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Royal Air Force Newton or more simply RAF Newton 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 located east of
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, Nottinghamshire and south west of
Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...
, Nottinghamshire, England. It was used briefly as a bomber base for squadrons to re-equip after the Battle of France and then as a flying training school 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 ...
and beyond until 2000.


History


Second World War

Built in 1939, Newton was assigned to No 1 Group in June 1940. On 3 July 1940
No. 103 Squadron RAF No. 103 Squadron was a Royal Air Force bomber squadron during World War I, World War II and the Cold War, switching to helicopters in the late 1950s until it was disbanded for the last time in 1975. History Formation in World War I No. 103 S ...
moved from RAF Honington with their
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 ...
s before changing to 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 ...
IC in October 1940. On 11 July 1941 the squadron moved to RAF Elsham Wolds, also on 3 July 1940 (the same date when 103 Squadron arrived) No. 150 Squadron RAF arrived from
RAF Stradishall Royal Air Force Stradishall or more simply RAF Stradishall is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Haverhill, Suffolk and south west of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. History In his memoirs, Murray Peden, a Royal Can ...
again initially with the Battle before changing to Wellington IA during October 1940 however later in the month the Wellington IC was introduced to the squadron. The squadron left on 10 July 1941 going to RAF Snaith. Newton then became a training base, and for the next five years between July 1941 and December 1946 No. 16 (Polish) Service Flying Training School provided basic and advanced training for Polish airmen serving with the RAF, using RAF Tollerton as a satellite landing ground. The following units were posted to Newton during this time: * Ground Defence Sqn between April and 19 December 1941. * No. 722 Ground Defence Sqn between 19 December 1941 and 1 February 1942. * No. 2722 between 1 February 1942 and unknown. * Detachment, No. 2 Flying Instructors School between 10 September 1943 and 9 February 1944.


Post-war

The station became the headquarters of No 12 Group,
Fighter Command RAF Fighter Command was one of the commands of the Royal Air Force. It was formed in 1936 to allow more specialised control of fighter aircraft. It operated throughout the Second World War, winning fame during the Battle of Britain in 1940. The ...
from 1946 until 1958, when
Technical Training Command The United States Army Air Forces during World War II had major subordinate Commands below the Air Staff level. These Commands were organized along functional missions. One such Command was the Flying Training Command (FTC). It began as Air Cor ...
took over the station for electronic fitters courses. Later the station became the home of the RAF School of Education, who moved from RAF Upwood in 1972, and the RAF Police Training School, who moved from
RAF Debden Royal Air Force Debden or more simply RAF Debden is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located southeast of Saffron Walden and approximately north of the village of Debden, Uttlesford, Debden in north Es ...
in 1974 bringing their gate guardian – a
Hawker Hunter The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet propulsion, jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly dev ...
F1, WT694 (now at Caernarfon Air World) – with them. Both of these units transferred to RAF Halton in the 1990s. The station has been home to the Headquarters Air Cadets (HQAC) (which included the
Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...
, and the RAF Sections of the
Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, sub divided into Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to ...
) which later moved to
RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the RAF Colleg ...
in 1995, the same year, the RAF Police Dog School based there since 1975 was amalgamated with the RAVC to form the Defence Animal Centre (DAC) at Melton Mowbray. The station badge featured the Polish Eagle holding a flaming torch in each talon with the motto "Docemus et Discimus" which translates as "We teach and we learn", reflecting the Polish training role in the Second World War. The station had also become the home of the newly formed Nottingham University College Air Squadron in 1941, providing newly trained pilots for the RAF. During the 1960s Newton was home to an Air Experience Flight of
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk The de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk (or Chippie) is a tandem, two-seat, single-engined primary trainer aircraft designed and developed by Canadian aircraft manufacturer de Havilland Canada. It was developed shortly after the Second World Wa ...
aircraft which were used by local squadrons of the
Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...
and cadets of the RAF Sections of the
Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, sub divided into Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to ...
. The East Midlands
University Air Squadron University Air Squadrons (UAS), are Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve units under the command of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF. That offers training and flight training to university students, with the goal of attracting students into a ca ...
continued flying at Newton, with Scottish Aviation Bulldog aircraft, until moving its flying activities to
RAF Cranwell Royal Air Force Cranwell or more simply RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in Lincolnshire, England, close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. Among other functions, it is home to the RAF Colleg ...
in 2001. In the latter years, civilian-operated Slingsby Fireflies were also based at Newton for basic military training on behalf of RAF Cranwell.


