RAF Andover

Andover Airfield is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station now used by the Army Air Corps. It has a notable place in history, being the site of both the first attempt to develop a viable long-range electronic navigation system and also of the first British military helicopter unit and first European helicopter flying training school.

Airfield history

Between 2100 BC and AD 1912

The earliest known human activity on the site of Andover Airfield took place in the Bronze Age, according to archaeological evidence, which has uncovered significant Iron Age and later activity, including both an Anglo-Saxon and medieval cemeteries. Military activity on the site is certainly established with the construction during or shortly after 43 AD of the Portway (called on Andover Airfield Monxton Road) Roman Road from Venta Belgarum (Winchester) to Cunetio (Marlborough), which just north of the Airfield meets at East Anton Crossroads the Icknield Way Roman Road from Sorviodunum (Old Sarum) to Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester). The Andover sections of these Roman roads in Britain were constructed by the Legio II Augusta Roman Legion.

Handley Page O/400 lands at RAF Andover, 1918

1912 to 1918

But RAF Andover was a Royal Air Force station opened in August 1917 by the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) during the First World War in Andover, Hampshire. The station was mainly built by German prisoners of war, some of whom left their signatures in roof spaces of buildings on the station. It is close to the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre at Amport House and the Army Air Corps Centre at Middle Wallop.

Plans for an RFC 'Training Depot Station' on the airfield site had originally been made in 1912. The station motto was a Latin phrase 'Vis et armis consilioque orta', which may be translated as 'With determination and equipment, I take counsel to rise up.' This is appropriate as the station was built as a Training Depot for aircrews, who had completed basic flying training, to learn to fly the Handley Page Type O and Airco D.H. 9 bombers. The first unit to occupy the station was No. 2 School of Navigation and Bomb Dropping. This unit took up residence while the station was still under construction.

Amongst squadrons formed at Andover was 106 Squadron, formed on 30th September 1917, who were equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 reconnaisance aircraft for army co-operation duties, being posted to Ireland in May 1918.

In early 1918 experiments were conducted with Handley Page Type O bombers, based at Andover and Cranwell, fitted with Radio Direction-Finding (RDF as it was called) equipment for night flying. The intention was to guide British bombers to and from Berlin, and early results led to 550 sets of RDF equipemnt being ordered by the States Army Air Service, but the First World War ended before any attempts could be made to use the system operationally. This was the first attempt to develop a viable long-range electronic navigation system, of a kind that is today used routinely worldwide.

1918 to 1939

The RAF Staff College was originally established here in 1922 before it moved to Cranwell.

Fairey Fox VI

Two experimental bomber squadrons were based at RAF Andover in the late 1920s and early 1930s, No. 12 Squadron RAF and No. 101 Squadron RAF.

The Fairey Fox bombers of No. 12 Squadron RAF was one of the two experimental bomber squadrons based on the station, these aircraft being significantly faster than all other contemporary fighters and bombers. To this day, 12 Squadron's official unit motto 'Leads the Field' and crest commemorates their time at RAF Andover by depicting the head of a Fox. The Fairey Fox was the first all metal aircraft in operational service and 12 Squadron was the only squadron to operate it. The aircraft was a private venture by Fairey, which had been demonstrated to the Squadron secretly during an 'At Home' at RAF Andover in 1925, when the Fox appeared in Royal Air Force markings and 12 Squadron colours. During the Air Defence of Great Britain exercise in 1928, the Squadron was tasked with the simulated bombing of London. To commemorate 12 Squadron's success in the exercise, the Commander in Chief of the Royal Air Force chose a Fox's face as the Squadron emblem. The Squadron was also tasked with further trials work, experimenting with oxygen systems, high altitude photography, and low temperature trials work, particularly in respect to lubricants. In addition, cloud flying in formation and pattern bombing techniques were tested.

The Hawker Hind was derived from the Hawker Hart. This Hind is a flying example in the Shuttleworth Collection.

