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Middle Wallop Flying Station

(Redirected fromRAF Middle Wallop)

Middle Wallop Flying Stationis aBritish Armyairfield located near theHampshirevillage ofMiddle Wallop.It is the Headquarters for theArmy Air Corps,and the1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team,and is also used for Army Air Corps training. The base hosts2 (Training) Regiment AACand7 (Training) Regiment AACunder the umbrella of the Army Aviation Centre. 2 Regiment performs ground training; 7 Regiment trains aircrew on AAC aircraft after they complete basic training atRAF Shawbury.

Middle Wallop Flying Station
Middle Wallop,Stockbridge,Hampshire
An Army Air CorpsAgustaWestland Apache AH1at Middle Wallop.
Prepare
AAC Middle Wallop is located in Hampshire
AAC Middle Wallop
AAC Middle Wallop
Location within Hampshire
Coordinates51°08′56″N001°34′12″W/ 51.14889°N 1.57000°W/51.14889; -1.57000
TypeArmy Air Corps airfield
CodeMW
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorBritish Army
Controlled byArmy Air Corps
Site history
Built1939(1939)/40
In useRoyal Air Force (April 1940–1945 and 1946–1957)
Fleet Air Arm (1945–1946)
Army Air Corps (1957 – present)
Battles/warsEuropean theatre of World War II
Cold War
Airfield information
IdentifiersICAO:EGVP
Elevation90.5 metres (297 ft)AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
08/26 1,096 metres (3,596 ft) Grass
17/35 1,181 metres (3,875 ft) Grass
Source:Middle Wallop Defence Aerodrome Manual[1]
Aerial photograph of RAF Middle Wallop looking north, the control tower is in front of the technical site with five C-Type hangars upper right, 29 October 1946
Two AAC Britten-Norman Turbine Defender aircraft outside the hangars at Middle Wallop

The base is notable for having previously served as both a Royal Navy (asHMSFlycatcher) and aRoyal Air Force(as RAF Middle Wallop) controlled airfield, as well as an Army one.

History

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Early use

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The base was opened as RAF Middle Wallop, a training school for new pilots in 1940.[2]It was originally intended for bomber use; however, with theBattle of Britainbeing fought,No. 609 Squadron RAF,flying theSupermarine SpitfireIa, andNo. 238 Squadron RAFflying theHawker HurricaneI were moved to Middle Wallop.[2][3]

Among the fighter pilots who flew from here in the Battle of Britain were former journalistJohn Dundas[4](a veteran of theBattle of France,and brother of another notable RAF pilot,"Cocky" Dundas), and three remarkable Americans,"Red" Tobin,Andy Mamedoff,and"Shorty" Keough.[5]Keough, who was less than five feet tall, was reputed to be the shortest pilot serving in the RAF.[6]

In September 1940604 Squadron RAF,a specialist night fighter unit, received theBristol Beaufighter,equipped with four 20-mm cannon under the nose and improved Mark IV AI radio-location equipment. As one of the few Squadrons thus equipped, 604 squadron helped provide night time defence over the UK during the Blitz from late 1940 until mid-May 1941. In this time 50 air victories had been claimed by No. 604 Squadron, 14 by F/LJohn Cunningham.[7]

RAF Chilboltonwas designated the relief landing airfield for Middle Wallop, until it became a fully fledged Fighter Station in its own right, as the Battle of Britain progressed.[8][2]

In a post-war memoir, an RAF night-fighter pilot who began flying Beaufighters from Middle Wallop with 604 Sqdn in January 1942 recalls the grass airfield as presenting challenges for the pilots of the big fighters. He describes Middle Wallop as having:

...two runways of 1,400 and 800yd, which undulated so that their bumps would catch the unwary coming in to land. Ten tons of Beaufighter thus required a fair degree of accuracy in the approach speed. If you had 10-15mph too much on the clock as you came over the hedge, the aeroplane would then float for a hundred yards or so before touching down at 80mph, and thus use up the spare margin of distance available for stopping. Weak brakes then meant a trip through the far hedge, or an exciting ground loop. So we all quickly learned the value of precision flying and brought our aircraft in to land within 1 per cent of 105mph on the approach and 90mph over the hedge.[9]

