RAF Scampton
Royal Air Force Scampton or RAF Scampton is a former Royal Air Force station located adjacent to the A15 road near to the village of Scampton, Lincolnshire, and north-west of the city of Lincoln, England.
RAF Scampton stood on the site of a First World War Royal Flying Corps landing field, which had been called Brattleby. The station was closed and returned to agriculture following the First World War, and reactivated in the 1930s. It has provided an airfield for fighters in the First World War, bombers during the Second World War and V-force Avro Vulcans during the Cold War.
The station was temporarily closed in 1996, but subsequently re-opened to provide a home for the RAF Aerobatic Team the Red Arrows, and to private companies, temporarily, such as Hawker Hunter Aviation, for the maintenance and storage of aircraft.
In July 2018, the Ministry of Defence announced that Scampton would close and be sold, with all units relocated elsewhere. The station closed on 31 March 2023.
History
First World War
Home Defence Flight Station Brattleby was opened on the site of the current RAF Scampton in late 1916. The airfield was bounded to the east by Ermine Street, to the south by Pollyplatt Lane, to the west by Middle Street, and to the north by Aisthorpe House. The form of the airfield was very similar to that of Hackthorn Park to the north east, which is likely to have been created in the same way. In addition to field boundaries, a number of other features were demolished or used for the airfield, including Aisthorpe House and a farm complex to the east of the site.The aerodrome covered consisting of a landing ground and six single-span end-opening General Service Flight Sheds arranged in pairs with their doors at 90° to the landing ground. Technical buildings were set out behind these, followed by domestic accommodation close to Ermine Street. These were subdivided into smaller groups depending on rank. Accommodation for women was based around a Women's Hostel.
The first operational unit was A Flight, No. 33 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, which flew the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b, defending against the Zeppelin threat. The site then developed into a training aerodrome, supporting No. 60 Training Squadron, followed by No. 81 and No. 11 Training Squadrons, flying the Sopwith Camel, Pup and Dolphin. The station was renamed as Scampton in 1917 following which it was designated as 34 Training Depot Station and continued with its operational programme until it was closed in April 1919.
All of the buildings on the airfield were temporary, even the hedgerows and trees which existed around the field boundaries were retained, so that between the wars the area was returned to its previous form. By 1920 all the buildings, including the hangars, had been removed.
Inter-war period
By 1936, the Royal Air Force Expansion Scheme had overseen a period of rapid increases both in terms of new squadrons and the development of new stations. The former Brattleby site was one of many earmarked under the expansion programme, situated between three villages; Aisthorpe, Brattleby and Scampton, with its main entrance situated on the A15 road ' heading north from Lincoln. The site was to be constructed to the latest specifications and on completion would form a fully equipped bomber station. From its reopening in August 1936, the station was known as Royal Air Force Station Scampton.The station consisted of four large C-Type hangars with permanent brick-built technical and domestic buildings. The remaining aerodrome buildings were built in a compact layout behind the hangars, in an arrangement replicated across all of the expansion period airfields: Technical Area, Station Offices, Officers' Mess, Sergeants' Mess, Airmen's' Quarters, Married Quarters, and Officers' Married Quarters. Roads were arranged either parallel or perpendicular to Ermine Street ' with the Guardroom at 90° to the main entrance and the Station Headquarters facing Ermine Street. This resulted in the base occupying an area of.
As it developed, RAF Scampton made an increasingly dramatic imposition on the surrounding rural landscape, such as to the Lincolnshire Edge, a Jurassic limestone ridge, which forms the distinctive backbone of the county from Whitton on the Humber Estuary in the north, down to Grantham in the south. Along the top of the Edge, a series of airfields were developed, including RAF Waddington, RAF Cranwell and RAF Scampton.
Upon opening, No. 9 Squadron and No. 214 Squadron were the first residents of the station, arriving in October 1936, operating the Handley Page Heyford and Vickers Virginia. No. 9 Squadron stayed at Scampton until March 1938, No. 214 Squadron having departed for RAF Feltwell in April 1937. Another squadron which was stationed at the base was No. 148 Squadron formed from C Flt of No. 9 Squadron operating the Hawker Audax and later the Vickers Wellesley. The term of residence of No. 148 Squadron was brief being replaced by No. 49 Squadron and No. 83 Squadron in March 1938. At this time both No. 49 Squadron and No. 83 Squadron were operating the Hawker Hind, before re-equipping with the Handley Page Hampden.
