RAF Yatesbury | |
|---|---|
 Hangar at West Camp, 2014 | |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Air Ministry |
| Operator | Royal Air Force |
| Controlled by | RAF Technical Training Command |
| Location | |
  RAF Yatesbury Shown within Wiltshire | |
| Coordinates | 51°26′13″N1°55′26″W / 51.43694°N 1.92389°W /51.43694; -1.92389 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1916 (1916) |
| In use | 1916-1965 (1965) |
| Battles/wars | First World War Second World War Cold War |
RAF Yatesbury is a formerRoyal Air Force airfield near the village ofYatesbury,Wiltshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) east of the town ofCalne. It was an important training establishment in the First and Second World Wars and until its closure in 1965. For a time in the 1950s, part of the site becameRAF Cherhill.
TheRoyal Flying Corps began pilot training at Yatesbury in 1916.[1] Formations includedNo. 99 Squadron, andNo. 7 andNo. 8 squadrons of theAustralian Flying Corps.
The aerodrome's site was farmland on the north side of theA4 road, south of Yatesbury village. There were two airfields, East Camp and West Camp, each with buildings and hangars. Two target areas were marked out.[1] Training continued until 1919, then squadrons were sent to Yatesbury to be disbanded. The station closed in 1920 and returned to farmland.[2]
The following units were here at some date before the inter-war years:[3]
From 1936 theBristol Aeroplane Company operated part of the west site as a civilian flying school (No. 10 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School RAF) where trainees were prepared for service in the RAF or the Reserve, usingde Havilland Tiger Moth aircraft.[8]
Guy Gibson, leader of the famous "Dambusters" raid (Operation Chastise) of 1943, took his ab initio training here from November 1936 to January 1937.[9]
In 1939 theAir Ministry took over the whole site and pilot training was transferred elsewhere so that the station could be used (together with nearbyRAF Compton Bassett) to train many airborne wireless operators. In 1940 it was placed underNo. 60 Group RAF. From 1942, radar operators were trained there.
East Camp housed theNo. 2 Electrical and Wireless School RAF, later renamedNo. 2 Radio School RAF, where among the instructors wasArthur C. Clarke, later a science fiction author and inventor. Radar training was atNo. 9 Radio School RAF.[1] An estimated 70 died flying from Yatesbury, including aircrew from Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia,[10] Poland, Russia, South Africa, and the United States. 21 are buried in the All Saints' parish churchyard in Yatesbury.[11]
After the war, flying training resumed from 1945 to 1947.[2]
During theCold War in the 1950s, training of radar operators, mechanics and fitters continued at East Camp. From 1954 to 1958 the site became RAF Cherhill, 27 Group Headquarters, Technical Training Command.[2]
Demand for training reduced after the winding-down ofNational Service from 1961. The site closed in 1965, with the Radar and Wireless training school transferring toRAF Locking. In 1969 the wooden huts were demolished and the land returned again to farming, leaving only a number of brick-built buildings, including the Officers' Mess, the gymnasium and three hangars.[2]
Since 1987 the two groups of hangars built in 1916 have beenGrade II* listed.[12][13] In 1989 the former Officers' Mess and offices, built in 1936, were listed Grade II.[14] In 1998 North Wiltshire District Council designated Yatesbury Aerodrome a Conservation Area.[15][16]
The airfield is now farmland. Surviving hangars and other buildings can be seen from the A4. Proposals were made in 2004 and again in 2014 to develop the sites of the buildings for housing.[17][18] By 2008 the three hangars were on the Heritage At Risk register.[19] The condition of one deteriorated and permission to demolish it was given in 2012.[20] The other two remained At Risk in 2015.[21]
The Wiltshire Microlight Centre uses part of the site.[22]
The video to the 1988 No.1 hit song "Doctorin' the Tardis" by The Timelords, better known asThe KLF, was partly filmed there.
The following units were here at some point from the inter-war years:[3]
Media related toRAF Yatesbury at Wikimedia Commons