RAF Waterbeach

RAF Waterbeach Waterbeach Barracks
1945 aerial photograph
IATA: none ICAO: none
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force 1940-1966 Royal Engineers 1966-2013
Location	Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire
Built	1940 (1940)
In use	1941-2013 (2013)
Elevation AMSL	33 ft / 10 m
Coordinates	52°16′28″N 000°11′24″E / 52.27444°N 0.19000°E / 52.27444; 0.19000Coordinates: 52°16′28″N 000°11′24″E / 52.27444°N 0.19000°E / 52.27444; 0.19000
Map
Waterbeach Barracks Location in Cambridgeshire
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 04/22 6,070 1,850 Asphalt 10/28 4,140 1,262 Asphalt 16/34 4,250 1,296 Asphalt

Royal Air Force Waterbeach or more simply RAF Waterbeach is a former Royal Air Force station located in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire which is 5.5 miles (8.9 km) north of Cambridge. The site was then used by the Royal Engineers, part of the British Army, from 1966, as Waterbeach Barracks until 2013 when the site closed to make way for housing. The site is currently unoccupied, apart from the officers' houses still in use - though Urban&Civic are now looking at temporary uses.

The airfield was built in 1940 on the northern edge of Waterbeach village and operated under the control of RAF Bomber Command. The original control tower and many RAF buildings, including several hangars, are still present.

After the Second World War, Consolidated B-24 Liberators and Douglas Dakotas from RAF Transport Command flew from RAF Waterbeach.

RAF Fighter Command took over the base on 1 March 1950 and used Gloster Meteors, Supermarine Swifts, de Havilland Venoms, de Havilland Vampires and Gloster Javelins. In addition Hawker Hunter fighters arrived in May 1955 and, two years later, the prototype English Electric P1 (Lightning) visited RAF Waterbeach.

After the last RAF fixed-wing aircraft, from No. 54 Squadron RAF, left in August 1963, the site was used by the Airfield Construction Branch RAF until 1966.