RAF Wyton

RAF Wyton
Near St Ives, Cambridgeshire in England
Canberra PR9 'XH170' which is RAF Wyton's gate guardian
Verum Exquiro
(Latin for 'Seek the Truth')
RAF Wyton is located in Cambridgeshire
RAF Wyton
RAF Wyton
Shown within Cambridgeshire
Coordinates52°21′26″N 000°06′28″W / 52.35722°N 0.10778°W / 52.35722; -0.10778
TypeRoyal Air Force station
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRoyal Air Force
Controlled byStrategic Command
ConditionOperational
Websitewww.raf.mod.uk/rafwyton
Site history
Built1915 (1915)
In use1916 – present
Garrison information
Current
commander
Wing Commander Keith Slack
Occupants
Airfield information
IdentifiersIATA: QUY, ICAO: EGUY, WMO: 03566
Elevation40.2 metres (132 ft) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
08/26 799 metres (2,621 ft) Grass
Source: RAF Wyton Defence Aerodrome Manual

Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton (IATA: QUY, ICAO: EGUY) is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now used by the UK Strategic Command.

History

Flying station

A Percival Petrel and Bristol Blenheim Mark IVs of No. 2 Group at Wyton between 1939 and 1941
"Map of Air Routes and Landing Places in Great Britain, as temporarily arranged by the Air Ministry for civilian flying", published in 1919, showing "Wyton" as a "military and civil station", and as a stop on the route between Hounslow, near London, and the north.

Wyton has been a military airfield since 1916, when it was used for training by the Royal Flying Corps and then its successor the Royal Air Force (RAF).

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1916 and 1935:

Second World War

During the Second World War it was used primarily as a bomber base, flying Bristol Blenheim, de Havilland Mosquito and Avro Lancaster aircraft. In 1942 it became the home of the Pathfinder Force under the command of Group Captain Don Bennett.

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1935 and 1939:

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1939 and 1945:

Cold War

After the war Wyton became home to the English Electric Canberras of the Strategic Reconnaissance Force. Vickers Valiants arrived for No. 543 Squadron in 1955 and a Handley Page Victor arrived for the Radar Reconnaissance Flight in 1959.

In 1974, three Nimrod R1s belonging to No. 51 Squadron arrived for use in the Elint and Sigint role, and in 1975, the T17 and T17A Canberras of No. 360 Squadron arrived: this was a joint RAF and RN Squadron specialising in Electronic countermeasures training.

The following squadrons were posted to Wyton between 1946 and 2011:

21st century

In the early 1990s one of its pilots was rugby union player Flight Lieutenant Rory Underwood.

During a four-month period in 1989, two squadrons of U.S. Air Force Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II jets were operated out of RAF Wyton while the runway at their base, nearby RAF Alconbury, was resurfaced.

In May 1995 both RAF Wyton and RAF Alconbury airfields were decommissioned and Wyton was formally amalgamated with RAF Brampton, and later with RAF Henlow to make all three locations a single RAF Station under a single station commander for administrative purposes. The airfield continued to host light aircraft for the Cambridge and London University Air Squadrons until they both moved to RAF Wittering in 2015.

2011–present

Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review the RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow formation was disbanded: RAF Henlow subsequently became a separate station again and RAF Brampton was demolished.

The Joint Forces Intelligence Group, a unit which is responsible for the collection of signals, geospatial, imagery and measurement and signature intelligence, moved from Feltham in Middlesex to RAF Wyton in 2013. 42 Engineer Regiment relocated from Denison Barracks in Hermitage to RAF Wyton to co-locate with the Joint Forces Intelligence Group in July 2014 and No. 1 Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Squadron moved from RAF Marham to Wyton in April 2017.

Hangars in 2013

Former units

Other units moved (now disbanded)

The following other units were posted to Wyton at some point:

Currently operational units moved

On 25 March 2013 it was decided to relocate the following flying units from Wyton due to the high maintenance costs of the airfield.

Based units

Notable units based at RAF Wyton.

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-12-12 21:42 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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