Talk:List of former Royal Air Force stations

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United Kingdom Mid‑importance

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Aviation: Airports

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Military history: Aviation / British / European / World War I / World War II / Cold War

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This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Structuring

I think the British Isles section of the article should be split into a number of seperate tables for each country such as England, Scotland , Wales and so far. This would enable easier access to the information.

What do you think?

Gavbadger (talk) 11:55, 2 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No need, the table is sortable!!Petebutt (talk) 10:29, 18 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

old RAF sites

RAF Stoke Hammond nr leighton Buzzard Beds closed circa 1974 RAF Edlesborough Nr Leighton Buzzard closed cica 2000 RAF Stanbridge Leighton buzzard Closed 2012 RAF Greatworth Nr Leighton Buzzard Closed circa 1976 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.130.208.63 (talk) 15:33, 15 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Done. Gavbadger (talk) 16:58, 15 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

RAF Borgentreich abt 10km from Warburg, Germany, handed to Bundeswehr circa 1961. Home to 757 Signals Unit, part of 1 Sigs Wing. Operated a remote mobile G or H Radar set up off station powered by 20KVA Lister Diesels. Also a very small (couple of dozen personnel total) USAF contingent operating some kind of radar somewhere off station.

RAF Aden/Yemen - is that one to add? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.174.147.33 (talk) 15:49, 16 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

RAF BROOKLANDS

Could you please check your entry for RAF BROOKLANDS at Weybridge Surrey I can find no other reference to Brooklands ever being an RAF base. I believe that there was an RAF Brookland near Rye in Kent which was a radar station http://www.airfieldinformationexchange.org/community/showthread.php?6501-Brookland — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.147.78.95 (talk) 20:25, 27 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I think it would be easier to get responses quicker if you copied your message over to Wikiproject Military History as many many more people watch that page. I would love to be able help as i have a book about airfields in that area however i have just found out that the two pages about Brooklands are completely missing so unfortunately i cannot. Good Luck. Gavbadger (talk) 21:22, 27 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for responce, I am making enquiries on airfieldinformationexchange. On there I have found a reference to Brooklands with the presence of No 10 aircraft acceptance park in 1918. The Brooklands Museum history section is silent on RAF. My first post was badly worded, Rye is in East Sussex, Brookland just two miles down the road is in Kent and I understand was barracks for the Rye Radar site and later an RAF dog training centre. It is not clear to me yet if it was known separately as RAF Brookland or just part of RAF Rye. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.147.78.95 (talk) 22:56, 27 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Well i know that that the following squadrons used Brooklands during the First World War:

* No. 1 Squadron RAF - between 1 May 1914 and 14 August 1941 with no aircraft.

* No. 8 Squadron RAF - formed at the airfield on 1 January 1915 until 6 January with the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2C.

* No. 9 Squadron RAF - reformed on 1 April 1915 before leaving on 23 July 1915 using the B.E.2, Blériot XI and Longhorn

* No. 10 Squadron RAF - between 8 January 1915 and 1 April 1915 with the Longhorn, Shorthorn, Bleriot XI, Martinsyde S.1 and BE 2C

* No. 46 Squadron RAF - formed from parts of No. 2 Reserve Squadron RFC on 19 April 1916 with no aircraft. Left on 20 April 1916.

However these squadrons would have been owned by the Royal Flying Corps and not the RAF (as it did not exist until 1 April 1918), I have no idea what the Longhorn or Shorthorn aircraft are.

Information from *Jefford, C.G, MBE,BA ,RAF (Retd). RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.

"I have no idea what the Longhorn or Shorthorn aircraft are." - Maurice Farman Longhorn, and Maurice Farman Shorthorn - "Longhorn" = front and rear elevator, "Shorthorn" = rear elevator only. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.31.130.20 (talk) 15:03, 29 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Cowley?

There was a maintenance unit airfield between Morris Motors in Cowley, Oxford and Littlemore which housed No.50MU from 1939-45. It is in List of Royal Air Force Maintenance units. Does that make it a former `station, airfield ... previously used by the Royal Air Force'? 88.107.56.208 (talk) 20:22, 25 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

RAF Alma Park

There was no such place as RAF Alma Park. The RAF Regiment Depot was set up in 1942 on land on the Belton estate, and was known as RAF Belton. When it left in 1946, Grantham Borough Council acquired the site and named it Alma Park, after the nearby Alma Woods. Please delete the entry. Samnviv (talk) 09:26, 28 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

RAF Skeabrae, Orkney

Should RAF Skeabrae, Orkney be included in your list? [There are various incorrect spellings.] Operational from ca 1940-57 I think. Started life as a naval airfield before being taken over by RAF. Located about 1½ miles NW of Loch of Harray on Mainland, Orkney. Land now partly housing but I think there were still some RAF buildings extant ca. 2006 which may even still be there. Duncan Linklater --46.208.88.166 (talk) 20:48, 11 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Done. I noticed that too, so it is now in (see also RAF Skeabrae) 79.77.99.23 (talk) 17:07, 24 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Castle Archdale

Castle Archdale was in use until at least 1951; I've removed the 1946 closure date. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:10, 30 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

1958, per [1]. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 22:16, 30 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Named after railway stations?

Is it really the case that RFC/RAF sites were named after the closest railway station? This unreferenced statement appears in various articles, and it just seems like urban legend or plain nonsense. When did the practice begin and end? Before the Beeching cuts there were around 5,300 railway stations usually named after the town or village they were built to serve: and no doubt travel warrants often did match up with the name of the RAF station.

The statement that the Air Force stations were named after the nearest parish seems a little more likely. But the most casual research brings up far too many exceptions: RAF Bentley Priory was named after the stately home it occupied in Stanmore, RNAS Donibristle is named after the estate it was built on; RAF Old Sarum is miles from a station, and anyway Old Sarum civil parish was abolished in 1894. RAF Joyce Green is named after a farm in the middle of nowhere in N. Kent, RAF Boscombe Down should be called RAF Amesbury, etc., etc.

Some appear to have been named so not as to cause confusion, eg RAF Brize Norton is closest to Carterton which sounds like RAF Cardington, and the nearest station, Bampton (Oxon), has a namesake on the Exe Valley Railway, etc.

It would obviously be a time-consuming and somewhat pointless task to go through the whole list and point out all the exceptions, but I challenge this un-reffed assertion and suggest it should be removed.

Also, RAF Guston Down should possibly be Guston Road, Dover. MinorProphet (talk) 05:09, 2 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Done

The naming of RAF stations

RAF stations were named after the nearest village/town having a post office. 2A00:23C5:7C00:5A01:4177:13E7:BE16:77A7 (talk) 17:45, 11 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I zapped the 2 sentences on naming that were in the intro, all sourced to 1 book. As we can see from the earlier discussion this is a complicated topic and there were many exceptions. If this is to be described anywhere it should be at Royal Air Force Station, not this list article. Wire723 (talk) 08:15, 2 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The stations are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the duration of operation

Err, no, clearly they aren't. For example, Abingdon is listed under Oxfordshire, but it was not in Oxfordshire at the time (it was in Berkshire). This so-called 'encyclopaedia' can't even manage to get such simple things right. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.11.238.246 (talk) 15:51, 1 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

You must have failed to see the note labelled [a] against Oxfordshire. Wire723 (talk) 08:20, 2 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

RAF Lacey Green

Missing from your list. RAF Lacey Green was created as the airstrip for Walters Ash (RAF High Wycombe). 82.153.143.60 (talk) 14:46, 24 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]