RAF Stradishall

{{Short description|Former Royal Air Force station in Suffolk, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Use British English|date=May 2013}} {{Infobox military installation | name = RAF Stradishall | ensign = Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg | ensign_size = 90px | native_name = | partof =  | location = [[Stradishall]], [[Suffolk]] | country = England | image = [[File:RAF Stradishall station crest.jpg|200px]] | caption = [[Latin]]: ''Vires de caelo'' ("Might from the sky") | image2 = [[File:RAF Stradishall 1945.png|250px]] | caption2 = Aerial view in 1945 | type = Royal Air Force station | coordinates = {{Coord|52|08|06|N|000|30|51|E|region:GB_type:airport|display=inline,title}} | gridref = TL720515{{sfn|Birtles|2012|p=48}} | pushpin_map = Suffolk#UK | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Suffolk | pushpin_label = RAF Stradishall | pushpin_label_position = | ownership = [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] | operator = [[Royal Air Force]] | controlledby = [[RAF Bomber Command]] 1938-49 * [[No. 3 Group RAF]] [[RAF Fighter Command]] 1949-61 * [[No. 12 Group RAF]] [[RAF Flying Training Command]] 1961-70 | open_to_public =  | site_other_label =  | site_other =  | site_area =  | code =  | built = {{Start date|1937}} | used = February 1938 - {{End date|1970}} | builder = | fate = | condition = | battles = [[European theatre of World War II]] | events = | past_commanders =  | garrison =  | occupants =  | designations = | website = | footnotes =   | IATA = | ICAO = | LID = | GPS = | WMO = | elevation = {{Convert|116|m|0}} | r1-number = 02/20 | r1-length =  | r1-surface = Concrete | r2-number = 06/24 | r2-length =  | r2-surface = Concrete | r3-number = 12/30 | r3-length =  | r3-surface = Concrete | h1-number = | h1-length =  | h1-surface = | airfield_other_label =  | airfield_other =   }} '''Royal Air Force Stradishall''' or more simply '''RAF Stradishall''' is a former [[Royal Air Force station]] located {{Convert|7|mi}} north east of [[Haverhill, Suffolk|Haverhill]], [[Suffolk]] and {{Convert|9|mi}} south west of [[Bury St Edmunds]], Suffolk, [[England]].

==History==

In his memoirs,<ref>Peden, Murray, "A Thousand Shall Fall," Dundurn (1 April 2003)</ref> [[Murray Peden]], a [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] pilot, recounts his training at Stradishall. In the RAF's "heavy conversion unit" (No. 1657 Heavy Conversion Unit<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sturtivant |first1=Ray |first2=John F. |last2=Hamlin |title=RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912 |location=Tonbridge, Kent, UK |publisher=Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd.|year=2007 |isbn=0-85130-365-X }}</ref>) at the airfield, he and others were trained to fly [[Short Stirling]] bombers. He describes in detail his experiences flying there, and the life on the ground of aircrew who were shortly to begin operations over [[Nazi Germany]] as part of [[RAF Bomber Command]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]].

The airfield was home to a number of squadrons during its lifetime: {{columns-list|colwidth=30em| * [[No. 1 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p23">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=23.}}</ref> * [[No. 9 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p27">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=27.}}</ref> * [[No. 35 Squadron RAF|No. 35 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p37">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=37.}}</ref> * [[No. 51 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p41">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=41.}}</ref> * [[No. 54 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p42">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=42.}}</ref> * [[No. 75 Squadron RAF|No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p48">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=48.}}</ref> * [[No. 85 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p51">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=51.}}</ref> * [[No. 89 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p51"/> * [[No. 101 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p54">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=54.}}</ref> * [[No. 109 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p55">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=55.}}</ref> * [[No. 115 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p57">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=57.}}</ref> * [[No. 125 Squadron RAF|No. 125 (Newfoundland) Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p58">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=58.}}</ref> * [[No. 138 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p60">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=60.}}</ref> * [[No. 148 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p62">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=62.}}</ref> * [[No. 149 Squadron RAF|No. 149 (East India) Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p62"/> * [[No. 150 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p62"/> * [[No. 152 Squadron RAF|No. 152 (Hyderabad) Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p63">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=63.}}</ref> * [[No. 158 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p63"/> * [[No. 186 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p66">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=66.}}</ref> * [[No. 207 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p69">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=69.}}</ref> * [[No. 208 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p69"/> * [[No. 214 Squadron RAF|No. 214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p71">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=71.}}</ref> * [[No. 215 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p71"/> * [[No. 236 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p75">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=75.}}</ref> * [[No. 245 Squadron RAF|No. 245 (Northern Rhodesian) Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p77">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=77.}}</ref> * [[No. 254 Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p79">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=79.}}</ref> * [[No. 263 Squadron RAF|No. 263 (Fellowship of the Bellows) Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p80">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=80.}}</ref> * [[No. 311 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF]]<ref name="Jefford1988p85">{{Harvnb|Jefford|1988|p=85.}}</ref> }}

