RAF Benson
Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force station located at Benson, near Wallingford, in South Oxfordshire, England. It is a front-line station and from 2009 to 2025 was home to the RAF's fleet of Westland Puma HC2 support helicopters, which were used primarily for the transportation of troops & equipment. Flying squadrons comprise No. 22 Squadron which provides operational test, evaluation, tactics and training for all aviation in Joint Aviation Command and No. 28 Squadron, which is the Boeing Chinook HC6A training unit. Other units include the Oxford University Air Squadron and No. 6 Air Experience Flight, both flying the Grob Tutor T1 light training aircraft used for student and cadet flying training. The National Police Air Service and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance are also based at the station, both operating Airbus H135 helicopters.
RAF Benson opened in 1939 and during the Second World War it was tasked with training aircrews on the Fairey Battle light bomber and Avro Anson training aircraft. It was later home to squadrons flying the Supermarine Spitfire and de Havilland Mosquito which operated in the photographic reconnaissance role. Benson operated under RAF Transport Command throughout the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1970s, various communications and administrative units were present and in the early 1990s the station began its association with the support helicopter force.
History
Early years and the Second World War
Construction of RAF Benson began in 1937 as part of the 1930s RAF expansion programme which was largely a response to the threat of war with Nazi Germany. Construction was undertaken by contractors John Laing & Son. Benson was officially opened as an RAF station under No. 6 Group in early 1939.The station's first tenants were two squadrons of Fairey Battle light bombers. No. 103 Squadron started flying in on 3 April 1939, to be joined over the next few months by No. 150 Squadron. Once the Second World War started, both squadrons moved to France as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force. 1939 also saw the establishment of No. 12 Operational Training Unit, tasked with training pilots, observers and air gunners on the Fairey Battle and Avro Anson. In the early hours of 2 August 1940, a Battle took off from Benson for a cross-country training exercise but crashed into a nearby hill. The crew included Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth, founder of the Shuttleworth Collection, who was killed.
Benson's long association with royalty began in September 1940, when the King's Flight relocated to the station. This initial association was short-lived, as the flight was disbanded in 1942 to form the core of No. 161 Squadron at RAF Newmarket, to which responsibility for the transportation of royalty was transferred. The Battles and Ansons of No. 12 OTU were replaced in December 1940 with Vickers Wellington medium bombers.
File:Royal Air Force- Operations by the Photographic Reconnaissance Units, 1939-1945. CH10847.jpg|alt=A Type F.8 Mark II aerial camera being loaded into a Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk IV at RAF Benson during the Second World War|left|thumb|A Type F.8 Mark II aerial camera being loaded into a Supermarine Spitfire PR.IV at RAF Benson during the Second World War
Benson was selected in 1941 as the home station of No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, an experimental unit tasked with evaluating and developing new methods of obtaining photographic intelligence over enemy territory, led by pioneer in the field Squadron Leader Sidney Cotton. Utilising Supermarine Spitfires, the unit found that their camouflage and operating altitude allowed them to remain virtually invisible to enemy defences and avoid interception. Additional fuel tanks on the Spitfires allowed missions to take place deep into enemy territory. Analysis of imagery was undertaken by the intelligence unit at nearby Ewelme Manor, a short distance from the station. The unit was the first to discover the Germany Navy battleship Bismarck, near Bergen in May 1941. Later that month the vessel was destroyed by the Allies in the North Atlantic. As a result of such work, the station gained considerable fame as the home of photographic reconnaissance for the remainder of the war.
New paved runways were built in 1942, one of which required the permanent closure of the Old London Road in Benson. As a result, the Royal Engineers built the present road between Benson and Crowmarsh.
In June 1943, No. 1 PRU was formed into No. 106 Wing, with five units. The wing was elevated to the status of No. 106 Group in April 1944, with two de Havilland Mosquito and two Spitfire squadrons. The group was assigned to Coastal Command's photo reconnaissance assets, with the whole of Northern Europe as its operational area. Spitfire and Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, including the provision of battle damage assessment images after Operation Chastise, the attack on German dams by No. 617 Squadron in May 1943.
By December 1944, Benson had two runways extending to which had been constructed using concrete and wood-chips. There was a selection of hangar types, including four C-type hangars, four over-size blister hangars and fourteen extra-over-size blister hangars. Ten concrete hard-standings were available, and a total of 3,198 personnel were based at the station.
During the war Vera Lynn, known as 'the forces Sweetheart', visited Benson to entertain the troops, reportedly singing "The White Cliffs of Dover" at the station.