The Foxes were replaced in January 1931 with the Hawker Hart, after which much work was put into formation flying in cloud, instrument flying, pattern bombing and aircraft icing trials. The purpose of these trials was to enable Royal Air Force aircraft to bomb an enemy ship successfully, regardless of weather. To this end, 12 Squadron dropped several practice bombs on an obsolete battleship, HMS Centurion, which was a radio-controlled target off the south coast. On 6 July 1935, King George V performed the first Royal Review of the Royal Air Force, in which 12(B) Squadron led the Light Bomber Wing flypast at RAF Mildenhall. Several home-based squadrons, includiding 12 Squadron, were re-deployed in October 1935, to the Middle East and Aden in preparation for action being taken by the League of Nations against Italy for invading Abyssinia. 12 Squadron returned to RAF Andover in August 1936, and on its return took delivery of the Hawker Hind. It was around this time that the majority of B Flight were taken to form the nucleus of the newly formed No. 63 Squadron RAF. In February 1938, the Squadron was re-equipped with Fairey Battles, the squadron leaving RAF Andover in May 1939.

In October 1929 No. 101 Squadron RAF, the second experimental bomber squadron, was also posted to RAF Andover, to enable its Boulton-Paul Sidestrand bombers to work alongside 12 Squadron with its Fairy Fox light bombers. The high performance of the Sidestrand amazed crowds at the Hendon Air Pageants, where it flew mock combat aerobatics with the fighters of the day. 101 Squadron Sidestrands won a number of bombing and reconnaissance competitions and carried out trial anti-shipping strikes against Royal Navy battleships. In December 1934 the squadron left RAF Andover.

1939 to 1945

During the Second World War RAF Andover was the headquarters of RAF Maintenance Command, and it was attacked twice by the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. At 1700 hours on the 13th August 1940, approximately 12 high explosive bombs were dropped by Junkers Ju 88s of III Staffel, Lehrgeschwader 1, of Luftflotte 3, from Châteaudun in France. The Station Headquarters and officer's quarters were extensively damaged. One aircraft on the station was also damaged. Casualties were 2 killed and 1 injured. The following day, on 14th August 1940, RAF Andover was attacked again, about 15 high explosive bombs being dropped which destroyed a transmitting set in the centre of a group of radio masts, and killing a civilian radio operator. It was thought at the time that these were attempts to attack the important 11 Group Fighter Command Sector Station nearby at RAF Middle Wallop, but German records make it clear that RAF Andover was the intended target, as the Luftwaffe thought wrongly that it was an operational bomber station.

During preparations for and operations connected with the 6 June 1944 Operation Overlord D Day invasion of Normandy, RAF Andover was used by fighter squadrons of the Ninth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces.

Three Canadian Army Air Observation Post (AOP) Squadrons in the Royal Air Force, 664, 665 and 666, were formed at RAF Andover in 1945.

RAF Andover has a unique place in British history, as the first British military unit to be equipped with helicopters, the Helicopter Training School, was formed in January 1945 at RAF Andover under the command of Squadron Leader B.H. Arkell. This was also the first European helicopter flying-traing school, however the first European military unit formed solely with helicopters was the Luftwaffe's Transportstaffel 40 in 1944. The Helicopter Training School was equipped with nine Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly I helicopters, and trained 100 British Army pilots for Air Observation Post duties, as well as pilots for the first RAF squadron to be equipped with helicopters, 529 Squadron, which carried our radar calibration duties. Radar calibration duties were later carried out by the Hawker Siddeley Andover and Air Observation Post duties are today carried out by the Army Air Corps.

1945 to the present day

In 1955, RAF Andover was honoured with the freedom of the Borough of Andover.

Andover continued its association with pioneering the use of helicopters in Britain when the Joint Helicopter Unit, which was a joint Royal Navy, Army Air Corps and Royal Air Force unit exploring operational helicopter roles, was based at the station from 1958 to 1959. The unit used Westland Whirlwind (rotary wing) helicopters and was disbanded at the end of 1959 to form 225 Squadron Royal Air Force.

RAF Andover was subsequently the home of a number of communications squdrons, the last one of which was No. 21 Squadron RAF, which used de Havilland Dove and Percival Pembroke aircraft.

Royal Navy Sea Harrier FA2

The station's association with aviation research continued, as trials of the Hawker P.1127 (an experimental vertical take-off aircraft), the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier developed form the P.1127 (the world's first operational vertical take-off aircraft) and the Hawker Siddeley Andover were partially carried out at RAF Andover.

