Gweru-Thornhill Air Base is one of the two main air bases of the

Air Force of Zimbabwe The Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) is the air force of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. It was known as the Rhodesian Air Force until 1980. The Air Force of Zimbabwe saw service in the Mozambican Civil War in 1985 and the Second Congo War of 1998– ...

located near the central city of

Gweru Gweru, originally known as Gwelo, is a city in central Zimbabwe. It is on the centre of Midlands Province. Originally an area known to the Ndebele as "The Steep Place" because of the Gweru River's high banks, in 1894 it became the site of a m ...

. The airbase is home to air force fighter squadrons and the Pilot Training School. According to ''Janes Defence Weekly'' of 6 September 2006, a US$41.5m simulation center was being established. A range of amenities and services, which include workshops, transport fleets, equipment depots, and accommodation, sporting and entertainment facilities, support the base. It is home to these squadrons: * No. 2 Squadron (Cobra) - for advanced jet training and close air support. Operates 12 K-8s. * No. 4 Squadron (Hornet) - equipped with Cessna FTB337G and

O-2A The Cessna O-2 Skymaster (nicknamed "Oscar Deuce") is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster, used for forward air control (FAC) and psychological operations (PSYOPS) by the US military between 1967 and 2010. Design and develop ...

* No. 5 Squadron (Arrow) - interceptor/fighter role with

Chengdu F-7 The Chengdu J-7 ( Chinese: 歼-7; third generation export version F-7; NATO reporting name: Fishcan) is a Chinese fighter aircraft. It is a license-built version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21, and thus shares many similarities with tha ...

II/IIN and Chengdu FT-7BZ Trainer. * No. 6 Squadron (Tiger) - with SF-260M, SF-260TP and SF-260W

RAF Thornhill

In 1939 a committee was set up to locate and survey three sites near

(at that time known as Gwelo) that were suitable for the establishment of an airfield for the Commonwealth Training Group responsible for training aircrews for the defence of the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

during

World War II 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 ...

. The most suitable site comprised a portion of Thornhill farm and an adjacent farm, Glengarry. This land was commandeered for the duration of the War and finally purchased in 1947. The first buildings were constructed in 1941 and official use and the beginning of training began in March 1942. Some of the original buildings of this time are still in use at Thornhill. The town of Gwelo and the air station grew during World War II, with a total of 1810 pilots trained during this time. At the end of WWII, the Royal Air Force retained its Rhodesian Air Training Group (RATG) at RAF Thornhill. The airfield remained an active Royal Air Force (training) base until their withdrawal in 1953, when it was taken over by the

Royal Rhodesian Air Force The Rhodesian Air Force (RhAF) was an air force based in Salisbury (now Harare) which represented several entities under various names between 1935 and 1980: originally serving the British self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia, it was the ...

(RRAF), as Zimbabwe was then known as Rhodesia. Tarmac runways and concrete hard standings were added in 1956/57, allowing jet aircraft to operate from Thornhill AB.

References

Bibliography

External links

OurAirports - Gweru-Thornhill

SkyVector Aeronautical Charts
Air Force of Zimbabwe Zimbabwean airbases Buildings and structures in Midlands Province {{Zimbabwe-airport-stub

RAF Thornhill

See also

References

Bibliography

External links