RAF Syerston
Encyclopedia
RAF Syerston is a Royal Air Force
station in the parish of Flintham
, near Newark, Nottinghamshire
. It was used as a bomber base during World War II
.
s crewed by Polish
flyers. In July 1941 they were replaced by members of the RCAF
flying Handley-Page Hampdens. From December 1941 until May 5, 1942, the base was closed whilst a concrete runway was built with two T2 hangars. When it re-opened, it became part of No. 5 Group
. In 1942 several squadrons of Avro Lancaster
aircraft arrived. In 1943 Bill Reid of 61 Squadron won a Victoria Cross
on a mission flown from Syerston.
On November 17, 1943 the operational squadrons departed, and the station was used for bomber crew training, led by Captain Robert White. It became known as the Lancaster Finishing School in January 1944. From November 1943 to July 1944 there was also a Bombing and Gunnery Defence Training Flight in attendance with several Wellingtons, Spitfire
s, Hurricane
s, plus a few Martinet
tug aircraft, all employed in brushing up the skills of air gunners on air to air exercises. The LFS left on April 1, 1945, with No. 49 Squadron arriving from RAF Fulbeck
later in the month who only had one operation before leaving to RAF Mepal in September.
with a Heavy Conversion Unit arriving from RAF Leicester East
, which stayed until January 5, 1948 when it moved to RAF Dishforth
. Syerston was taken over by Flying Training Command
on the 1 February 1948 when No.22 Flying School arrived from RAF Ouston
which trained pilots for the Fleet Air Arm
(FAA). Other nearby airfields used for flying circuits were RAF Newton
, RAF Wymeswold
and Tollerton
airfield (now Nottingham Airport
). The training school became No 2 Flying Training School in 1955. In November 1953, Percival Provost
s began being used, being replaced by the (Hunting Percival
) Jet Provost
in 1959. The flying training school was disbanded on January 16, 1970 when the need for pilots had diminished, and the station lay vacant.
At Home display.
moved to Syerston, and have been there since, later joined by 643 VGS. 643 VGS have been at RAF Syerston since 10 Oct 1992. This has been their longest home yet, but it was only meant to be a short term stay. Most of the buildings were demolished in 1997.
From 1990 Nottingham University Gliding Club
, when affiliated with the Four Counties Gliding Club, used the airfield until 2004, when both moved to RAF Barkston Heath
. In 2005, Nottingham University Gliding Club
affiliated themselves to Cranwell Gliding Club at RAF Cranwell
, when Four Counties Gliding Club moved to RAF Wittering
.
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 in the parish of Flintham
Flintham
Flintham is a village in Nottinghamshire within a few miles of Newark, opposite RAF Syerston on the A46. It has a population of circa 650 and a school, village hall, church and cricket pavilion. It has one pub, the on . It also has a community shop run by volunteers called Flintham Community Shop,...
, near Newark, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
. It was used as a bomber base during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Bomber Command
Syerston was built as part of the bomber expansion in the late thirties, but did not open until December 1, 1940. The first aircraft were Vickers WellingtonVickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
s crewed by Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
flyers. In July 1941 they were replaced by members of the RCAF
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
flying Handley-Page Hampdens. From December 1941 until May 5, 1942, the base was closed whilst a concrete runway was built with two T2 hangars. When it re-opened, it became part of No. 5 Group
No. 5 Group RAF
No. 5 Group was a Royal Air Force bomber group of the Second World War, led during the latter part by AVM Sir Ralph Cochrane.-History:The Group was formed on 1 September 1937 with headquarters at RAF Mildenhall....
. In 1942 several squadrons of Avro Lancaster
Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
aircraft arrived. In 1943 Bill Reid of 61 Squadron won a Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
on a mission flown from Syerston.
On November 17, 1943 the operational squadrons departed, and the station was used for bomber crew training, led by Captain Robert White. It became known as the Lancaster Finishing School in January 1944. From November 1943 to July 1944 there was also a Bombing and Gunnery Defence Training Flight in attendance with several Wellingtons, Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
s, Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
s, plus a few Martinet
Miles Martinet
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Amos, Peter. and Brown, Don Lambert. Miles Aircraft Since 1925, Volume 1. London: Putnam Aeronautical, 2000. ISBN 0-85177-787-0....
tug aircraft, all employed in brushing up the skills of air gunners on air to air exercises. The LFS left on April 1, 1945, with No. 49 Squadron arriving from RAF Fulbeck
RAF Fulbeck
RAF Station Fulbeck is a former World War II airfield in Lincolnshire, England. The airfield is located approximately east-northeast of Radcliffe on Trent; about north-northwest of London...
later in the month who only had one operation before leaving to RAF Mepal in September.
