RAF Wing

Royal Air Force Wing or more simply RAF Wing is a former Royal Air Force bomber training station, situated just west of the village of Wing, in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, established on the site of a small aerodrome.

This article is about the airfield. For the badge ("wings") worn by aircrew, see Aircrew brevet.

RAF Wing
Near Wing, Buckinghamshire in England
RAF Wing Shown within Buckinghamshire
Coordinates	51°54′11″N 000°44′54″W
Type	Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Site history
Built	1941 (1941)/2
In use	1941-1956 (1956)
Airfield information
Elevation	143 metres (469 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Asphalt 00/00  Asphalt 00/00  Asphalt

History

Construction

RAF Wing was built on a parcel of land between North Cottesloe and South Cottesloe and where a small airfield already existed. Construction included five hangars for the aircraft, three concrete runways, offices, a canteen, rest rooms, blast shelters, ammunition and bomb dumps, radio and telegraph rooms, training blocks, church, gym, squash court, rugby and football field, tailors, barbers, shoemakers, Post Office, a cinema, and stores.[1] The main entrance to the airfield was via an already existing farm lane off Cublington Road, where a guardhouse was constructed. Opposite the main entrance is the lane leading to the gym and some of the other airfield facilities. Further down Cublington Road towards the village of Cublington, another entrance gave direct access to hangars and stores at the western end of the main runway and a direct route to the bomb and ammunition dumps. A decoy airfield lay-out was also constructed close by to confuse enemy bombers.

Thirteen sites of living quarters were erected and dispersed over a wide area, each with up to 20 Nissen huts, some toilets, and one or two air-raid shelters. Members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force had their own site close to Wing village on Cublington Road, much of which can still be seen today. There was also a hospital constructed close to Cublington that is still partially standing. [2][1] A new sewage works was also constructed just south of Cublington Road to serve the airfield and its associated sites. These sewage works still exist today and serve local communities.

Operations

RAF Wing airfield opened on 17 November 1941, although the upgraded runways were not finished and the first flight was not until March 1942. The station was used primarily as a training facility, but some operational missions were also flown from there. No. 26 Operational Training Unit RAF for Bomber Command was formed at Wing on 15 January 1942 as a 2/3 status unit within No. 7 Group, equipped with Vickers Wellingtons to train night bomber crews.[3]

The two operational squadrons were No. 268 Squadron RAF and No. 613 Squadron RAF. 613 Squadron arrived on 1 March 1943 with North American Mustangs,[4] and 268 joined a day later with the same type of aircraft. On 6 March 1943,[5] 268 Squadron left, and 613 Squadron left one day later, going to RAF Bottisham.[4]

RAF Cheddington opened in March 1942 as a satellite station to RAF Wing

In April and May 1945, RAF Wing served as a gateway for tens of thousands of men returning from duty in Europe.[6]

Nearby activity

The airmen cycled to local pubs in Wing, Stewkley, Cheddington and Cublington in the evenings or to local train stations on their days off so they could go home and see their families. Often entertainment was put on at the airfield as well, such as dancing. There were also weekly dances at Wing village hall.[2][1]

Wartime incidents

• One of the five hangars was destroyed when struck during a crash landing.[6]
• On 12 September 1942, the prototype Martin-Baker MB 3 fighter, R2492, crashed on its tenth flight after its engine seized shortly after takeoff from RAF Wing at a height of no more than 100 feet. A crank on one of the Napier Sabre II's sleeve valves had failed. While trying to land in a field, Captain Valentine Baker (Company manager, aircraft-designer and test pilot) was forced to turn to port to avoid a farmhouse, a wing clipped a tree stump, the fighter cartwheeled and burst into flame, killing him.[7] The MB 3 had arrived at RAF Wing for trials in August.[6]
• On the night of 3/4 June 1943, a Vickers Wellington Type 440 B Mk. X bomber, HE746, of 26 OTU, RAF, was on a flight from RAF Wing, departing there at 2340 hrs, when it suffered a failure to one of its Bristol Hercules engines. "The crew advised flying control at RAF Dumfries of their situation and requested an emergency landing; unfortunately the aircraft crashed 2 miles from the airfield runway."[8] Three of the crew were killed and two others were seriously injured. This aircraft was to become the catalyst for the foundation of the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum.[9]

Closure

RAF Wing was closed 4 April 1956. [10]

After closure

Soon after closing, all the hangars were removed. In the late 1950s, a large battery chicken farm was built on the northern end of the north-south runway. In the early 1960s, a large pig breeding farm, operated by Anglian Pig Breeders, was established on the airfield, occupying some of the old RAF buildings: new sheds were erected on the sites of old hangars and large open air pig pens in other areas of the airfield. This farm ceased trading in the mid 1960s. During this period, a section of runway at the south eastern side of the airfield was dug up and removed. A model aircraft club used the western end of the main runway in the 1960s, but that too was dug up and removed a few years later. The control tower, located south of the east-west runway, remained in a derelict state for many years before being demolished in the 1970s. In the 1980s part of the airfield was used as a testing station for containers of oxygen and other gases.

