RAF Henlow

Royal Air Force Henlow or more simply RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine and the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG), and was home to the Signals Museum, which closed in June 2024. It formerly hosted light aircraft flying and 616 Volunteer Gliding Squadron. The Ministry of Defence announced on 6 September 2016 that the base is set to be closed. As of January 2024, the closure and disposal of the station is expected to take place from 2026. Flying activity ceased in July 2020.

RAF Henlow
Henlow, Bedfordshire in England
RAF Henlow from above
Labor Arma Ministrat (Latin for 'Labour supplies the arms')[1]
RAF Henlow Shown within Bedfordshire
Coordinates	52°00′56″N 000°18′12″W
Type	RAF training station
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	No. 2 Group
Website	Official website
Site history
Built	1918 (1918)
Built by	McAlpine (1918) various since
In use	1918–Present
Garrison information
Current commander	Wing Commander Chris Brooke
Occupants	RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine Joint Arms Control Implementation Group
Airfield information
Identifiers	ICAO: EGWE
Elevation	51.2 metres (168 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 02/20 1,199 metres (3,934 ft) Grass 13/31 1,157 metres (3,796 ft) Grass 08R/26L 979 metres (3,212 ft) Grass 08L/26R 736 metres (2,415 ft) Grass
Source': RAF Henlow Defence Aerodrome Manual[2]

History

Henlow was chosen as a military aircraft repair depot in 1917 and was built by MacAlpine during 1918.^[3] Four Belfast Hangars were built and are now listed buildings.^[4] Henlow Camp, a civilian settlement, grew up around the base at that time.^[5]

Originally a repair depot for aircraft from the Western Front, the Station officially opened on 18 May 1918 when Lt Col Robert Francis Stapleton-Cotton arrived with a party of 40 airmen from Farnborough. In May 1920, RAF Henlow became the first parachute testing centre^[6] and was later joined by another parachute unit from RAF Northolt. Parachute testing was undertaken with Vimy aircraft and parachutists hanging off the wings and allowing the chute to deploy and enable them to drift back to the ground.^[7] The Officers Engineering School moved there in 1924 from Farnborough.^[8]

After the First World War, Henlow was home to four aircraft squadrons; No. 19 Squadron RAF, No. 23 Squadron RAF, No. 43 Squadron RAF and No. 80 Squadron RAF.^[9] Between 1932 and 1933, Sir Frank Whittle was a student at the RAF technical College on the base.^[10] He later spent some time in charge of aero engine testing on the base before being sent to Cambridge.^[11] An additional hangar was added to the inventory in the 1930s and this too is now listed.^[12]

During the Second World War Henlow was used to assemble the Hawker Hurricanes which had been built at the Hurricane factory operated by Canadian Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario, Canada, under the leadership of Elsie MacGill.^[13] After test flying in Fort William, they were disassembled and sent to Henlow in shipping containers and reassembled. During Operation Quickforce in 1941, 100 fitters from the base were deployed onto carriers which were shipping Hurricane fighters to Malta.^[14] The finished Hurricanes were completed on the decks of the carriers and flown out to Malta.^[15] Over 1,000 Hurricanes (about 10% of the total) were built by Canadian Car and Foundry and shipped to Henlow.^[16] Henlow was also used as a repair base for many aircraft types under the direction of No. 13 Maintenance Unit.^[17]

The empty packing crates that the Hurricane aircraft were shipped in were used to make the original control tower (which has now been replaced by a more modern two-storey Portakabin type).^[18] The original tower and parts of the airfield were seen in several scenes in the 1969 war film 'The Battle of Britain'.^[19]

A major RAF technical training college was also formed at Henlow in 1947. This was formed from the RAF School of Aeronautical Engineering, formerly at RAF Farnborough, and its purpose was to train cadets and engineering officers.^[20] The college was amalgamated with RAF College Cranwell in 1965.^[21] The RAF Officer Cadet Training Unit then moved in, but this also moved to Cranwell in 1980.^[22]

Henlow then hosted the RAF Signals Engineering Establishment and the Radio Engineering Unit, established in 1980. In 1983, the Land Registry took over part of the site.^[23]

In December 2011, RAF Henlow along with 14 other Ministry of Defence sites in the United Kingdom were designated as being dangerously radioactive. The 15 bases were poisoned by "radium that was used to coat the dials of aircraft...so that they could be seen in the dark" during the Second World War.^[24]

Administratively, RAF Henlow was part of a combined base, RAF Brampton Wyton Henlow, until RAF Brampton was closed in 2013.^[25]

Flying activity ceased in July 2020.^[26]

Based units

Notable units based at RAF Henlow.^[27][28][29]

Royal Air Force

No. 2 Group (Air Combat Support)

• Air Security Force
  • Forensic Exploitation Flight
    • Digital Forensic Team
    • Scientific Support Unit
• RAF Medical Services
  • RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine
    • Centre of Aerospace Medicine Headquarters
    • Aviation Medicine Wing
    • Occupational and Environmental Medicine Wing
    • Support Wing

British Army

1st (United Kingdom) Division

• 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade
  • Outreach Group

Strategic Command

Directorate of Overseas Bases

• Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG)

Former units

The following units were here at some point:^[30]

