RAF Boulmer
RAF Boulmer
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| Near Boulmer, Northumberland in England | |||||||||
Semper in exubitu vigilans ('Always the Vigilant Sentry')
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 RAF Boulmer
Shown within Northumberland
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| Coordinates | 55°25′19″N 001°36′12″W / 55.42194°N 1.60333°WCoordinates: 55°25′19″N 001°36′12″W / 55.42194°N 1.60333°W | ||||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||
| Size | 1100 Service personnel, civil servants and contractors | ||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||
| Built | 1953 | ||||||||
| In use | 1940-Present | ||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||
| Current commander |
Group Captain R Jacob RAF | ||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: N/A, ICAO: EGQM | ||||||||
| Elevation | 24 metres (79 ft) AMSL | ||||||||
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Royal Air Force Boulmer or RAF Boulmer /ˈbuːmər/ is a Royal Air Force station near Alnwick in Northumberland, England, and is home to Aerospace Surveillance and Control System (ASACS) Force Command, Control and Reporting Centre Boulmer, the School of Aerospace Battle Management and support staff. Until 30 September 2015, it was also home to A Flight, No. 202 Squadron RAF, who flew the Westland Sea King HAR.3 in the SAR (Search and Rescue) role.
In 1940 a decoy airfield was set up near the village of Boulmer to divert German attacks from nearby Royal Air Force (RAF) airfields such as RAF Acklington. As the air threat to the United Kingdom receded, the decoy airfield, with its grass runways and plywood and canvas Hurricanes, was abandoned. In March 1943 RAF Boulmer was re-opened as a satellite airfield to house the advanced flights of No. 57 Operational Training Unit RAF (a Supermarine Spitfire training unit based at RAF Eshott, Boulmer's parent unit). During this period, there were three tarmac runways and a unit of the RAF Regiment defended the Station. In November 1943 RAF Boulmer became home to No 9 Battle Training School, in which night flying, dive-bombing, strafing, bouncer, and chase tactics were taught. As the war ended the airfield closed, reverting to agricultural use. Part of the airfield formed the basis of a caravan site with the runway and taxiway being used as an access road to the site. The site remains and is called Seaton Park.
By 1950, the threat of the Atomic bomb had caused a serious rethink in the organisation of air defence and a plan, codenamed ROTOR, was brought in to replace many of the existing stations with new protected underground operations rooms. The site chosen for one of these new underground Ground-controlled interception (GCI) stations was close to the former RAF Boulmer which had been returned to agriculture at the end of the Second World War.
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