RAF Kidbrooke

RAF Kidbrooke
Kidbrooke, London in England
RAF Kidbrooke Shown within Greater London
Coordinates	Coordinates: 51°27′50″N 0°01′37″E / 51.464°N 0.027°E / 51.464; 0.027
Type	Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force
Site history
Built	1917 (1917)
In use	1917-1965 (1965)
Airfield information
Elevation	31 metres (102 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Grass

RAF Kidbrooke was a Royal Air Force base, situated in Kidbrooke in south-east London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The site was operational from 1917 to 1965 and was mainly used as a stores, maintenance and training facility.

Established in 1917, the facility was initially a Royal Flying Corps storage depot, situated on both sides of the railway line close to Kidbrooke railway station. In 1917, several large storage warehouses and offices were constructed, that stretched for 1,000 yards (910 m) alongside both sides of the line, served by sidings and an extensive 2 ft (610 mm) gauge network.

The RFC became the RAF on 1 January 1918. Kidbrooke was named No 1 Stores Depot in March 1920. It became No 1 Equipment Depot in February 1937 and No 1 Maintenance Unit in April 1938. It was disbanded as a stores in February 1947, though its facilities remained in use but managed from elsewhere.

During the Second World War, the base was expanded to include a barrage balloon depot, providing balloons to defend London against low-flying enemy aircraft. This was also the base for the No 1 Balloon Centre and 901 Squadron (a barrage balloon squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force) and No 2 Installation Unit, responsible for constructing and repairing Chain Home radar station masts. On adjacent land to the north of the railway line, No. 141 Gliding School RAF for the Air Training Corps operated from October 1942 to December 1945, after which it transferred to RAF Gravesend and then RAF Detling in north Kent. After the war, the radar installation Unit transferred to RAF West Drayton in Buckinghamshire.

Between 1949 and 1953, the Joint Services School for Linguists taught servicemen and women with an aptitude for languages to speak Russian. In January 1954, the RAF Movements School was formed at RAF Kidbrooke, tasked to provide cargo movements and mobility training to personnel of all three Services and other Government departments. It had a staff of 47 and ran around 25 courses, ranging in length from under a week to a 17-week basic recruit course, delivered to over 1,900 personnel per annum. In January 1963, the School moved to RAF Kirton in Lindsey in Lincolnshire, but was disbanded the following December. RAF Kidbrooke closed in 1965.