RAF Bircham Newton was a
Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
airfield in the west of the
countyA county is a land area of local government within a country. A county may have cities and towns within its area. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count .Counts are called earls in post-Celtic Britain, Ireland and France—the term is from Old...
of
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast, including The Wash. The county town is Norwich...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, eight miles west of
FakenhamFakenham is a town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, some north east of King's Lynn, south west of Cromer, and north west of Norwich....
.
The site was first used during the First World War and received the largest British bomber of the time, the
Handley Page V/1500The Handley Page V/1500 was a British night-flying heavy bomber built by Handley Page towards the end of the First World War. It was a large four-engined biplane, which resembled a larger version of Handley Page's earlier O/100 and O/400 bombers, intended to bomb Berlin from East Anglian airfields...
. They would have carried out bombing missions against
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
but the
ArmisticeAn armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was arranged before any missions were actually flown.
The airfield was equipped with one aircraft repair shed and three double bay general service sheds, although these had been demolished by 1937.
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RAF Bircham Newton was a
Royal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the United Kingdom's air force, the oldest independent air force in the world. Formed on 1 April 1918, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history ever since, playing a large part in World War II and in more recent conflicts.The RAF operates almost 1,109...
airfield in the west of the
countyA county is a land area of local government within a country. A county may have cities and towns within its area. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count .Counts are called earls in post-Celtic Britain, Ireland and France—the term is from Old...
of
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast, including The Wash. The county town is Norwich...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, eight miles west of
FakenhamFakenham is a town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, some north east of King's Lynn, south west of Cromer, and north west of Norwich....
.
History
The site was first used during the First World War and received the largest British bomber of the time, the
Handley Page V/1500The Handley Page V/1500 was a British night-flying heavy bomber built by Handley Page towards the end of the First World War. It was a large four-engined biplane, which resembled a larger version of Handley Page's earlier O/100 and O/400 bombers, intended to bomb Berlin from East Anglian airfields...
. They would have carried out bombing missions against
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
but the
ArmisticeAn armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was arranged before any missions were actually flown.
The airfield was equipped with one aircraft repair shed and three double bay general service sheds, although these had been demolished by 1937. It had two Belfast hangars, three C Type hangars, three Bellman hangars, and ten Blister hangars.
It operated through the Second World War as part of No. 16 Group RAF as part of Coastal Command.
No. 206 Squadron RAFNo. 206 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit employed, until 2005, in the maritime patrol role with the Nimrod MR.2 at RAF Kinloss, Moray. It was announced in December 2004 that 206 Squadron would disband on 1 April 2005, with half of its crews being redistributed to Nos. 120 and 201 Squadrons, also...
was one of the squadrons being based there, on maritime patrol duties. Two satellite airfields,
RAF DockingRAF Docking was a RAF Station of the Second World War a few miles from Bircham Newton in Norfolk.It was a satellite airfield for the RAF Coastal Command station at RAF Bircham Newton and was mostly used for overflow from there....
and
RAF LanghamThe former Royal Air Force Station Langham, more commonly known as RAF Langham was a Royal Air Force station, a military airbase, 15 miles North-West of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, from 1940 to 1961.-History:...
were opened to accommodate units.
In 1965 the airfield was used for evaluation trials of the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel V/STOL aircraft.
Current use
After closure as an operational airfield in 1966, the airfield became the home of the
Construction Industry Training BoardThe Construction Industry Training Board is the Industry Training Board for the UK Construction Industry. It was established on 21 July 1964 by the Industrial Training Order 1964...
. The runways have gone, but the majority of buildings on the site, including some hangars and the control tower, remain in use by the CITB. The control tower was scheduled for demolition in 2008 due to its poor condition.
Bircham Newton aircraft
Several types of aircraft have operated out of Bircham Newton, among these:
- Handley Page V/1500
The Handley Page V/1500 was a British night-flying heavy bomber built by Handley Page towards the end of the First World War. It was a large four-engined biplane, which resembled a larger version of Handley Page's earlier O/100 and O/400 bombers, intended to bomb Berlin from East Anglian airfields...
- Avro Aldershot
The Avro 549 Aldershot was a British single-engined bomber aircraft built by Avro.-Development and design:The Aldershot was designed to meet the 1920 British Specification 2/20 for a long-range day and night bomber to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Condor engine...
- Handley Page Hyderabad
The Handley Page H.P.24 Hyderabad was a British twin-engine biplane heavy bomber built by Handley Page which served with the Royal Air Force between 1925 and 1933...
- Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...
- Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5
The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 was a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. Although the first examples reached the Western Front before the Sopwith Camel, and it had a much better overall performance, problems with its Hispano-Suiza engine meant that there was a chronic...