Other units

The following units were posted to Newton during this time: * HQ, No 12 Group between 20 December 1946 and 14 August 1959. * No. 12 Group Communications Flt between December 1946 and 14 August 1959. * No. 47 Gliding School between 1947 and 1 September 1955. * No. 58 Maintenance Unit between 1 April 1947 and 15 May 1950. * Relief Landing Ground for No. 22 SFTS between 1 February 1948 and 15 November 1951. * No. 93 Maintenance Unit between 8 January 1951 and 31 January 1959. * Detachment – 504 Sqn between September 1952 and unknown. * No. 13 Group Communications Flt between 1 June and 1 November 1955. * No. 2 Home Command Gliding Centre between 1 July 1958 and 31 March 1959. * No. 2 Gliding Centre between 31 March and 1 September 1959. * No. 9 School of Technical Training between 1 December 1959 and 17 May 1974. * Nottingham University Air Sqn between June and 1 November 1946 also between 9 June 1947 and 24 November 1967.


Closure

By December 1994, the station was noted by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) as being considered for alternative defence requirements. In June 1995, as part of changes to RAF ground training the MOD announced the relocation of Headquarters Air Cadets from RAF Newton to RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire and the reduction of Newton to an enclave for the East Midlands Universities Air Squadron (EMUAS) and No. 7 Air Experience Flight. The airfield was also used by the Joint Elementary Flying Training School and by the British Army's 73 Engineer Regiment (Volunteers) for vehicle storage. In March 2000 it was announced that RAF Newton would be disposed of. The MOD considered that Newton was under-utilised and relatively costly to operate, concluding that disposal would offer substantial cost savings.


Post-military use

Today the site is a private industrial estate and the buildings are being converted into offices and storage space. The old
control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled a ...
still stands and is being converted into offices; the grass airfield has reverted to agriculture.
Nottinghamshire Police Nottinghamshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the shire county of Nottinghamshire and the unitary authority of Nottingham in the East Midlands area of England. The area has a population of just over 1 million. ...
use parts of the site for public order, method of entry and big police dog training. Outside the former RAF Station main gate, the old
NAAFI The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the United Kingdom, British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their fam ...
building is home to 1936 (Newton) Squadron of the
Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...
, which is currently commanded by Flt Lt David Francis RAFAC, thus creating continued RAF presence to the village since its initial formation during the early years of the Second World War. The abandoned houses on the base were used to film scenes from the film ''
This is England ''This Is England'' is a 2006 British coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows. Its plot centres on young skinheads in England in 1983, illustrating how their subculture became influenced by far-right politics. The f ...
''. It has also been used for the television series '' Robot Wars'' during the 6th series on the BBC and after it transferred to the commercial UK channel Five. The site is located within Nottingham's
Green Belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...
. Proposals for building a large number of homes on-site are well developed with at least 550 earmarked for the former base site.


Radioactive contamination

The RAF Newton site is, according to the Ministry of Defence, contaminated with
radium Radium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in alkaline earth metal, group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, ...
MoD reveals 15 radioactive UK sites
.
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
. (20 December 2011).
MoD loses battle to block radioactive waste contamination report
.
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
. (14 May 2014).
Comare report on radioactive contamination of military sites in the UK
. Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment. (14 May 2014).
Radioactive waste under ex-lolRAF base where Notts homes could go up
.
Nottingham Post The ''Nottingham Post'' (formerly the ''Nottingham Evening Post'') is an English tabloid newspaper which serves Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. The ''Post'' is published Monday to Saturday ...
. (June 16, 2012).
that was used to coat the dials of aircraft and other equipment so that they could be seen in the dark. It was in scrap burned and dumped in the 1940s and 1950s, and remains radioactive for thousands of years.


See also

*
List of former Royal Air Force stations This list of former RAF stations includes most of the stations, airfields and administrative headquarters previously used by the Royal Air Force. They are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the duration of ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* *


External links


No. 5 Group history



History of 103 Squadron RAF 1917 - 1975
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton Royal Air Force stations in Nottinghamshire 1939 establishments in England 2000 disestablishments in England