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RAF Binbrook

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Coordinates: 53°26′45″N 000°12′32″W / 53.44583°N 0.20889°W / 53.44583; -0.20889
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RAF Binbrook

RAAF ground crew posing with the Lancaster bomber G for George in 1944
Summary
Airport typeMilitary
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorRoyal Air Force
LocationBrookenby, Lincolnshire
Built1939
In useJune 1940 – 1942
1943 – April 1988
Coordinates53°26′45″N 000°12′32″W / 53.44583°N 0.20889°W / 53.44583; -0.20889
Map
RAF Binbrook is located in Lincolnshire
RAF Binbrook
RAF Binbrook
Location in Lincolnshire
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
02/20 7,500 0 Asphalt
00/00 0 0 Asphalt
00/00 0 0 Asphalt

Royal Air Force Binbrook or RAF Binbrook was a Royal Air Force station, now closed, located near Binbrook, Lincolnshire, England. The old domestic site (married quarters) has been renamed to become the village of Brookenby. RAF Binbrook was primarily used by Bomber Command in World War II. The Central Fighter Establishment moved to Binbrook from RAF West Raynham between 1959 and 1962 and two Lightning squadrons were stationed there between 1965 and 1988.

History

Bombers

RAF Binbrook was opened as a Bomber Command station in June 1940 during the Second World War[1] and home to No. 12 Squadron RAF, with Vickers Wellington Mk II and III, between 3 July 1940 and 25 September 1942 before it moved to RAF Wickenby.[2] Another squadron stationed at Binbrook before 1942 was 142, with the Fairey Battle, from 3 July 1940 to 12 August 1940 and from 6 September 1940 to 26 November 1941 when it moved to RAF Waltham. The squadron used the Battle until November 1940 before switching to the Wellington Mk II.[3]

RAF Binbrook closed in 1942 for the installation of three concrete runways, reopening in 1943 as home to No. 460 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force.[4] Post-war, Binbrook was home to a number of distinguished RAF bomber squadrons, notably IX, 12, 101 and 617, all four of which were there for more than a decade.[5][6] The airfield saw the start of the RAF's transition to jet bombers with the arrival of the first English Electric Canberras.[5]

Fighters

After the departure of IX and 12 squadrons in 1959, 64 Squadron with Gloster Javelin all-weather fighters moved to Binbrook together with part of the Central Fighter Establishment from RAF West Raynham. 85 Target Facilities Squadron also moved to Binbrook with a mixture of Canberras and Gloster Meteors.[5]

Lightnings

English Electric Lightnings moved to Binbrook in 1965 with 5 Squadron, and 1972 with 11 Squadron. 5 and 11 were the last two RAF Lightning squadrons. 5 Squadron re-equipped with the Tornado F3 at RAF Coningsby early in 1988, leaving 11 Squadron to continue at Binbrook for a few more months with the remaining few Lightnings in RAF service. When 11 Squadron disbanded to also re-equip with the Tornado F3 at RAF Leeming, the Lightning was withdrawn from service.

Closure

The former officers' mess at RAF Binbrook in 2009

The station closed as a main operating base in the 1980s, although it continued as a relief landing ground for RAF Scampton into the early 1990s before eventually closing and all military activity ceasing, it was subsequently sold off for development.[5][7]

The control tower and adjacent fire section were demolished in 1995. In the mid-90s, Lincolnshire Police and Humberside Police used the site to teach riot control techniques to its police officers.

As of 2012 a majority of the accommodation blocks have been demolished. The hangars and offices are used as an industrial estate housing many businesses. The flight line is fenced off and used for storage of mainly ex-military equipment awaiting resale. The married quarters are private housing, forming the new village of Brookenby. There is also a memorial to 460 Squadron (RAAF) consisting of a memorial plaque and benches around the former ident square.

The following units were here at some point:[8]

In 1989 RAF Binbrook alongside RAF Little Rissington served as the USAAF airbase for filming for the 1990 movie Memphis Belle.[9] Some of the aircrew of the original "Memphis Belle", a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, visited Binbrook during the filming, and met the cast of the movie. Robert Hanson, the airplane's radio operator, said the cast were ". . . not quite as good-looking as we were . . . but they are young and enthusiastic -- exactly like we were.”[10]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Halpenny 1991, p. 42.
  2. ^ Jefford 2001, p. 28.
  3. ^ Jefford 2001, p. 61.
  4. ^ Halpenny 1991, p. 43.
  5. ^ a b c d Halpenny 1991, pp. 46–47.
  6. ^ Jefford 2001, pp. 30–31, 57, 101–102.
  7. ^ Halpenny 1984, p. ?
  8. ^ "Binbrook". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  9. ^ Halpenny 1991, p. 219.
  10. ^ Myrna Oliver. "Robert Hanson, 85; Last Living Crewman of the Memphis Belle." 10 October 2005. Los Angeles Times.

Bibliography

  • Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore. Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2. Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1981. ISBN 0-85059-484-7.
    Later published (With 16 page Update Supplement) as:
    • Action Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1991. ISBN 1-85260-405-0.
  • Jefford, C.G. RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Binbrook.
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