Royal Air Force Syerston, commonly known simply as RAF Syerston , is a

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 ...

in the parish of Flintham, near Newark,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England. Opened in 1940, it was used by the

(RAF) as a bomber base 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 ...

, operating

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 ...

Avro Manchester The Avro 679 Manchester was a British twin-engine heavy bomber developed and manufactured by the Avro aircraft company in the United Kingdom. While not being built in great numbers, it was the forerunner of the more famed and more successful ...

s, and the

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

heavy bombers. Post-war, it became home to Jet Provosts of the 2 Flying Training School. It is now home to the Royal Air Force Central Gliding School.

History

Bomber Command

RAF Syerston was built as part of the bomber expansion in the late 1930s, but did not open until 1 December

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

. The first aircraft were

s crewed by Polish flyers who had joined the RAF. In July

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

, they were replaced by members of the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF), flying Handley-Page Hampdens. From December 1941 until 5 May

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

, the base was closed whilst a concrete

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

was built with two T2 hangars. When it re-opened, it became part of No. 5 Group. In 1942, several squadrons of

aircraft arrived. No. 61 Conversion Flight between May and August 1942 with Manchesters and Lancasters and No. 408 Conversion Flight between May and June 1942 used the airfield supporting their respective squadrons. The airfield was used as a Relief Landing Ground for No. 16 (Polish) SFTS during Winter 1942/43 In March

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

Guy Gibson Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, (12 August 1918 – 19 September 1944) was a distinguished bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was the first Commanding Officer of No. 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam ...

was commanding officer of 106 Sqn at Syerston, before he was given the task of forming 617 Sqn – ''The Dambusters'', at

RAF Coningsby Royal Air Force Coningsby or RAF Coningsby , is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located south-west of Horncastle, and north-west of Boston, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is a Main Operating Base of the RAF and h ...

. On 3/4 November 1943, Bill Reid of 61 Squadron was awarded a

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

on a mission flown from Syerston. On 17 November 1943, the operational squadrons departed, and the station was used for bomber crew

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

, led by Captain Robert White. No. 1668 Heavy Conversion Unit joined on 17 November 1943 and became No. 5 Lancaster Finishing School four days later. No. 1485 (Bombing) Gunnery Flight between November 1943 and February 1944. From November 1943 to July 1944, there was also No. 1690 (Bomber) Defence Training Flight in attendance with several Wellingtons,

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

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

s, plus a few Martinet tug aircraft; all employed in brushing up the skills of

air gunner An air gunner or aerial gunner is a member of a military aircrew who operates flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft. Modern aircraft weapons are usually operated automatically without the need for a dedic ...

s on air-to-air exercises. The LFS left on 1 April

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

, with No. 49 Squadron arriving from

RAF Fulbeck Royal Air Force Fulbeck or more simply RAF Fulbeck is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located east of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire and west of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England. The airfield is l ...

later in the month who only had one operation before leaving to RAF Mepal in September. Bomber Command Film Flight Unit between April and October 1945 used the airfield.

Post-war use

On 25 October 1945, the station became part of Transport Command with No. 1668 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF arriving from RAF Leicester East, which stayed until 5 January

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

when it moved to RAF Dishforth. No. 1331 Heavy Transport Conversion Unit reformed here on 15 December 1946 with the Halifax A.7, the unit was disbanded on 5 January 1948. No. 1333 (Transport Support) Conversion Unit arrived October 1945, absorbing No. 1385 Heavy Transport Conversion Unit during July 1946, became No. 1333 Transport Support Training Unit during July 1946 then moved to North Luffenham during January 1948. Syerston was taken over by

Flying Training Command Flying Training Command was an organization of the Royal Air Force; it controlled flight training units. The command's headquarters were at RAF Shinfield Park, Reading in Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal Count ...

on 1 February 1948, when No. 22 Service Flying Training School (22 SFTS) arrived from RAF Ouston, the unit was renamed to No. 22 FTS one day later, the unit trained pilots for the

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the naval aviation component of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy (RN). The FAA is one of five :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, RN fighting arms. it is a primarily helicopter force, though also operating the Lockhee ...

(FAA). Other nearby RAF airfields used for flying circuits were

RAF Newton Royal Air Force Newton or more simply RAF Newton is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and south west of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. It was used briefly as a bomber base for squadron ...

(February 1948 - November 1951) and RAF Tollerton (November 1951 - May 1955). The training school became No. 1 Flying Training School (1 FTS) on 1 May 1955. In November

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

Percival Provost The Percival P.56 Provost is a basic trainer aircraft that was designed and manufactured by British aviation company Hunting Aircraft, Percival. During the 1950s, the Provost was developed for the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a replacement for the ...

s began being used, being replaced by the ( Hunting Percival) Jet Provost in

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

. The flying training school was disbanded on 16 January

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

when the need for pilots had diminished, and the station lay vacant. Syerston was placed under care and maintenance from

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and used as a Relief Landing Ground for RAF College during 1972.

