RAF Stanbridge
Encyclopedia
RAF Stanbridge is an RAF
station situated on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard
, Bedfordshire
, England
.
It is a satellite site of RAF Henlow
and is one of the smallest RAF Stations having only two Station buildings and 24 married quarters. The base looks after the Supply Central Computer System.
It was part of a bigger site which was sold off by the MoD (Ministry of Defence) in 1999.
Prior to 1999, RAF Stanbridge was responsible for providing Communications Support to its now closed satellite site at RAF Edlesborough.
In the early 1970s RAF Stanbridge had satellite sites at RAF Bampton Castle
(Receiver site), RAF Edlesborough (Transmitter site), RAF Greatworth (transmitter site) and RAF Stoke Hammond (Receiver site). Stanbridge was then known as the Communications Control Centre (CCC or CommConCent) and was the hub of the Defence Communications Network (DCN). The main building hosted Systems Control, a tape relay centre and later a Telegraphic Automatic Routing Equipment (TARE). The DCN connected sites all over the world by HF radio links using the two diverse transmitter sites and the diverse receiver sites. The Distant Terminals of these links included Canberra, Gan, Cyprus, Ottawa and Malta. Other UK sites involved were the RN site at HMS Forest Moor
and RAF Oakhanger
with its satellite earth-station.
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
station situated on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard
Leighton Buzzard
-Lower schools:*Beaudesert Lower School - Apennine Way*Clipstone Brook Lower School - Brooklands Drive*Greenleas Lower School - Derwent Road*Dovery Down Lower School - Heath Road*Heathwood Lower School - Heath Road*Leedon Lower School - Highfield Road...
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
It is a satellite site of RAF Henlow
RAF Henlow
RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the RAF Signals Museum and 616 Volunteer Gliding Squadron.- History :...
and is one of the smallest RAF Stations having only two Station buildings and 24 married quarters. The base looks after the Supply Central Computer System.
It was part of a bigger site which was sold off by the MoD (Ministry of Defence) in 1999.
Prior to 1999, RAF Stanbridge was responsible for providing Communications Support to its now closed satellite site at RAF Edlesborough.
In the early 1970s RAF Stanbridge had satellite sites at RAF Bampton Castle
RAF Bampton Castle
RAF Bampton Castle was a non-flying Royal Air Force station in Oxfordshire. It was the home of numbers 2 and 81 signals units, which dealt with High Frequency radio communications. It's now a business centre and all of the antennas have been removed....
(Receiver site), RAF Edlesborough (Transmitter site), RAF Greatworth (transmitter site) and RAF Stoke Hammond (Receiver site). Stanbridge was then known as the Communications Control Centre (CCC or CommConCent) and was the hub of the Defence Communications Network (DCN). The main building hosted Systems Control, a tape relay centre and later a Telegraphic Automatic Routing Equipment (TARE). The DCN connected sites all over the world by HF radio links using the two diverse transmitter sites and the diverse receiver sites. The Distant Terminals of these links included Canberra, Gan, Cyprus, Ottawa and Malta. Other UK sites involved were the RN site at HMS Forest Moor
HMS Forest Moor
HMS Forest Moor was a Royal Navy land base located in Nidderdale in the borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England.The establishment was first used as one of the World War II intelligence units, or Y-stations....
and RAF Oakhanger
RAF Oakhanger
RAF Station Oakhanger was a Royal Air Force station in Hampshire split over three operational sites with accommodation in nearby Bordon. The main site and operations centre was near the village of Oakhanger with two other sites nearby...
with its satellite earth-station.
- RAF Bampton Castle was a technical site only, parented by RAF Brize Norton.
- RAF Edlesborough was a technical site only, parented by RAF Halton.
- RAF Stoke Hammond was a technical site only, parented by RAF Stanbridge. It closed in the mid 1970s and the site was returned to the owner.
- RAF Greatworth had its own accommodation but was administratively parented from RAF Stanbridge. The site opened in the 1930s and finally closed in 1992. It is now an industrial park known as Greatworth Park.
External links
- www.rafgreatworth.com/
- Wikipedia entry for RAF Greatworth