Squadrons serving at Middle Wallop included:

USAAF use

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Middle Wallop was also used by theUnited States Army Air ForcesNinth Air Forceto house HeadquartersIX Fighter Command,beginning in November 1943. A month after the headquarters arrived, the67th Reconnaissance Groupwas moved fromRAF Membury.The move of the 67th Group was made in December 1943 so it would be in close proximity to IX FC Headquarters. The 67th Group flew the photographic versions of theLockheed P-38 Lightning(F-5) andNorth American P-51 Mustang(F-6) to fly artillery-adjustment, weather-reconnaissance, bomb-damage assessment, photographic-reconnaissance, and visual-reconnaissance missions to obtain photographs that aided theinvasion of the Continent.[31]

AfterD-Day,both the 67th RG moved to itsAdvanced Landing GroundatLe Molay-Littry(ALG A-9) and IX FC Headquarters moved to Les Obeaux, France in late June 1944 ending the USAAF presence at Middle Wallop. During the American use, the airfield was designated as USAAF Station 449, ID Code: MW.[32]

RAF / RNAS use

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Middle Wallop returned toRoyal Air Forceuse from July 1944 forNo. 418 Squadron RCAFand itsde Havilland Mosquitonight-fighters.[33]

In January 1945, in an exchange with the Royal Air Force, Middle Wallop was transferred toRoyal Navyuse, and became 'RNAS Middle Wallop'.HMSFlycatcher,the headquarters for theMobile Naval Air Base organisationthen moved in fromRNAS Ludham,Norfolk, which reverted to RAF use.[34]

In 1946, the Royal Air Force occupied Middle Wallop again.No. 164 Squadron RAFwith its Spitfires came and were renumbered toNo. 63 Squadron RAF.The following year, No. 227 OCU, an Armyair observation posttraining unit, was moved to the airfield. This was renamed as theAir Observation Post Schoolin 1950, and theLight Aircraft Schoolin 1952.[33]

Units

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The following units were also here at some point:[43]

Army Air Corps use

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In 1954 a Development Flight (CFS) with helicopters was formed there, this led to theJoint Experimental Helicopter Unitin 1955. On 1 September 1957, when British Army aviation became independent of the RAF, Middle Wallop was transferred to the new Army Air Corps with the former Light Aircraft School RAF becoming the Army Air Corps Centre. The centre was made up of the:[44]

  • Depot Regiment
  • Demonstration and Trials Squadron
  • Training Cell
  • 78th Army Education Centre
  • Standards department

The Army Air Corps Centre was previously theLight Aircraft School RAF(1953–57),[45]Air Observation Post School RAF(1950–53),[46]No. 227 (Air Observation Post) Conversion Unit(1947–50),[47]No. 227 Operational Conversion Unit RAF(1947),[47]No. 43 Operational Training Unit(1942–47),[48]No. 1424 (Air Observation Post) Flight RAF(1941–42) andD Flight RAFwithin theNo. 1 School of Army Co-operation RAF(1940–41).[49]

The School of Army Aviation was established in 1965 by renaming and separating the Training Cell which included the ground instructional part of the Tactics Wing, Aircraft Engineering Training Wing and the Flying Wing.[50]It changed its name to the Army Aviation Centre on 1 August 2009.[51]

Operational units

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Flying and notable non-flying units based at Middle Wallop Airfield.[52][53][54]

British Army[55]

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Army Air Corps
Headquarters, Army Air Corps
Headquarters,1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team(1 Avn BCT)
5 Regiment
Headquarters,6 Regiment(Reserves)
Joint Aviation Command

