RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force station near
BensonBenson is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England. It is about north of Wallingford at the foot of the Chiltern Hills at the confluence of a chalk stream and the River Thames, next to Benson Lock...
in
South OxfordshireSouth Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....
,
EnglandEngland 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 home to the
Royal Air ForceThe 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...
's support helicopters, the
Aérospatiale PumaThe Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma is a four-bladed, twin-engined medium transport/utility helicopter. The Puma was originally manufactured by Sud Aviation of France.-Development:...
and the EH-101 Merlin, known as the Puma HC.Mk 1 and the Merlin HC.Mk 3 and Mk 3a.
Benson is currently home to 28 (AC) Squadron, 78 Squadron, 33 Squadron, 230 Squadron and also to
Oxford University Air SquadronThe Oxford University Air Squadron, abbreviated O. U. Air Squadron, Oxford UAS, or OUAS, formed in 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Oxford and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve....
and No 6 Air Experience Flight. In January 2008, 78 Squadron was formally stood up at RAF Benson to create, alongside 28 (AC) Squadron, a Merlin Force. Also included in the Merlin Force is the Merlin Force Engineering Squadron. No 78 Sqn were previously a
Sea KingThe Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines , British made anti-submarine warfare systems and a...
/Chinook Squadron based at
RAF Mount PleasantRAF Mount Pleasant is a military base for the Royal Air Force in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The facility is part of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands...
in the
Falkland IslandsThe Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
). In November 2009, 230 Squadron with its Puma helicopters took residence here having been posted to RAF Station Aldergrove, in Northern Ireland since the early 1990s. Previous units once located there include the Queen's Flight.
The
Chiltern Air Support UnitThe Chiltern Air Support Unit are a police helicopter unit that operates under a consortium agreement between Bedfordshire Police, Thames Valley Police and Hertfordshire Police.-History:...
helicopter (a
Eurocopter EC 135The Eurocopter EC135 is a twin-engine civil helicopter produced by Eurocopter, widely used amongst police and ambulance services and for executive transport. It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules .-Development:...
) and the Thames Valley and Chiltern
air ambulanceAn air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....
helicopter (a
Eurocopter EC 135The Eurocopter EC135 is a twin-engine civil helicopter produced by Eurocopter, widely used amongst police and ambulance services and for executive transport. It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules .-Development:...
, call sign "Helimed24") are also both located here as lodger units. The Old Station Nursery is also located on the domestic site at Benson - it is open to all families from the RAF station and the local civilian community (for further information go to www.theoldstationnursery.co.uk).
The airfield is a well-known frost hollow, often recording the coldest temperatures in the UK. In early 2009 the Met Office at RAF Benson recorded a temperature of -11.8 degrees, and on 7 January 2010, -17.1 degrees.
History
Building work for RAF Benson began in 1937. RAF Benson was officially opened on Saturday 1 April 1939 and its first aircraft were two squadrons of
Fairey BattleThe Fairey Battle was a British single-engine light bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company in the late 1930s for the Royal Air Force. The Battle was powered by the same Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine that gave contemporary British fighters high performance; however, the Battle was weighed...
light bombers which began to arrive a few days later. No 103 Squadron RAF started flying in on 3 April 1939, to be joined in the next few months by No 150 Squadron RAF.
The Battles were replaced in December 1940 with
Vickers 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...
medium bomberA medium bomber is a bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium bombloads over medium distances; the name serves to distinguish them from the larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers...
s. At the same time the
SpitfireThe 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 of
No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit RAFNo. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit was a flying unit of the Royal Air Force, first formed in 1940.-History:The origins of 1 PRU date to the "Heston Flight" formed on 24 September 1939, when the Royal Air Force took over Sidney Cotton's Aircraft Operating Company, based at Heston Aerodrome...
an
RAF Coastal CommandRAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force . Founded in 1936, it was the RAF's premier maritime arm, after the Royal Navy's secondment of the Fleet Air Arm in 1937. Naval aviation was neglected in the inter-war period, 1919–1939, and as a consequence the service did not receive...
unit arrived. It gained considerable fame as the home of photographic reconnaissance for the remainder of
World War IIWorld 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...
. In June 1943, No 1 PRU was formed into No 106 Wing, with five squadrons (No’s 540 to 544 inclusive) and an Operational Training Unit. The Wing was elevated to as the No 106 (PU) Group status in April 1944, with two Mosquito and two Spitfire Squadrons (No 543 Squadron having been disbanded when the aircraft strength per Squadron was increased). The No 106 Group was assigned to the Coastal Command's Photo Reconnaissance assets with the whole of Northern Europe as its operational area.
