RAF Waterbeach

RAF Waterbeach
Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire in England
1945 aerial photograph
RAF Waterbeach Shown within Cambridgeshire Show map of Cambridgeshire RAF Waterbeach RAF Waterbeach (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	52°16′28″N 000°11′24″E / 52.27444°N 0.19000°E / 52.27444; 0.19000
Grid reference	TL495665[1]
Type	Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command (1941-45) * No. 3 Group RAF[2] RAF Transport Command (1945-50) RAF Fighter Command (1950-) * No. 11 Group RAF[3] RAF Training Command * No. 38 Group RAF[4]
Site history
Built	1940 (1940)
In use	11 January 1941 - 2013 (2013)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II Cold War
Airfield information
Elevation	10 metres (33 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 04/22 1,850 metres (6,070 ft) Asphalt 10/28 1,262 metres (4,140 ft) Asphalt 16/34 1,296 metres (4,252 ft) Asphalt

Royal Air Force Waterbeach or more simply RAF Waterbeach is a former Royal Air Force station located in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire which is about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) north of Cambridge, England. The site was transferred to the Royal Engineers, part of the British Army, in 1966, as Waterbeach Barracks.

The airfield was built in 1940 on the northern edge of Waterbeach village and operated under the control of RAF Bomber Command.^[5] The original control tower and many RAF buildings, including several hangars, are still present.^[6]

After the Second World War, Consolidated Liberators and Douglas Dakotas from RAF Transport Command flew from RAF Waterbeach.^[7]

RAF Fighter Command took over the base on 1 March 1950 and used Gloster Meteors, Supermarine Swifts, de Havilland Venoms, de Havilland Vampires and Gloster Javelins. In addition Hawker Hunter fighters arrived in May 1955 and, two years later, the prototype English Electric P1 (Lightning) visited RAF Waterbeach.^{[citation needed]}

After the last RAF fixed-wing aircraft, from No. 54 Squadron RAF, left in August 1963,^[8] the site was used by the Airfield Construction Branch RAF until 1966.^[9]

In 1966 the station and airfield remained the property of the Ministry of Defence, but was transferred from the Royal Air Force to the Royal Engineers, part of the British Army, as Waterbeach Barracks.^[10] Until the closure of nearby RAF Oakington in the early 1970s, the main runway at Waterbeach remained active, along with the control tower, and was used as a relief landing ground for Varsities used in the advanced pilot training role. The former airfield was used as a training area for troops, with occasional visits by helicopters and, in the past, by the Hawker Siddeley Harrier.^[11]

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

• Birtles, Philip (2012). UK Airfields of the Cold War. Midland Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85780-346-4.
• Delve, Ken (1994). The Source Book of the RAF. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-85310-451-5.
• Hamlin, John F.; Merrington, Oliver J. (2011) [updated 2014]. At the Beach: the story of Royal Air Force Waterbeach and Waterbeach Barracks. Peterborough: GMS Enterprises. ISBN 978-1-904514-63-3.^{[verification needed]}
• Jefford, C. G. (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Waterbeach.

• Waterbeach Barracks and Airfield (Urban&Civic)
• Waterbeach Military Heritage Museum (former Barracks Museum)
• 12 (Force Support) Engineer Group, Royal Engineers (now at RAF Wittering)
• 39 Engineer Regiment (Air Support), Royal Engineers (now at Kinloss Barracks)