The base is also the home of theHistoric Army Aircraft Flighta charitable trust that flies historic Army aircraft for public display and theArmy Flying Museum.[56]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^"Middle Wallop Defence Aerodrome Manual (DAM)".British Army.Military Aviation Authority. 4 September 2017.Retrieved7 July2018.
  2. ^abc"Middle Wallop Airfield – History".Aircraft, Airfields and Airshows.Retrieved17 May2022.
  3. ^abJefford 1988,p. 76.
  4. ^Franks, Norman (1980).Wings of Freedom: Twelve Battle of Britain Pilots.London: William Kimber. p. 180.ISBN978-0-7183-0396-9.
  5. ^Caine, Philip D.Eagles of the RAF: The World War II Eagle Squadrons(PDF).National Defense University Press.p. 69.Archived(PDF)from the original on 28 October 2021.
  6. ^"Battle of Britain London Monument - P/O V C KEOUGH".Archived fromthe originalon 24 December 2015.Retrieved24 December2015.
  7. ^'Aces High' Shores & Williams, page 74
  8. ^"Chilbolton".UK Airfield Guide.Retrieved25 February2021.
  9. ^Howard-Williams, Jeremy. Night Intruder: A Personal Account of the Radar War Between the RAF and Luftwaffe Night-Fighter Forces (Memoirs of World War Two in the Air Book 1). Sapere Books. 2023. Page 30.
  10. ^Jefford 1988,p. 29.
  11. ^Jefford 1988,p. 30.
  12. ^Jefford 1988,p. 32.
  13. ^Jefford 1988,p. 35.
  14. ^Jefford 1988,p. 43.
  15. ^Jefford 1988,p. 52.
  16. ^Jefford 1988,p. 62.
  17. ^abcJefford 1988,p. 64.
  18. ^Jefford 1988,p. 66.
  19. ^abJefford 1988,p. 75.
  20. ^abJefford 1988,p. 77.
  21. ^Jefford 1988,p. 79.
  22. ^abcJefford 1988,p. 83.
  23. ^abJefford 1988,p. 89.
  24. ^Jefford 1988,p. 90.
  25. ^Jefford 1988,p. 93.
  26. ^Jefford 1988,p. 94.
  27. ^Jefford 1988,p. 95.
  28. ^Jefford 1988,p. 96.
  29. ^Jefford 1988,p. 98.
  30. ^abJefford 1988,p. 99.
  31. ^"67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group".American Air Museum.Retrieved25 February2021.
  32. ^"Middle Wallop".Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust.Retrieved25 February2021.
  33. ^ab"RAF Middle Wallop airfield".www.ControlTowers.co.uk.
  34. ^"Flycatcher(2) Middle Wallop".Archived fromthe originalon 26 September 2007.Retrieved2 May2007.
  35. ^Jefford 1988,p. 45.
  36. ^Jefford 1988,p. 49.
  37. ^Jefford 1988,p. 58.
  38. ^Jefford 1988,p. 91.
  39. ^Jefford 1988,p. 97.
  40. ^Jefford 1988,p. 102.
  41. ^Jefford 1988,p. 103.
  42. ^Jefford 1988,p. 104.
  43. ^"Middle Wallop".Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust.Retrieved6 September2023.
  44. ^Horseman 1982,p. 214.
  45. ^Lake 1999,p. 134.
  46. ^Lake 1999,p. 20.
  47. ^abLake 1999,p. 142.
  48. ^Lake 1999,p. 149.
  49. ^Lake 1999,p. 56.
  50. ^Ashworth 1990,p. 245.
  51. ^"Army Aviation Centre".Ministry of Defence.Retrieved8 July2016.
  52. ^"Selection process".The British Army.Retrieved6 November2017.
  53. ^"Historic Aircraft Flight".The British Army.Retrieved6 November2017.
  54. ^"AAC Structure".The British Army.Retrieved6 November2017.
  55. ^"Army Air Corps | The British Army".14 November 2024.
  56. ^"Army Flying Museum launches woollen helicopter campaign".Andover Advertiser.26 January 2021.Retrieved25 February2021.

Bibliography

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  • Ashworth, D J (1990).Action Stations: Vol 5. Military airfields of the South West.Wellingborough:Patrick Stephens Limited.ISBN1-85260-374-7.
  • Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the BattleISBN0-900913-80-0
  • Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the BattleISBN1-85409-272-3
  • Horseman, M (1982).Armed Forces March 1982.UK: Ian Allan Ltd.
  • Jefford, C.G. (1988).RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912.Shrewsbury:Airlife.ISBN1-85310-053-6.
  • Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.ISBN0-89201-092-4.
  • Lake, Alan (1999).Flying units of the RAF.Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing.ISBN1-84037-086-6.
  • ArmyAirForces.com 67th Reconnaissance Group
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