Its
Supermarine SpitfireThe 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...
and
de Havilland MosquitoThe de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...
aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, for example bringing back battle damage assessment pictures after
Operation ChastiseOperation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis...
. This period of the station's history is reflected in the use of a full-scale replica of a wartime Spitfire PR.Mk XI on the main gate - this having replaced a genuine Spitfire PR.MK XIX that has been restored to flying status.
Vera LynnDame Vera Lynn, DBE is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during World War II. During the war she toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops...
, 'the forces Sweetheart', visited RAF Benson to entertain the troops, reportedly singing
"The White Cliffs of Dover" The White Cliffs of Dover" is a popular World War II song made famous by Vera Lynn with her 1942 recording—one of her best known recordings. Written in 1941 by Walter Kent and Nat Burton, the song was also among the most popular Second World War tunes...
" at the station.
The station retained a reconnaisance role for some years after the war, with
Avro 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...
, Spitfire, Mosquito,
Gloster MeteorThe Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' first operational jet. It first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force...
PR.Mk 10 and
English Electric CanberraThe English Electric Canberra is a first-generation jet-powered light bomber manufactured in large numbers through the 1950s. The Canberra could fly at a higher altitude than any other bomber through the 1950s and set a world altitude record of 70,310 ft in 1957...
PR.Mk 3 aircraft.
On 1 June 1962 No 105 Squadron RAF reformed at the station, flying
Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 ArgosyThe Armstrong Whitworth Argosy was a British post-war military transport/cargo aircraft and was the last aircraft produced by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft...
s as part of the
RAF Transport CommandRAF 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:...
fleet. In January 1968, 114 and 267 Squadrons were flying Argosys as a Wing on the station.
The King's Flight moved from
RAF HendonHendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in Hendon, north London, England that, between 1908 and 1968, was an important centre for aviation.It was situated in Colindale, seven miles north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became "the Charing Cross of the UK's international air routes", but for the...
and would stay (renamed as the Queen's Flight after the death of King
George VIGeorge VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
) until after the war, moving to
RAF NortholtRAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force station situated in South Ruislip, east by northeast of Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. Approximately north of London Heathrow Airport, the station also handles a large number of private civil flights...
in 1995.
The station is today the home to four squadrons of Support Helicopters, No 28 Squadron RAF, No 78 Squadron RAF with
MerlinMerlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the Arthurian legend. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures...
helicopters and No 33 Squadron RAF and No 230 Squadron RAF with
PumaThe Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma is a four-bladed, twin-engined medium transport/utility helicopter. The Puma was originally manufactured by Sud Aviation of France.-Development:...
helicopters. RAF Benson is also home to the Grob Tutor light aircraft of the Oxford University Air Squadron RAF. Also a flying club exists at RAF Benson which consists of service and civilian personnel. Massive investment has been made in a modern flight simulator facility for the Chinook (not located at Benson), Merlin and Puma. RAF Benson is now also home to a mobile Catering Support Unit and the
Chiltern Air Support UnitThe Chiltern Air Support Unit are a police helicopter unit that operates under a consortium agreement between Bedfordshire Police, Thames Valley Police and Hertfordshire Police.-History:...
(Police) bases one of its
Eurocopter EC 135The Eurocopter EC135 is a twin-engine civil helicopter produced by Eurocopter, widely used amongst police and ambulance services and for executive transport. It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules .-Development:...
helicopters at Benson. A yellow MBB Bo 105 belonging to the Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust (headquartered at Grove Park), Maidenhead, moved from White Waltham to Benson in January 2007.
The future of RAF Benson was in doubt for some time, while Project Belvedere was looking into closing at least one of Joint Helicopter Command's airfields. These included Benson, Odiham, Aldergrove, Yeovilton, Middle Wallop, Wattisham and Dishforth; with the Support Helicopters based at RAF Benson being considered for a move to RAF Lyneham. Belvedere has been abandoned on cost grounds, and Benson's future is now believed to be safe.
Operators
-
- 28 (AC) Squadron (Merlins)
- 78 Squadron (Merlins)
- 33 Squadron (Pumas)
- 230 Squadron (Pumas)
- No 606 (Chiltern) Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force
- Medium Support Helicopter Aircrew Training Facility
- Joint Helicopter Force Head Quarters
Joint Helicopter Command is a tri-service organisation uniting military helicopters of the British Armed Forces for command and coordination purposes...
- Meteorological Unit
- Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
Air SquadronUniversity Air Squadrons are training units of the Royal Air Force which primarily provide basic flying training, force development and adventurous training to undergraduate students at British universities...
- No 6 Air Experience Flight
- Merlin Force Engineering Squadron
External links