Post-war
Post-war demobilisation saw the disbandment of No. 542 Squadron and No. 544 Squadron in August and October 1945 respectively, with No. 540 and No. 541 Squadrons following in September 1946. The King's Flight reformed at Benson in 1946 and received four Vickers Vikings during the following year. The unit was renamed the Queen's Flight on the coronation of Elizabeth II in June 1953.Benson retained a photographic reconnaissance role into the early 1950s. No. 58 Squadron reformed in October 1946 to fly the Mosquito and Anson, No.541 Squadron reformed in November 1947 with the Spitfire PR.19 and No. 540 Squadron reformed in December 1947 to fly the Mosquito. No. 541 Squadron received the Gloster Meteor in December 1950, before relocating to Germany in June 1951. No. 540 Squadron re-equipped with the English Electric Canberra PR.3 in late 1952 and relocated to RAF Wyton in 1953 along with No. 58 Squadron.
Transport Command
In 1953, Benson came under the control of Transport Command. No. 147 Squadron and No. 167 Squadron formed what was known as The Ferry Wing, which was responsible for the ferrying of aircraft across the globe. It was disbanded in 1960 when RAF squadrons became responsible for the collection and ferrying of their own aircraft.Thereafter, Benson became the focus of the RAF's medium-range tactical transport fleet, operating the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy C.1. The first of six aircraft arrived on 20 November 1961 to form the Operational Conversion Unit which trained Argosy crews. The OCU later moved to RAF Thorney Island. In February 1962, No. 105 Squadron formed to establish the first front-line unit for the type. It was soon followed by No. 215 Squadron. By the end of 1963 both units had departed for the Middle East and Far East respectively. Two further Argosy units were established, No. 114 Squadron and No. 267 Squadron, both operating from Benson until the early 1970s.
Support role
With the departure of the Argosys, the only flying unit which remained at Benson was the Queen's Flight. This remained the case throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Notwithstanding, the station remained busy with several administrative and support units taking up residence. These included the headquarters of No. 38 Group and the Tactical Communications Wing, both of which arrived in 1972. They remained until 1976 when No. 38 Group was subsumed into RAF Strike Command and relocated to RAF Upavon, whereas the TCW moved to nearby RAF Brize Norton. They were replaced by the RAF Support Command Signals Headquarters and the Radio Introduction Unit, which arrived from RAF Medmenham during 1977. SCSHQ remained at Benson until 1981.File:Andover E3A.jpg|alt=A Hawker Siddeley Andover E.3A of No. 115 Squadron which was based at RAF Benson during the 1980 and 90s|thumb|A Hawker Siddeley Andover E.3A of No. 115 Squadron which was based at RAF Benson during the 1980 and 90s
Flying activity increased in January 1983 when the Hawker Siddeley Andover arrived from RAF Brize Norton. Operated by No. 115 Squadron and supported by the Andover Training Flight, the Andover Serving Flight and the Support Command Flight Checking Unit, the Andovers were used in the radio and navigation-aid calibration role. The Support Command Flight Checking Unit disbanded in early 1987, with its role transferred to No. 115 Squadron.
The Queen's Flight received its first BAe 146 in May 1986, with a second in July 1986 and a final aircraft in late 1990.
Support helicopters
Benson's current support helicopter role began in 1992, when No. 60 Squadron reformed at the station, flying the Westland Wessex HC2.In July of that year, the closure of nearby RAF Abingdon, resulted in several new units moving to Benson, namely the University of London Air Squadron and Oxford University Air Squadron both flying the Scottish Aviation Bulldog T.1 and No. 6 Air Experience Flight with the De Havilland Chipmunk T.1. The Mobile Catering Support Unit, featuring a training facility and three Air Combat Support Units, returned in November 1992, having previously been stationed at Benson during the 1970s.
The headquarters of the Support Helicopter Force relocated to Benson from RAF Gütersloh in 1993, after the German station's closure that year. The headquarters of No. 1 Group was located at Benson between 1993 and 1996.
On 1 April 1995, the Queen's Flight, then equipped with the BAe 146 CC2 and Wessex HCC.4, merged with No. 32 Squadron and moved to RAF Northolt in London to become No. 32 Squadron, bringing Benson's long association with VIP transport to an end.
June 1997 saw the Westland Puma HC1 introduced at Benson, when No. 33 Squadron arrived from RAF Odiham. The Puma Operational Conversion Flight, previously part of No. 27 Squadron at Odiham moved in during February 1998. Due to the increased level of helicopter activity at Benson, it was necessary to relocate the University of London Air Squadron to RAF Wyton during 1999.
In October 1999, as a result of the Strategic Defence Review, the RAF's Support Helicopter Force was amalgamated into the newly formed tri-service Joint Helicopter Command, now called the Joint Aviation Command. The new command, reporting to the British Army's Land Command, combined the battlefield support helicopters operated by the RAF, Fleet Air Arm and Army Air Corps.