My first report on here, so please be nice to me. 
(nervous smile)
I thought I would report on RAF Yatesbury as it doesn't seem to have been mentioned on this website since 2007, so I will give an update:
In 1916, the Royal Flying Corps developed Yatesbury Field to train pilots. There were two camps either side of the minor road from the A4 to the village itself. The West camp comprised the Officers and Men’s quarters with the usual facilities and had three large hangars. The East camp was adjacent to the (now) A4 and again had hangars and workshops. The airfield opened in November 1916 with No. 55 Reserve Squadron arriving from Filton, equipped with the Avro 504A and the Scout D.
Although the War ended in November 1918, training continued into 1919, then Squadrons were sent to Yatesbury to be disbanded. The Station finally closed in early 1920. The land was returned to the original owners and reverted to farmland and this remained the case until 1936.
Alarmed by the rise of Hitler and German militarism it was decided to train more pilots and an existing scheme was expanded. These were the Elementary and Reserve Flying Schools, where anyone could learn the basic flying skill. The Bristol Aeroplane Company (BAC) had been operating a School at Filton in Bristol since 1923 and was asked to set up another. So in 1935, they purchased part of the former Western Airfield and built the Flying School, which opened in early 1936. Training was carried out with Tiger Moth aircraft. This continued until the outbreak of war in September 1939, when pilot training was transferred away to other Stations to allow the field to be used for training airborne wireless operators.
In 1938 the RAF realised it would need a large number of radio operators so built No. 2 Electrical and Wireless School, (later renamed No. 2 Radio School), the camp with the wooden huts we all knew so well. The theory of wireless and Morse code were taught on the ground and Dominie and Proctor aircraft were used for the aerial training. Over 50,000 men successfully passed out from 1939 to 1945 when the war ended. In 1942 a heavily guarded compound was built at the Eastern end of the camp to teach the new top-secret radar. This was originally known as No. 9 RDF School but was quickly changed to No. 9 Radio School, presumably to confuse the Germans. Over 19,000 men and women were trained there.
At the end of the war training largely ceased, (it was used for square bashing for awhile), but with the start of the Cold War the camp got busy again, mainly training radar operators, mechanics and fitters. Large numbers of personnel passed through because of the high proportion of National Servicemen in the RAF. With the end of National Service in 1961 demand reduced, so in 1965 the camp finally closed. Over 70,000 personnel were successfully trained during this period.
The buildings, site and surrounding area were featured in the video to the 1988 No.1 hit song "Doctorin' the Tardis" by The Timelords. Proposals were submitted in 2002 to convert the air base into residential flats with development starting in 2007. However, due to the current economic climate work has stopped on the conversion until the economy has improved.
I can confirm, having visited this month, that there seems to be no signs of construction and the site is far from the proposed residential development. In fact, they don't seem to have started at all - just a bit of modern scaffolding on one the WW1 hangars.
Anyways onto the photos:
Grade II listed hangar
and inside
not the first thing I expected to see on an airfield
guess what's inside this building...
... a squash court filled with rubbish
The Watch Office / Flying Control...
...and how it used to look
Random violin case in one of the rooms (it's empty by the way)
Just down the road is RAF Compton Basset. First opened as an RAF station in 1940 and was used for radar training, it had no airfield. After WW2 it became a trade training camp for certain ground Signals trades. Many thousands of newly recruited RAF personnel, most having just completed their 8 weeks basic training, were taught their RAF trade skills at RAF Compton Bassett, so as to become competent Wireless Operators, Teleprinter Operators, Telegraphists or Telephonists before being posted to work at RAF operational stations and airfields elsewhere in the United Kingdom or abroad. The site is now mostly a recycling centre serving the town of Calne.
Only the main gate and what I assume to be the NAAFI building remain. Whilst the NAAFI building is very do-able and would present no challenge to many users of this forum, I chickened out when I saw the "danger asbestos" signs. I will leave this to anyone who has the appropriate protective equipment.