The RAF station was closed on 10 June 1977 and the airfield was handed over to the British Army. It is in use by the Army Air Corps and the Defence Logistics Organisation, and retains an RAF link through the presence of 1213 (Andover) Squadron, Air Training Corps.

No. 1213 (Andover) Squadron, Air Training Corps

1213 (Andover) Squadron was formed in 1939 and has occupied several buildings on Andover Airfield since its formation, before moving to its current Headquarters building on the DLO South Site. The Squadron meets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7 p.m. until 9.30 p.m., and offers a wide range of activities for young people aged between 13-18 years with an interest in military aviation. Amongst the opportunities available are possibilities to take part in flying, gliding, shooting, camps, visits to RAF Stations, the Squadron's marching band and many other activities.

After disbanding at the end of the Second World War, the Squadron was reformed in 1947 and by September 1949 more than 30 cadets were qualified FAI glider pilots to ‘A’ standard and the Squadron had twice won the Group Gliding Cup.

A similar rise in cadet numbers took place from 1979, when a vigorous recruitment campaign started. This campaign included the purchase of a minibus to ferry cadets to and from the Squadron and Andover town centre, as well as a photographically illustrated monthly column in the ‘Andover Advertiser’ local newspaper, resulting in cadet numbers rising from 12 to over 40. A proportional increase in adult staff recruitment also took place at this time, and the Squadron's band was refounded in 1980. Humour also featured in the Squadron's activities, with the founding of a formation wheelbarrow(!) display team called the Red Barrows after the famous RAF Red Arrows aerobatic display team.

1213 Squadron was evidently well thought of in the ATC nationally, as in 1980 it was chosen to be one of 50 squadrons to recruit young women for a 2 year trial period. (The ATC had previously only recruited young men.) The trial was a success, leading to today’s fully integrated national youth organisation.

A former cadet of the Squadron, Royal Navy Lieutenant-Commander Gordon Batt DSC of No. 800 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, was killed in action flying a Sea Harrier FRS 1 from HMS Hermes during the Falklands War, on 23 May 1982.

At least one former cadet of the Squdron has moved to Australia, and other ex-cadets of the Squadron have followed a wide range of vocations: the Army Air Corps, Bank Manager, Church of England Vicar, the construction industry, the Fleet Air Arm, Health and Safety Officer, RAF Air Traffic Control, RAF Chaplain, RAF Fighter Control, the RAF Regiment, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, the Royal Signals, and Schoolteacher to name but a few. One ex-cadet even helped found and works for a Norwegian-Danish international human rights NGO.

Bibliography

Internal circulation documents produced by and artefacts held by 1213 (Andover) Sqn., A.T.C.
Documents and artefacts - including a Sikorsky Hoverfly I helicopter operated at RAF Andover - held by the RAF Museum.
Ashworth, Chris, Action Stations 5: Military airfields of the South-West, (Patrick Stephens Ltd., 2nd Edition 1990)
Ashworth, Chris, Action Stations 9: Military airfields of the Central South and South-East, (Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1985)
Battle of Britain 'At Home' - Saturday 17 September 1949 - Souvenir Programme, (RAF Andover, 1949)
Bungay, Stephen, The Most Dangerous Enemy: a history of the Battle of Britain, (Aurum Press, 2000)
Cunliffe, Barry, Wessex to A.D. 1000, (Longman, 1993)
Ferguson, Aldon P., Airfield histories: Royal Air Force Station Andover, article in Aviation News, June 1977
Fischer, William Edward, Jr., The Development of Military Night Aviation to 1919, (Air University Press, 1998)
Gorrell, Colonel Edgar S., volumes A-29, 128, B-6, 258-9, and J5 of Gorrell's History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919, United States National Archive
Rust, Kenn C., The 9th Air Force in World War II, (Aero Publishers, Californnia, 1967/1970)
Test Valley Borough Council, Andover Development Areas - Historic Environment and Archaeology: Option 9 - Andover Airfield, 2004
Wood, Derek and Dempster, Derek, The Narrow Margin: The Battle of Britain and the rise of air power 1930-1940, (Arrow Books, 1969)

External links

Royal Air Force stations | History of Europe | History of the United Kingdom | History of Hampshire | Military history of the United Kingdom

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