The following units were also here at some point:<ref name="ABCT">{{cite web|url=https://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/stradishall/ |title=Stradishall |publisher=[[Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust]]|access-date=7 March 2023}}</ref> {{columns-list|colwidth=40em| * [[No. 1 Air Navigation School RAF]] * [[No. 3 Group Training Flight RAF]] * No. 7 Conversion Flight RAF * [[No. 21 Blind Approach Training Flight RAF]] * [[No. 23 OTU|No. 23 Operational Training Unit RAF]] * No. 26 Heavy Glider Maintenance Section RAF * No. 31 Base RAF * No. 149 Conversion Flight RAF * [[No. 203 Advanced Flying School RAF]] * No. 214 Conversion Flight RAF * No. 218 Conversion Flight RAF * [[No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit RAF]] * [[No. 419 (Special Duties) Flight RAF]] * [[No. 1419 (Special Duties) Flight RAF]] * [[No. 1427 (Ferry Training) Flight RAF]] * [[No. 1474 (Special Duties) Flight RAF]] * [[No. 1521 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF]] * No. 2 Section, [[No. 1552 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF]] * [[No. 1556 (Radio Aids Training) Flight RAF]] * [[No. 1657 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF]] * [[No. 2725 Squadron RAF Regiment]] * [[No. 2754 Squadron RAF Regiment]] * [[New Zealand Flight RAF]] * [[Photographic Development Unit RAF]] }} [[File:214 Squadron Wellington repair at RAF Stradishall WWII IWM CH 1416.jpg|thumb|left|{{center|[[No. 214 Squadron RAF|214 Squadron]] [[Vickers Wellington|Wellington]] being repaired and overhauled at RAF Stradishall}}]]

==Current use== The airfield closed in 1970 and is now the site of two category C prisons: [[Highpoint North (HM Prison)|HMP Highpoint North]] and [[Highpoint South (HM Prison)|HMP Highpoint South]]. Part of the former airfield remains a [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] training site which is not accessible to the public.

The airfield has been sold to a private buyer to be converted into farm land.

The Airfield is a Solar Farm with grazing for cattle and nature walk. It is open from dawn to dusk.

There is a memorial to RAF Stradishall outside Stirling House which was once part of the officers quarters and is now a training unit for the Prison service.

==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist}}

===Bibliography=== *{{cite book |last1=Birtles|first1=P.|title=UK Airfields of the Cold War |year=2012 |publisher= Midland Publishing|isbn=978-1-85780-346-4}} *{{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Jefford|1988}}|reference=Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988. {{ISBN|1-84037-141-2}}.}}

==External links== {{Commons category|RAF Stradishall}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110805174457/http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/s47.html History of Bomber Command] * [http://www.rafweb.org/Stations/Stations-S.htm#Stradishall Unit details] * [http://splashdown2.tripod.com/theroyalairforce/id8.html RAF Stradishall] * [http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Suffolk/StradishallRAF.html RAF Stradishall history]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stradishall}} [[Category:Military airbases established in 1938]] [[Category:Royal Air Force stations in Suffolk]] [[Category:Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Military airbases closed in 1970]]