

Supermarine Seafire The Supermarine Seafire is a naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter adapted for operation from aircraft carriers. It was analogous in concept to the Hawker Hurricane variants#Sea Hurricanes, Hawker Sea Hurricane, a navalised aircraft ...

, a

navalised A navalised aircraft (or navalized aircraft) is an aircraft that has been specifically designed for naval use, in some cases as a variant of a land-based design. An aircraft based on an aircraft carrier is called carrier-based aircraft. Characte ...

version of the

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

single engine fighter aircraft. Initially the F15 and F17 variants of Supermarine Seafire were used, but from June 1952, the unit became the only RNVR squadron to be equipped with the Supermarine Seafire FR47 version, which was fitted with contra-rotating propellers. These were replaced by

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. Developed during the Second World War, the Sea Fury entered service two year ...

FB.11, a single-seat fighter aircraft, 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). It was the first jet fighter to enter operational service with the FAA.Bing ...

single-seat fighter aircraft 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 was subject ...

. 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 Aviation ...

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 av ...

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.