Anyways here's a then and now shot:
Thanks for looking
(nervous smile)I thought I would report on RAF Yatesbury as it doesn't seem to have been mentioned on this website since 2007, so I will give an update:
In 1916, the Royal Flying Corps developed Yatesbury Field to train pilots. There were two camps either side of the minor road from the A4 to the village itself. The West camp comprised the Officers and Men’s quarters with the usual facilities and had three large hangars. The East camp was adjacent to the (now) A4 and again had hangars and workshops. The airfield opened in November 1916 with No. 55 Reserve Squadron arriving from Filton, equipped with the Avro 504A and the Scout D.
Although the War ended in November 1918, training continued into 1919, then Squadrons were sent to Yatesbury to be disbanded. The Station finally closed in early 1920. The land was returned to the original owners and reverted to farmland and this remained the case until 1936.
Alarmed by the rise of Hitler and German militarism it was decided to train more pilots and an existing scheme was expanded. These were the Elementary and Reserve Flying Schools, where anyone could learn the basic flying skill. The Bristol Aeroplane Company (BAC) had been operating a School at Filton in Bristol since 1923 and was asked to set up another. So in 1935, they purchased part of the former Western Airfield and built the Flying School, which opened in early 1936. Training was carried out with Tiger Moth aircraft. This continued until the outbreak of war in September 1939, when pilot training was transferred away to other Stations to allow the field to be used for training airborne wireless operators.
In 1938 the RAF realised it would need a large number of radio operators so built No. 2 Electrical and Wireless School, (later renamed No. 2 Radio School), the camp with the wooden huts we all knew so well. The theory of wireless and Morse code were taught on the ground and Dominie and Proctor aircraft were used for the aerial training. Over 50,000 men successfully passed out from 1939 to 1945 when the war ended. In 1942 a heavily guarded compound was built at the Eastern end of the camp to teach the new top-secret radar. This was originally known as No. 9 RDF School but was quickly changed to No. 9 Radio School, presumably to confuse the Germans. Over 19,000 men and women were trained there.
At the end of the war training largely ceased, (it was used for square bashing for awhile), but with the start of the Cold War the camp got busy again, mainly training radar operators, mechanics and fitters. Large numbers of personnel passed through because of the high proportion of National Servicemen in the RAF. With the end of National Service in 1961 demand reduced, so in 1965 the camp finally closed. Over 70,000 personnel were successfully trained during this period.
The buildings, site and surrounding area were featured in the video to the 1988 No.1 hit song "Doctorin' the Tardis" by The Timelords. Proposals were submitted in 2002 to convert the air base into residential flats with development starting in 2007. However, due to the current economic climate work has stopped on the conversion until the economy has improved.
I can confirm, having visited this month, that there seems to be no signs of construction and the site is far from the proposed residential development. In fact, they don't seem to have started at all - just a bit of modern scaffolding on one the WW1 hangars.
Anyways onto the photos:
Random violin case in one of the rooms (it's empty by the way)
Just down the road is RAF Compton Basset. First opened as an RAF station in 1940 and was used for radar training, it had no airfield. After WW2 it became a trade training camp for certain ground Signals trades. Many thousands of newly recruited RAF personnel, most having just completed their 8 weeks basic training, were taught their RAF trade skills at RAF Compton Bassett, so as to become competent Wireless Operators, Teleprinter Operators, Telegraphists or Telephonists before being posted to work at RAF operational stations and airfields elsewhere in the United Kingdom or abroad. The site is now mostly a recycling centre serving the town of Calne.
Only the main gate and what I assume to be the NAAFI building remain. Whilst the NAAFI building is very do-able and would present no challenge to many users of this forum, I chickened out when I saw the "danger asbestos" signs. I will leave this to anyone who has the appropriate protective equipment.
Anyways here's a then and now shot:
Thanks for looking
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