The base is notable for having previously served as both a Royal Navy (asHMS Flycatcher) and a Royal Air Force (as RAF Middle Wallop) controlled airfield, as well as an Army one.
Among the fighter pilots who flew from here in the Battle of Britain were former journalist John Dundas[4] (a veteran of the Battle 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 1940 604 Squadron RAF, a specialist night fighter unit, received the Bristol 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/L John Cunningham.[7]
RAF Chilbolton was 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:
No. 16 Squadron RAF initially between April 1942 and January 1943 with the Mustang I, returning 1 June 1943 as a full squadron with the Spitfire V until 29 June 1943. The squadron returned on 6 October 1947 with the Tempest F.2, staying until 17 October 1947.[10]
No. 19 Squadron RAF from 1 March 1943 and 5 April 1943 with the Spitfire VC; with a brief 3 day move to Membury during this period.[11]
No. 23 Squadron RAF as a detachment between March 1941 and February 1942 with the Havoc I[12]
No. 93 Squadron RAF reformed here on 7 December 1940 from No. 420 Flight with a variety of aircraft including Harrow II (LAM), Havoc I, Wellington IC, Boston I and Havoc I (Turbinlite)[15]
No. 151 Squadron RAF between 16 August and 17 November 1943 with a detachment at Coltishall flying Mosquito VI & XII[16]
No. 238 Squadron RAF multiple times between 20 June 1940 and 1 February 1941 with the Hurricane I[3]
No. 245 Squadron RAF between 19 December 1941 and 26 October 1942 with a detachment at Shoreham flying the Hurricane IIB & IIC[20]
No. 247 Squadron RAF initially as a detachment between 17 May and 21 September 1942 with the Hurricane I & IIB. The full squadron returned on 28 February 1943 flying the Hurricane IIB and Typhoon IB, staying until 5 April 1943 when the squadron moved to Fairlop[20]
No. 256 Squadron RAF as a detachment between 6 February and 26 March 1941 with the Defiant I[21]
No. 286 Squadron RAF as a detachment sometime between April 1942 and 1944 with the Master III, Defiant I & III, Hurricane I & IIX and Oxford[22]
No. 501 Squadron RAF initially between 4 July and 25 July 1940 with the Hurricane I. The squadron returned on 24 August 1942 with Spitfire VB & VC, before leaving on 19 October 1942 going to Ballyhalbert[26]
No. 537 Squadron RAF formed here on 8 September 1942 from No. 1458 Flight using a variety of aircraft including Havoc I (Turbinlite), Boston III (Turbinlite), Hurricane IIB & IIC and the Havoc I. Before disbanding on 25 January 1943[28]
After D-Day, both the 67th RG moved to its Advanced 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]
In 1946, the Royal Air Force occupied Middle Wallop again. No. 164 Squadron RAF with its Spitfires came and were renumbered to No. 63 Squadron RAF. The following year, No. 227 OCU, an Army air observation post training unit, was moved to the airfield. This was renamed as the Air Observation Post School in 1950, and the Light Aircraft School in 1952.[33]
No. 63 Squadron RAF reformed here on 1 September 1946 with the Spitfire LF 16E, staying for 3 days before moving to Lubeck;[35]
No. 587 Squadron RAF as a detachment between 1 October 1944 and 1 June 1946 flying a variety of aircraft including Hurricane IIC & IV, Martinet, Vengeance IV, Mustang I and Spitfire XVI;[39]
No. 651 Squadron RAF reformed here on 1 November 1955 with the Sycamore HC II & Auster AOP 6 until the squadron was transferred to the AAC;[40]
No. 657 Squadron RAF from 19 January 1948 with the Auster V, AOP 4, AOP 6, Hoverfly II and Sycamore HC II until the squadron was disbanded on 1 November 1955 to become 651 Squadron RAF;[41]
In 1954 a Development Flight (CFS) with helicopters was formed there, this led to the Joint Experimental Helicopter Unit in 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 the Light 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) and D Flight RAF within the No. 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]
^"Chilbolton". UK Airfield Guide. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
^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.
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 Battle ISBN0-900913-80-0
Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle ISBN1-85409-272-3
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.