Second World War
1939–1942
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Scampton transferred to No. 5 Group within RAF Bomber Command, playing host to the Hampdens of No. 49 Squadron and No. 83 Squadron. On 3 September 1939, six hours after the declaration of war, RAF Scampton launched the first offensive by the RAF when six Hampdens of No. 83 Squadron, led by Flying Officer Guy Gibson and three No. 49 Squadron Hampdens, one piloted by Flying Officer Roderick Learoyd, were despatched to conduct a sweep off Wilhelmshaven in Germany. Further operations involving Scampton's squadrons concerned them with the hazardous task of low level minelaying.For a short time the station was home to the Avro Manchester, operated by No. 49 Squadron and No. 83 Squadron. This was a brief liaison, with the squadrons subsequently converting to the Avro Lancaster. Forming No. 83 Conversion Flight on 11 April 1942, which in turn was followed by No. 49 CF on 16 May, both squadrons were fully equipped with the Lancaster by the end of June. It was during this period that No. 83 Squadron took delivery of Lancaster Mk.I R5868 which would one day become the Station's gate guardian.
In turn both resident squadrons were then replaced at Scampton by No. 57 Squadron. The first departure was that of No. 83 Squadron which left in August 1942, transferring to RAF Wyton in order to become part of the fledgling Pathfinder Force. This departure resulted in No. 83 CF moving to RAF Wigsley, where it was disbanded into No. 1654 Heavy Conversion Unit. On 2 January 1943, No. 49 Squadron departed for RAF Fiskerton with No. 49 CU disbanding, subsequently becoming 'C' Flight of No. 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Waddington. By early January 1943 this left No. 57 Squadron as the sole occupier of the base.
1943–1945
Following the development of the Upkeep bouncing bomb, No. 617 Squadron, originally referred to as "Squadron X", was formed at Scampton in order to carry out the proposed raid, codenamed Operation Chastise. More commonly referred to as the "Dambusters Raid", the raid would go down as the most famous and widely remembered in the history of the RAF.On the night of 16–17 May 1943, No. 617 Squadron despatched nineteen Lancasters from Scampton. Led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the main bulk of the squadron attacked the Sorpe, Eder and Möhne dams with an additional aircraft tasked to perform an attack on the Schwelm Dam. Both the Eder and Möhne dams were breached, however eight of the Lancasters despatched failed to return and fifty-three aircrew were lost. Following the raid Wing Commander Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross, becoming Scampton's third recipient of the award. On the day of the raid, Wing Commander Gibson's dog, Nigger, was run over and killed on the A15 outside the entrance to the base. He was buried later that night, his grave situated outside Gibson's office at No. 3 Hangar.
In July 1943, No. 617 Squadron was again involved in a precision operation, when twelve aircraft of the squadron took off from Scampton to attack targets in Northern Italy, following which the aircraft continued on to North Africa. The operation met little opposition but the targets were obscured by valley haze and they were not destroyed. The twelve crews returned to Scampton on 25 July from North Africa after bombing Leghorn docks on the return journey. Later in the month nine aircraft took off from Scampton to drop leaflets on Milan, Bologna, Genoa and Turin in Italy. All aircraft completed the mission and landed safely in Blida, Algeria.
At the end of August 1943, No. 57 Squadron and No. 617 Squadron moved to RAF East Kirkby and RAF Coningsby respectively, so that Scampton's runways could be upgraded. With the increased all up weight of the Lancaster it was apparent that the load bearing of hardened runways would be required. The airfield closed at the end of August 1943 for the work to take place re-opening in October 1944. Three concrete runways were laid out. The three runways available were: 05/23 at, 01/19 at and 11/29 at. A total of eleven loop hard-standings were laid down along the perimeter track to replace those lost or isolated by the construction. The work also saw new bomb stores constructed on land north of the north-west corner of the airfield. The personnel at Scampton at this time was given as 1,844 males and 268 females. On completion of the required work the area of land which the base occupied had now increased to.
Following the work control of the station passed from No. 5 Group to No. 1 Group with a new arrival following the upgrade being No. 1690 Bomber Defence Training Flight which arrived on 13 July 1944. The BDTF operated the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane and Miles Martinet, the flight undertaking fighter affiliation against bombers. This unit stayed at the station until September 1944, when it moved to RAF Metheringham. It was replaced by No. 1687 BDTF, which arrived in early December 1944, and departed for RAF Hemswell in April 1945. Two Lancaster squadrons, No. 153 Squadron, and later No. 625 Squadron, of No. 1 Group also arrived at Scampton.
The last bombing mission of the Second World War launched from RAF Scampton was on 25 April 1945, when aircraft from No. 153 Squadron and No. 625 Squadron were despatched as part of the Bombing of Obersalzberg. During the war RAF Scampton lost a total of 551 aircrew and 266 aircraft. Of these 155 were Hampdens and fifteen Manchesters.