Post-war use
On October 25, 1945, the base became part of Transport CommandRAF Transport Command
RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967.-History:...
with a Heavy Conversion Unit arriving from RAF Leicester East
RAF Leicester East
Royal Air Force Station Leicester East, more commonly known as RAF Leicester East, , was a Royal Air Force airbase, near the village of Stoughton, east southeast of Leicester, Leicestershire...
, which stayed until January 5, 1948 when it moved to RAF Dishforth
RAF Dishforth
Dishforth Airfield is a Royal Air Force/British Army station in North Yorkshire, England. It is currently an Army Air Corps helicopter base and a Relief Landing Ground for RAF Linton-on-Ouse. It is located next to the A1 at Junction 49 with the A168. Dishforth airfield is built over part of the...
. Syerston was taken over by Flying Training Command
RAF Flying Training Command
Flying Training Command was an organization within the Royal Air Force which controlled units responsible for delivering flying training. The command's headquarters were at Shinfield Park, Reading in Berkshire.-History:...
on the 1 February 1948 when No.22 Flying School arrived from RAF Ouston
RAF Ouston
Royal Air Force Station Ouston, more commonly known as RAF Ouston, is a former air station that was located near the village of Heddon-on-the-Wall on Hadrian's Wall near Newcastle upon Tyne...
which trained pilots for the Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
(FAA). Other nearby airfields used for flying circuits were RAF Newton
RAF Newton
RAF Newton was a Royal Air Force station, 7 miles east of Nottingham, England. It was used briefly as a bomber base and then as a flying training school during World War II....
, RAF Wymeswold
RAF Wymeswold
RAF Wymeswold is a former Royal Air Force military airfield in Leicestershire, England.-History:It was opened on 16 May 1942 during the Second World War and was home to Wellington bombers amongst others...
and Tollerton
Tollerton, Nottinghamshire
Tollerton is a village situated in Rushcliffe just to the south of Nottingham, United Kingdom.The village is located in the Borough of Rushcliffe. The Parish Council of nine members runs local affairs and the population of the parish is registered as 1,776 residents.There is an annual village...
airfield (now Nottingham Airport
Nottingham Airport
Nottingham Airport is located in Tollerton, Nottinghamshire, England. It is situated south east of Nottingham City Centre, and signposted on the A52 at Trent Bridge and on the A606—this makes it one of the closest airports to a city centre in the UK...
). The training school became No 2 Flying Training School in 1955. In November 1953, Percival Provost
Percival Provost
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Angelucci, Enzo. World Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft. London: Jane's Publishing, 1981. ISBN 0-7106-0148-4....
s began being used, being replaced by the (Hunting Percival
Hunting Aircraft
Hunting Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer, that produced light training aircraft and initially designed the BAC 1-11 jet airliner. The company, based in Luton, merged with other companies to form the British Aircraft Corporation in 1959.-History:...
) Jet Provost
BAC Jet Provost
The BAC Jet Provost was a British jet-powered trainer aircraft used by the Royal Air Force from 1955 to 1993. The Jet Provost was also successfully exported, serving in many air forces worldwide....
in 1959. The flying training school was disbanded on January 16, 1970 when the need for pilots had diminished, and the station lay vacant.
Incidents
On 20 September 1958, the prototype Avro Vulcan VX770 crashed during a fly past at RAF Syerston Battle of BritainBattle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
At Home display.
- A Rolls RoyceRolls-Royce plcRolls-Royce Group plc is a global power systems company headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines , and also has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors. Through its defence-related activities...
test pilot was authorized to fly VX770 on an engine performance sortie with a fly past at the Battle of Britain display. The briefing was for the pilot to fly over the airfield twice at 200 –, flying at a speed of 250 knot. The Vulcan flew along the main 07/25 runway (now 06/24 due to magnetic shift) then started a roll to starboard and climbed slightly. Very shortly a kink appeared in the starboard mainplane leading edgeLeading edgeThe leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air; alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil section. The first is an aerodynamic definition, the second a structural one....
followed by a stripping of the leading edge of the wing. The starboard wingtipWing tipA wing tip is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft.Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of shapes, including:* Squared-off...
then broke followed by a collapse of the main sparSpar (aviation)In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings whilst on the ground...
and wing structure. Subsequently, the Vulcan went into a dive and began rolling with the starboard wing on fire and struck the ground at the taxiwayTaxiwayA taxiway is a path on an airport connecting runways with ramps, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller airports sometimes use gravel or grass....
of the end of runway 07. Three occupants of a controllers' caravan were killed by debris, a fourth being injured. All the crew of the Vulcan were killed. The crew were:Captain; Mr. K.R. Sturt, 2nd Pilot; Mr. R.W. Ford, Navigator; Flt. Lt. R.M. Parrott, Flight Engineer; Mr. W.E. Howkins. The cause of the crash was pilot errorPilot errorPilot error is a term used to describe the cause of an accident involving an airworthy aircraft where the pilot is considered to be principally or partially responsible...