• No. 19 Squadron RAF
• No. 23 Squadron RAF
• No. 43 Squadron RAF
• No. 80 Squadron RAF
• No. 1 Air Stores Park
• No. 1 AACU 'X' Flight
• No. 1 AACU 'Y' Flight
• No. 1 AACU 'Z' Flight
• No. 2 Air Stores Park
• No. 2 RAF Depot
• No. 2 Salvage Centre
• No. 3 Air Stores Park
• No. 3 Ferry Pool RAF
• No. 3 Salvage Centre
• No. 4 Salvage Centre
• No. 5 (Eastern) Aircraft Repair Depot
• No. 6 Air Stores Park
• No. 7 Air Stores Park
• No. 13 Maintenance Unit RAF
• No. 13 School of Technical Training RAF
• No. 14 School of Technical Training RAF
• No. 20 Air Stores Park
• No. 23 Wing Servicing Unit RAF
• No. 43 Group Communication Flight
• No. 49 Maintenance Unit RAF
• No. 106 Gliding School RAF
• No. 616 Gliding School RAF became No. 616 Volunteer Gliding School RAF
• No. 1959 Reserve Air Observation Post Flight RAF
• No. 1961 Reserve Air Observation Post Flight RAF
• No. 2709 Squadron RAF Regiment
• No. 2727 Squadron RAF Regiment
• Home Aircraft Depot
• Inland Area Aircraft Depot
• Parachute Test Unit (Ministry of Supply)
• Pilotless Aircraft Section RAF
• Queen Bee Flight RAF
• Rapier Cold Trials Unit
• RAF School of Aeronautical Engineering (Officers)
• Signals Development Unit RAF became Radio Engineering Unit
• Signals Museum
• Tactical Police Wing
• Tactical Police Sqn

Signals Museum

The Signals Museum, focused on the development of electronic communications by the RAF since the First World War, was established in 1999.^[31] The museum closed permanently on 8 June 2024.^[32]

Future

On 6 September 2016, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced the planned closure of RAF Henlow, with a disposal date of 2020.^[33] By 2019, a staged drawdown and closure was expected to take place between 2020 and 2023.^[34] In January 2024, the MOD indicated that the closure and disposal would take place from 2026.^[35]

See also

• List of Royal Air Force stations

References

1. Pine, L G (1983). A dictionary of mottoes. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. p. 124. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
2. "RAF Halton Defence Aerodrome Manual (DAM)". RAF Henlow. Military Aviation Authority. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
3. Bowyer 1983, p. 165.
4. "Non-inhabited listed buildings on the MOD UK estate: 2015". Gov.uk. Ministry of Defence. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
5. Christopher Paul, G. J. (2012). Aviator Extraordinaire: My Story. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1848849013.
6. Robertson, Bruce (1978). The RAF – a pictorial history. London: Robert Hale. p. 48. ISBN 0-7091-6607-9.
7. Philpott, Ian (2005). "RAF stations, airfields and other establishments". The Royal Air Forces; An Encyclopedia of the Inter-War Years, 1918–1929. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. p. 241. ISBN 1-84415-154-9.
8. Bowyer 1983, p. 166.
9. Halley, James J (1985). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force. Tonbridge: Air Britain. pp. 41–119. ISBN 0-85130-083-9.
10. Smith 1999, p. 123.
11. "Royal Air Force Henlow". Forces Publishing. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
12. Historic England. "Building 190 (Coupled service shed), RAF Henlow (Grade II) (1391624)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
13. Smith 1999, p. 126.
14. Historic England. "Buildings 186, 187, 188 and 189 (Aircraft Hangars), RAF Henlow (1391623)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
15. Historic England. "BUILDING 370 WITH 330 (OFFICER'S MESS), RAF HENLOW (1391625)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 12 September 2016.
16. Bowyer 1983, p. 167.
17. Smith 1999, p. 124.
18. "Henlow". Control Towers. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
19. "RAF Henlow at 90" (PDF). raf.mod.uk. Royal Air Force. p. 52. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
20. Armitage, Michael (1999). "Into the Jet Age". The Royal Air Force (2 ed.). London: Cassell & Co. p. 185. ISBN 0-304-35312-4.
21. Pitchfork, Graham (2008). The Royal Air Force day by day. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. p. 389. ISBN 978-0-7509-4309-3.
22. Haslam, E. B. (1982). History of Royal Air Force Cranwell (PDF). HM Stationery Office. p. 123. ISBN 978-0117723597.
23. Smith 1999, p. 128.
24. Edwards, Rob (20 December 2011). "MoD reveals 15 radioactive UK sites". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
25. "RAF Wyton". Royal Air Force. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
26. "Flying Info – RAF Henlow". RAF. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
27. "RAF Henlow - Who's Based Here?". Royal Air Force. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
28. "11th Security Force Assistance Brigade". The British Army. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
29. "Directorate of Overseas Bases". GOV.UK. 8 February 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
30. "Henlow – Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust UK". www.abct.org.uk. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
31. "Signals Museum at RAF Henlow invites public to open day". Bedford Times. 23 August 2015. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
32. "RAF Henlow Signals Museum to close". Radio Society of Great Britain. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
33. "Ministry of Defence to sell 13 sites for 17,000 homes". BBC News. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
34. "Defence Estate Optimisation Programme Update - February 2019". GOV.UK. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
35. "RAF Henlow – Question for Ministry of Defence (UIN 9721)". UK Parliament. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.

Bibliography

• Bowyer, Michael. Action Stations 6; Military airfields of the Cotswolds and central Midlands. Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK: Patrick Stephen Publishing, 1983. ISBN 0-85059-529-0.
• Smith, Graham (1999). Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire Airfields in the Second World War. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 1-85306-585-4.

External links

• Official website
• RAF Signals Museum
• UK Military Aeronautical Information Publication – Henlow (EGWE)