RAF Swinderby
RAF Swinderby
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Haec porta moenia viri (Here are the gates, the men are the walls)
|
|||||||||||||||||||
RAF Swinderby in April 1941, looking south-south-west
|
|||||||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Swinderby, Lincolnshire | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1939 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In use | 1940-1995 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 62 ft / 19 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53°08′49″N 000°40′16″W / 53.14694°N 0.67111°WCoordinates: 53°08′49″N 000°40′16″W / 53.14694°N 0.67111°W | ||||||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||||||
 RAF Swinderby
|
|||||||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Royal Air Force Swinderby or more simply RAF Swinderby was a Royal Air Force station airfield opened in 1940, one of the last of the stations completed under the RAF's expansion plans started in the 1930s. It was built near the village of Swinderby, Lincolnshire just off the south east side of the A46 (the Fosse Way) between Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire and Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.
Under the command of No.1 Group RAF, Swinderby came under the auspices of RAF Bomber Command and housed several RAF Bomber Squadrons, among others No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron and No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron, initially flying the Fairey Battle, then Vickers Wellington. Other squadrons operated aircraft, such as the Handley Page Hampden.
In the 1950s it was the home of No. 8 FTS, converting trainee pilots to de Havilland Vampires. In 1956 it hosted a brief experiment to keep all the flying training to wings stage straight through on one base. This was abandoned after a month due to the obvious danger of collisions in the circuit between the Vampires and the much slower piston engined Percival Provost basic trainers.
In 1964 RAF Swinderby changed its role to that of recruit training when No.7 School of Recruit Training, formerly at RAF Bridgnorth, opened at RAF Swinderby. It became responsible for the basic training of all male enlisted personnel prior to their trade training, in August 1964 intake 7/46 was the first pass out parade at RAF Swinderby. No.7 School of Recruit Training changed to RAF School of Recruit Training in 1976 when all female personnel initial training was carried out at RAF Swinderby as well as male. Females were still trained at RAF Hereford in 1976 and in 1989 the very first integrated Flight (i.e. male and female recruits) passed out in January at RAF Swinderby, this consisted of A Flight and B Flight of 13 Flight joining in November 1988. In July 1993 No.1 Squadron 6 Flight was the final pass out parade before the RAF School of Recruit Training moved to RAF Halton.
...
Wikipedia