; the captain flew the aircraft over the airfield at 410 knot, instead of the briefed 250 knot, and he had also descended to a height of 65 –. Rolling the Vulcan to starboard while flying at this speed, the aircraft was rolled at a rate of 15-20 degree/second while pulling up into a 3,000 ft a minute (914 m a minute) climb imposing a strain of between 2-3g where it should have remained below 1.25g. The VX770 was a prototype and was not as strong as later production models, indeed bucklingBucklingIn science, buckling is a mathematical instability, leading to a failure mode.Theoretically, buckling is caused by a bifurcation in the solution to the equations of static equilibrium...
of the leading edge in this plane was a known problem and was the primary reason for low flight performance limits being imposed.
Current units
In January 1975 the Royal Air Force Central Gliding School and 644 Volunteer Gliding SquadronVolunteer Gliding Squadron
Volunteer Gliding Squadrons are Royal Air Force Flying Training Units , operating military Viking TX.1 and Vigilant T.1 gliders to train Air Cadets from the Combined Cadet Force and the Air Training Corps....
moved to Syerston, and have been there since, later joined by 643 VGS. 643 VGS have been at RAF Syerston since 10 Oct 1992. This has been their longest home yet, but it was only meant to be a short term stay. Most of the buildings were demolished in 1997.
From 1990 Nottingham University Gliding Club
Nottingham University Gliding Club
The Nottingham University Gliding Club is the gliding club of the University of Nottingham. The aim of the club is to provide affordable flying in order to introduce as many members as possible to unpowered flight...
, when affiliated with the Four Counties Gliding Club, used the airfield until 2004, when both moved to RAF Barkston Heath
RAF Barkston Heath
RAF Barkston Heath is a Royal Air Force station near Grantham, Lincolnshire.RAF Barkston Heath is the home of the Defence Elementary Flying Training School which, for a period between approximately 1995-2010 operated the Slingsby T67M260 Firefly two seat trainer. The school now operates the Grob...
. In 2005, Nottingham University Gliding Club
Nottingham University Gliding Club
The Nottingham University Gliding Club is the gliding club of the University of Nottingham. The aim of the club is to provide affordable flying in order to introduce as many members as possible to unpowered flight...
affiliated themselves to Cranwell Gliding Club at RAF Cranwell
RAF Cranwell
RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. It is currently commanded by Group Captain Dave Waddington...
, when Four Counties Gliding Club moved to RAF Wittering
RAF Wittering
RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire is the nearest town, the runways of RAF Wittering cross the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire....
.
Operational units and aircraft
- No. 49 Squadron RAFNo. 49 Squadron RAFNo. 49 Squadron was a bomber squadron of the Royal Air Force from 1938 to 1965. They received their first Hampdens in September 1938.They were a famous Hampden squadron; with the only Victoria Cross awarded Rod Learoyd amongst the ones who served on the type....
(April 22, 1945-September 28, 1945) - Avro Lancaster I & IIIAvro LancasterThe Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other... - No. 61 Squadron RAF (May 5, 1942-November 17, 1943) - Avro Lancaster I, II & IIIAvro LancasterThe Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...
- No. 106 Squadron RAFNo. 106 Squadron RAFNo. 106 Squadron RAF was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force squadron active from 1917 until 1919. It was also operative during World War II and in the post war period until 1963.- Establishment and early service :...
(September 1942-November 17, 1943) - Avro Lancaster I & IIIAvro LancasterThe Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other... - No. 304 Squadron RAFNo. 304 Polish Bomber SquadronNo. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron was a Polish World War II bomber unit. It fought alongside the Royal Air Force under their operational Command and operated from airbases in the United Kingdom, serving as a bomber unit in RAF Bomber Command, as an anti-submarine unit in RAF Coastal Command and as a...
(December 1940-July 20, 1941) - Vickers Wellington ICVickers WellingtonThe Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a... - No. 305 Squadron RAFNo. 305 Polish Bomber SquadronNo. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron "Ziemia Wielpolska" was a Polish World War II bomber unit.-History:The last of the Polish bomber squadrons, 305 Squadron was formed at RAF Bramcote, Warwickshire on 29 August 1940...
(December 1940-July 20, 1941) - Vickers Wellington ICVickers WellingtonThe Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a... - No. 408 Squadron RCAF (July 1941-December 8, 1941) - Handley Page HampdenHandley Page HampdenThe Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was a British twin-engine medium bomber of the Royal Air Force serving in the Second World War. With the Whitley and Wellington, the Hampden bore the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-plane...