RAF Halton | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NearAylesbury,Buckinghamshire in England | |||||||||
 Entrance to RAF Halton | |||||||||
 Teach, Learn, Apply | |||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force training station | ||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||
| Controlled by | No. 22 Group (Training) | ||||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
  RAF Halton Shown within Buckinghamshire | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°47′30″N000°44′10″W / 51.79167°N 0.73611°W /51.79167; -0.73611 | ||||||||
| Area | 297 hectares (730 acres)[1] | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1913 (1913) | ||||||||
| In use | 1913–present | ||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||
| Current commander | Wing Commander Peter Seanor | ||||||||
| Occupants |
| ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: EGWN | ||||||||
| Elevation | 113.38 metres (372 ft)AMSL | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Source: RAF Halton Defence Aerodrome Manual[2] | |||||||||
Royal Air Force Halton, or more simplyRAF Halton, is one of the largestRoyal Air Forcestations in the United Kingdom. It is located near the village ofHalton nearWendover, Buckinghamshire. The site has been in use since theFirst World War but is due to close by 2030 at the earliest.[3][4]
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The first recordedmilitary aviation at Halton took place in 1913 when the then owner of the Halton estate,Alfred de Rothschild, invited No3 Squadron of theRoyal Flying Corps to conduct manoeuvres on his land. Following agentlemen's agreement between Rothschild andLord Kitchener, the estate was used by theBritish Army throughout theFirst World War. In 1916 the Royal Flying Corps moved its air mechanics school fromFarnborough, Hampshire to Halton, and in 1917, the school was permanently accommodated in workshops built by GermanPoWs.[5][6]
The estate was purchased by theBritish Government for the nascentRoyal Air Force at the end of the First World War for £112,000.[7]
In 1919Lord Trenchard established theNo. 1 School of Technical Training at RAF Halton for RAFaircraft apprentices,[8] which remained at the station until it moved toRAF Cosford in the early 1990s.[9] Also in 1919,Halton House – a French-style mansion built forLionel de Rothschild – was re-opened as the station'sOfficers' Mess, a role which thegrade II listed building continues as today.[10]
During theSecond World War, RAF Halton continued its training role. Additionally No 112 Squadron and No 402 Squadron of theRoyal Canadian Air Force were based at Halton for part of the war. No. 1448 (Radar Calibration) Flight was converted intoNo. 529 Squadron at Halton in June 1943. Initially, the squadron flew theCierva C.30 and thede Havilland Hornet Moth and by the end of the war, the squadron was competent withautogyro aircraft.[11][12]
In July 1952 the uncrownedQueen Elizabeth II performed one of her first duties as Sovereign by presenting acolour to Number 1 School of Technical Training; the first to be awarded to an apprentice school, and the first to be presented to an 'other rank' when Sergeant Apprentice Hines, of the 63rd Entry, received the colour from Her Majesty.[13]
In 1967, RAF Halton was the site of the unsolved case of themurder of aircraftswoman Rita Ellis. The case was reopened in 2010 to take advantage of modern forensic techniques, and in 2017 a newDNA profile enabled the police to eliminate 200 of the original suspects. In late 2020, theThames Valley Police's major crime review team issued a further appeal for anyone with information to come forward.[14]
When No. 1 School of Technical Training moved toRAF Cosford in 1993, they took over guardianship of the Queen's Colour and on 31 October 1997, Her Majesty presented RAF Halton with its second colour. RAF Halton was the only station to be granted the dignity of two Queen's colours.[15] The move of No. 1 School of Technical Training to RAF Cosford afforded space for the RAF School of Recruit Training to be moved from RAF Swinderby to RAF Halton in July 1993, where it has been ever since.[16] In the year 2004–2005, RAF Halton trained 24,000 personnel, though not all were Phase 1 recruits; some were attending the Airman's Command School which trains Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) in Phase 2 and 3 disciplines.[17][18]
From 1917 to 1963, aspurrailway line ran fromWendover to Halton to supply coal and goods to the station.[19]
The history of the RAF station and specifically apprenticeship training over the years is preserved by theTrenchard Museum located at RAF Halton, and managed by the RAF Halton Apprentices Association.[20] In 2010 a major project by members of the station re-excavated the training trenches used during the First World War and made them available as an educational exhibit.[21]
No.613 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, which operated theGrob Vigilant T1, was disbanded in November 2016 by the MoD as part of its Better Defence Estate strategy.[22]
In July 2018, the headquarters of the Logistics Specialist Training Wing (LSTW) relocated to the new Defence College of Logistics, Policing and Administration atWorthy Down Camp inHampshire. The remaining element of the LSTW, the Logistics Supply Training Squadron, moved to Worthy Down over the months following 24 October 2019.[23]
The following units were here at some point:[24]
Princess Mary's RAF Hospital Halton was opened in 1927 as a large purpose-built military hospital, replacing an earlier makeshift medical facility housed in wooden huts that had been opened in 1919. The hospital was the second unit in the United Kingdom to have arenal facility, and besides developing a cure forSandfly fever, the hospital was the first in the world to usepenicillin on a large scale in 1940, just after its discovery.[25]
The hospital was closed in 1995 due to Government defence cuts. The buildings remained derelict until 2008 when they were demolished for new housing in a development calledPrincess Mary Gate.[26]
The site has a grass airfield, used mainly bygliders,light aircraft,microlights and the RAFhot air balloon.[27] The airfield is the home of theRoyal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association,[28] Chilterns Gliding Centre, The Halton Aero Club[29] and the RAF Halton Microlight Club.[30]
The airfield was also used as the filming location for the German airfield inWonder Woman.[31]
_of_the_RAF_Halton_Microlight_Flying_Club_arrives_RIAT_Fairford_17July2017_arp.jpg)
Flying and notable non-flying units based at RAF Halton.[32][33][34]
No. 38 Group (Air Combat Service Support) RAF
RAF Voluntary Bands Association
Directorate of Joint Warfare
On 7 November 2016, in a speech to the House of Commons by the Defence Secretary, it was announced that the RAF Halton airfield would cease to be part of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) estate and was scheduled to be disposed of by 2022.[41] The following month, a letter from the Defence Secretary to MPDavid Lidington confirmed the planned phases prior to disposal of the site:[42]
On 28 February 2019, after a revision of the Defence Estates Optimisation Plan, MoD ministerTobias Ellwood MP announced that RAF Halton would not close until at least 2025.[43] This was confirmed in letters sent from the Defence Infrastructure Organisation in May 2019 to local residents, stating that phased withdrawal would commence in 2022 with full disposal achieved in 2025.[44] This was later extended with the airfield not closing until 2027.[45][46] The plan to concentrate RAF recruit training for both officers and other ranks at RAF Cranwell was later put back by five years to 2030 at the earliest.[47][4]
Following a public consultation, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet agreed a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for RAF Halton. The SPD will inform the planning and development decisions for RAF Halton near Wendover once it ceases to be a military base.[48][49][50]