Role and operations

643 VGS joined in October 1992, followed by No. 645 VGS from April 1998 until 2005. Most of the original station buildings were demolished in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

except for two hangars, the

air traffic 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 ai ...

, and one H-block. In January 2014, the Central Gliding School (CGS) and No. 644 Volunteer Gliding Squadron have been based at Syerston. 2014 saw the reformation of No. 2 Flying Training School (2 FTS) at Syerston, along with a permanent home for Headquarters No. 2 Flying Training School (HQ 2 FTS), the Royal Air Force Central Gliding School (RAF CGS), and No. 644 Volunteer Gliding Squadron (644 VGS).

Based units

Notable units based at RAF Syerston. ; No. 22 Group (Training) RAF (22 Grp) * No. 2 Flying Training School (2 FTS) ** Headquarters No. 2 Flying Training School (HQ 1 FTS) ** Central Gliding School (CGS) – Grob Viking T1 ** No. 644 Volunteer Gliding Squadron (644 VGS) – Grob Viking T1

Parented units

Royal Air Force Syerston is parent to four satellite airfields, namely

RAF Kenley Royal Air Force Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley, is a former List of former Royal Air Force stations, station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the Royal Air Force, RAF in the Second World War. It played a significa ...

, RAF Kirknewton,

RAF Topcliffe Royal Air Force Topcliffe or RAF Topcliffe is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in North Yorkshire, England. It was established as a RAF Bomber Command station in 1940. The British Army took over a large part of the s ...

, and RAF Little Rissington.

Historical units

* No. 49 Squadron RAF (22 April 1945 – 28 September 1945) — Avro Lancaster I & III * No. 61 Squadron RAF (5 May 1942 – 17 November 1943) — Avro Lancaster I, II & III * No. 106 Squadron RAF (1 October 1942 – 17 November 1943) — Avro Lancaster I & III * No. 304 (Polish) Squadron RAF (December 1940 – 20 July 1941) —

Vickers Wellington IC Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 1 ...

* No. 305 (Polish) Squadron RAF (December 1940 – 20 July 1941) —

* No. 408 Squadron RCAF (July 1941 – 8 December 1941) —

Handley Page Hampden The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden is a British twin-engine medium bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was part of the trio of large twin-engine bombers procured for the RAF, joining the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Vickers ...

* No. 504 (County of Nottingham) Squadron RAuxAF (May 1946 – April 1947) —

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or " ...

* Four Counties Gliding Club * Loughborough Students Union Gliding Club * Nottingham Air Touring Group * RAF Syerston Flying Club * No. 27 Heavy Glider Maintenance Section * No. 2727 Squadron RAF Regiment

Incidents

On 20 September

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

, the prototype

Avro Vulcan The Avro Vulcan (later Hawker Siddeley Vulcan from July 1963) was a jet-powered, tailless, delta-wing, high-altitude, strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe ...

VX770 crashed during a fly past at RAF Syerston

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 ...

''At Home'' display. A

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

test pilot was authorised to fly VX770 on an engine performance sortie with a fly past at the Battle of Britain display. The briefing was for the pilot to fly over the

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

twice at , flying at a speed of . The Vulcan flew along the main 07/25

(now 06/24 due to magnetic shift), then started a roll to starboard and climbed slightly. Very shortly after, a kink appeared in the starboard mainplane

leading edge The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air;Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil sectio ...

, followed by a stripping of the leading edge of the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

. The starboard wingtip then broke, followed by a collapse of the main spar and wing structure. Subsequently, the Vulcan went into a dive, and began rolling with the starboard wing on fire, and struck the ground at the

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with Airport apron, aprons, hangars, Airport terminal, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as Asphalt concrete, asphalt or concrete, although sma ...

end of runway 07. Three occupants of a controllers' caravan were killed by debris, a fourth being injured. All the crew of the Vulcan were killed. Proposed causes of the accident have included

pilot error In aviation, pilot error generally refers to an action or decision made by a Aircraft pilot#Airline, pilot that is a substantial contributing factor leading to an Aviation accidents and incidents, aviation accident. It also includes a pilot ...

fatigue Fatigue is a state of tiredness (which is not sleepiness), exhaustion or loss of energy. It is a signs and symptoms, symptom of any of various diseases; it is not a disease in itself. Fatigue (in the medical sense) is sometimes associated wit ...

failure, and inadequate

maintenance The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

References

Sources

* * *

External links

RAF Syerston
— official website at www.RAF.MoD.uk
No. 644 Volunteer Gliding Squadron

UK Military Aeronautical Information Publication – Syerston (EGXY)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Syerston, RAF Royal Air Force stations in Nottinghamshire Airports in England