Waterbeach
WATERBEACH: Military aerodrome
Note: Picture by the author.
Military users: WW2: RAF Bomber Command 3 Group
99 Sqdn (Vickers Wellingtons)
218 Sqdn (Short Stirlings)
514 Sqdn (Avro Lancasters)
1665 HCU (Heavy Conversion Unit) Presumably Lancasters?
Post 1945: RAF Fighter Command
25 Sqdn (Gloster Meteors & Gloster Javelins)
41 Sqdn (DH Hornets)
56 Sqdn (Gloster Meteors & Supermarine Swifts)
38 Group (1961 to 1963)
1 & 54 Sqdns (Hawker Hunters)
64 Sqdn (Gloster Javelins)
Location: E of and adjacent to A10, 5nm N of Cambridge
Period of operation: Flying from 1941 to ? In 1985 used by the Army but were they flying from here?
Runways: WW2: 04/22 1829x46 hard 09/27 1280x46 hard
15/33 1189x46 hard
THE JIM ELEY GALLERY
These pictures were very kindly sent by Jim Eley who was a Lancaster pilot with 514 Squadron. The second picture taken during the 1000 bomber raid of the U-boat pens on Heligoland on the 18th April 1945 shows an aspect I had never really thought about before. If you were arriving later on in the raid, and even if your bomb-aimer was very good, how on earth can you pin-point a target with all that smoke around? Presumably you selected an area that seems best judging from what you can see of the surrounding area, and just added to the general mayhem.
And, isn't this sixth picture so very interesting. A record of 514 Squadrons targets, plus the amount of aircraft lost, and the tonnage of bombs dropped. There is clearly something to be understood from these basic figures - assuming they are correct? The Lancaster is renowned for being able to carry twice the bomb-load of the American Boeing B-17 Fortress - up to ten tons. And yet, some simple arithmetic shows that the average bomb-load carried by 514 Squadron was 3.15 tons. Could it be that incendiary bombs were very light, for example?
NOTES: It appears the Hawker Hunters of 1 and 54 Squadrons only stayed here from December 1961 until August 1963, when they moved to WEST RAYNHAM (NORFOLK).
A LITTLE KNOWN ASPECT
Just eight weeks after war with Germany had been declared in 1939, the British government lifted the colour-bar for the armed services, although it appears that only the RAF complied, at least initially. As a consequence some 6000 men from the Caribbean and West Africa volunteered and of these around four hundred were selected for aircrew duties.
One such was Billy Strachan from Jamaica who trained as a sergeant wireless operator/air gunner, and during 1941 flew in Wellingtons with 99 Squadron based here. Having survived the mandatory tour of thirty missions, instead of accepting a rest period, Strachan requested re-training as a pilot, and was accepted. By 1942 he was flying Lancasters with 101 Squadron.
Should you be interested in this subject, please see my ELSHAM WOLDS listing for more information.
BAC 111 TRIALS
Probably being pretty much disused by the RAF it appears that the gravel runway part of the BAC One-Eleven flight trials were held here having started initially at WISLEY. I am quite astonished that a jet airliner of this size was considered suitable for gravel runway operations. This said, what did these trials entail? Was the 04/22 runway covered in gravel?
In 1975 listed as being a Satellite of OAKINGTON.
A PERSONAL NOTE
In June 2015 when driving past, I decided to turn off the A.10 to see if I could get any pictures, only to discover that the airfield was still under military occupation. A local told me that they had no idea who the troops stationed there were, but they didn't speak English. So, all I could get were a couple of rather measly pictures of hangars.
Jim Eley
This comment was written on: 2017-08-05 13:49:17I flew Lancasters on ops with 514 squadron and mentioned in Simon Hepworth's great book "NOTHING CAN STOP US" . Later the airfield was taken over by the army Royal Engineers and I believe is now closed. The contents of the small 514 museum is being cared for by someone living in Waterbeach village. Ex-F/L Jim Eley
Reply from Dick Flute:
Hi Jim, Many thanks for this information which I shall keep posted. Best regards, Dick
Peter Whatmore
This comment was written on: 2018-05-26 10:36:15Waterbeach was my first RAF post out of training in spring 1962 to 64Sq on Javelin Mk.9. They were previously at Duxford and before the end of 1962 the squadron moved to Binbrook where it stayed until 1964 when it moved to Tengah, Singapore to support 70 sq in the Malayan/Indonesian conflict. I confirm that 1 & 54Sq Hunters were at Waterbeach during 1962 also.
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