- Vickers Vimy
The Vickers Vimy was a British heavy bomber aircraft of the First World War and post-First World War era. It achieved success as both a military and civil aircraft, setting several notable records in long-distance flights in the interwar period, the most celebrated of which was the first non-stop...
- Airco DH.9A
The Airco DH.9A was a British light bomber designed and first used shortly before the end of the First World War. Colloquially known as the "Ninak" , it served on in large numbers for the Royal Air Force following the end of the war, both at home and overseas, where it was used for colonial...
- Fairey IIIA
- Fairey Gordon
The Fairey Gordon was a British light bomber and utility aircraft.The Gordon was a conventional two-bay fabric-covered metal biplane. It was powered by 525-605 hp variants of the Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIa engine...
- Hawker Hart
The Hawker Hart was a British two-seater biplane light-bomber of the Royal Air Force , which had a prominent role during the RAF's inter-war period. The Hart was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and built by Hawker Aircraft...
- Hawker Hind
The British Hawker Hind was a Royal Air Force light bomber of the inter-war years produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was developed from the Hawker Hart day-bomber introduced in 1931.-Design and development:...
- Vickers Vildebeest
The Vickers Vildebeest and the similar Vickers Vincent were two very large two- to three-seat single-engine British biplanes designed and built by Vickers and used as a light bomber, torpedo bomber and in the army cooperation roles...
- Lockheed Hudson
The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
- Vickers 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...
- Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...
- Bristol Blenheim
The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was later adapted into a successful long-range and night fighter...
- Avro Anson
The Avro Anson was a British twin-engine, multi-role aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force, Fleet Air Arm and numerous other air forces during the Second World War and afterwards. Named for British admiral George Anson, it was originally designed for maritime reconnaissance, but was soon...
- Airspeed Oxford
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:...
- de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk
The de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk is a tandem, two-seat, single-engined primary trainer aircraft which was the standard primary trainer for the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Air Force and several other air forces through much of the post-Second World War years...
- Hawker Siddeley Kestrel
Bircham Newton Squadrons
- No. 7 Squadron RAF
No. 7 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the CH-47 Chinook HC.2 from RAF Odiham, Hampshire. 7 Sqn is earmarked as the operator of the eight Chinook HC.3s on order, if the problems with the helicopters are ever resolved.-Formation and early years:No...
- No. 53 Squadron RAF
-History:No. 53 squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at Catterick on 15 May 1916. Originally intended to be a training squadron, it was sent to France to operate reconnaissance in December that year. The squadron was equipped with BE2Es—swapped for the RE8 in April 1917...
- No. 59 Squadron RAF
- History :It was first formed at Narborough in Norfolk on 1 August 1916 as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. It was last disbanded at RAF Geilenkirchen in January 1961, by re-numbering as No. 3 Squadron, after serving in the interdictor bomber role flying the EE Canberra B.2 and B.8 since...
- No. 99 Squadron RAF
No. 99 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III from RAF Brize Norton, the RAF's air transport hub.-World War I:...
- No. 119 Squadron RAF
No. 119 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.During World War One, No. 119 Squadron was originally formed in January, 1918 at RAF Andover as a day bomber unit but never became operational and was disbanded in December of the same year.The squadron was...
- No. 166 Squadron RAF
No. 166 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron that formed just after the end of World War I. It was the first and one of only three to be equipped with the Handley Page V/1500 heavy bomber.-History:...
- No. 236 Squadron RAF
Formed on 20 August 1918 from No's 493, 515 & 516 Flights at Mullion. Equipped with DH6s, it carried out anti-submarine patrols along the coast until the end of the war, disbanding on 15 May 1919....
- No. 206 Squadron RAF
No. 206 Squadron was a Royal Air Force unit employed, until 2005, in the maritime patrol role with the Nimrod MR.2 at RAF Kinloss, Moray. It was announced in December 2004 that 206 Squadron would disband on 1 April 2005, with half of its crews being redistributed to Nos. 120 and 201 Squadrons, also...
- No. 207 Squadron RAF
- No. 235 Squadron RAF
No. 235 Squadron RAF was formed at Newlyn, on 20 August 1918 from No. 424 and 425 flights, and was equipped with Short 184 seaplanes. The squadron disbanded on 22 February 1919....
- No. 500 Squadron RAF
No. 500 Squadron RAF was formed as a Special Reserve squadron and later became part of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. It served in a number of roles before being disbanded in 1957.-History:...
- No. 320 Squadron RAF
No. 320 Squadron RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force during World War II formed from the personnel of the Royal Netherlands Naval Air Service.-Formation:...
- No. 407 Squadron RCAF
407 Maritime Patrol Squadron is a maritime patrol squadron of the Canadian Forces. It is located at 19 Wing Comox, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia operating the CP-140 Aurora.-History:...
, the "Demon Squadron"
External links
See also