London Airport

In the late 1960s the former airfield was considered for the site of the third London Airport following a publication of a report by the Roskill Commission.[11] Wing - but officially referred to as Cublington in the report, was considered to be ideally situated for access from all parts of the country and only fifty miles from London.[11] Within a few days of Wing being identified as a possible site a local airport resistance association was formed to oppose the airport.[12] A public inquiry was opened at Aylesbury on 14 July 1969 after a protest by 2,000 people through Aylesbury.[13] As a result of the protest and also revised government thinking, the new airport plan was abandoned. As a permanent celebration of the victory, Buckinghamshire County Council planted a spinney of over 400 trees on a 3-acre site that would have been at the centre of the airport.

RAF units and aircraft

Unit	Dates	Aircraft	Variant	Notes
No. 268 Squadron RAF	1943	North American Mustang	I	Based for a few days in March 1943[5]
No. 613 Squadron RAF	1943	North American Mustang	I	Based for a few days in March 1943[4]
No. 26 Operational Training Unit RAF	1942-1946	Vickers Wellington		Also operated a wide range of training and support aircraft, for example the Avro Anson, carried out operational sorties in 1942.[14]
No. 60 Group Communications Flight	1945-1946	Vickers Wellington		Also operate a DH Tiger Moth and a DH Moth Minor
No. 60 Group Radar Nav Aids Test Flight	1945	Vickers Wellington	X	[15]
No. 282 Maintenance Unit RAF	1952-1954	None		Explosives Storage - Operated from 1952-1954 as a sub-site, transferred to the USAF in 1954.[16]

Modern day

Most of the former airfield has been returned to agriculture.[1][10] As of 2018, all ex RAF buildings on the airfield site have been removed apart from a couple of store buildings located to the south of the main runway which were used by the old pig farm. Of the original runways (that have not been built on) approximately half of the main runway still exists; its eastern end used as an articulated lorry trailer park. A few Sections of the slabbed concrete perimeter road and taxiways still exist. The old ammunition dump, just north of the western end of the main runway, is now a private ornamental lake. Opposite the main airfield entrance on Cublington Road is a lane leading to the gym. This building is still in existence and there is a sign on Cublington Road that reads: 'The Old Gymnasium'. Further down Cublington Road towards the village of Cublington are the remains of barracks that were built near the sewage works, with the concrete bases of all eight barrack buildings and concrete pathways still there.

Motto

The motto written on the Navigation Section at Wing was "MAN IS NOT LOST". Someone had written graffiti underneath this: "But occasionally is completely unaware of his exact location".[1]

References

Citations

1. "War in the air - Wing". Buckinghamshire County Council. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
2. Brooks 2000, p. 00.
3. "No 26 Operational Training Unit". Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
4. Jefford 1988, p. 100.
5. Jefford 1988, p. 81.
6. "Wing in the Military - WWII". Alex Coles. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
7. Editors, "A Real Contender", Database, Aeroplane, Berry's Hill, Cudham, Kent, UK, December 2010, No. 452, Volume 38, Number 12, pages 65–66.
8. "Leslie Arthur Southam". Trafford War Dead. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
9. "History of the Museum". Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
10. "Wing". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
11. ARTHUR REED Air Correspondent. "Foulness and Wing most likely airports." Times [London, England] 4 Mar. 1969: 1. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
12. "£16,500 for 'no airport' campaign." Times [London, England] 10 Mar. 1969: 2. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
13. BYRON ROGERS. "2,000 march in airport protest." Times [London, England] 14 July 1969: 2. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
14. Sturtivant 2007, p. 202
15. Sturtivant 2007, p. 161
16. Sturtivant 2007, p. 184

Bibliography

• Brooks, R (2000). Thames Valley Airfields in the Second World War. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-633-8.
• Jefford, C G (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
• Sturtivant, Ray (2007). RAF Flying Training and Support Units since 1912. Air-Britain. ISBN 0-85130 365 X.