Former Royal Air Force station in Warwickshire,England
Royal Air Force Bramcote
, or more simply
RAF Bramcote
, is a former
Royal Air Force
station located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south-east of
Nuneaton
,
Warwickshire
, England used during the
Second World War
. It was later transferred to the
Admiralty
and was known as
Royal Naval Air Station Bramcote
, (
RNAS Bramcote
), and when commissioned became
HMS
Gamecock
. When it subsequently transferred to the
British Army
from the Admiralty, it was called
Gamecock Barracks
.
[2]
Royal Air Force operations
[
edit
]
The airfield was built by
John Laing & Son Ltd
in the late 1930s.
[3]
The first unit to use the airfield was
No. 215 Squadron RAF
which arrived on 10 September 1939 with the
Vickers Wellington
and the
Avro Anson
before leaving on 8 April 1940.
[4]
The next unit to use the station was
No. 18 (Polish) Operational Training Unit
(OTU) flying the
Vickers Wellington
which arrived from
RAF Hucknall
during June 1940. The unit used
RAF Bitteswell
and
RAF Nuneaton
as satellites between February 1942 and February 1943. However soon after this the OTU moved to
RAF Finningley
during March 1943.
[2]
During the
Battle of Britain
No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron
was formed at the airfield on 1 July 1940 with the
Fairey Battle
I before moving to
RAF Swinderby
on 22 August 1940 accompanied by
No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron
which formed 21 days later and left for Swinderby 6 days later on 28 August.
[5]
These squadrons were replaced by
No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron
and
No. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron
which formed at the airfield during August 1940 flying Battle I's and switched to
Vickers Wellington
IC's during November 1940 before moving to
RAF Syerston
on 2 December 1940.
[6]
[7]
No. 151 Squadron RAF
moved in on 28 November 1940 with the
Hawker Hurricane
with a detachment going to
RAF Wittering
. On 22 December 1940 the unit moved to Wittering to equip with the
Boulton Paul Defiant
I.
[8]
Sometime in 1941
No. 1513 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF
arrived using
Airspeed Oxfords
and after five years the unit moved out.
[2]
During April 1943 No. 105 (Transport) Operational Training Unit formed at the airfield flying
Vickers Wellingtons
, which were supplemented with
Douglas Dakotas
in March 1945. Between November 1944 and July 1945 Bitteswell was used as a satellite providing some relief for the busy station before the unit was renamed 1381 (T) Conversion Unit in August 1945 and moved out to
RAF Desborough
.
[2]
The gap was somewhat filled by 1510 BAT Flight using the Oxford who arrived during July 1946. However, after four months the flight moved out. With the airfield being transferred to the
Royal Navy
being renamed HMS Gamecock.
[2]
Royal Navy operations
[
edit
]
Supermarine Seafire F.47s of 1833 Squadron RNVR based at Bramcote in 1953.
On 1 December 1946 the airbase was transferred from
No. 4 Group RAF
to the
Admiralty
, and then known as
Royal Naval Air Station Bramcote
, (
RNAS Bramcote
). A couple of days later, on 3 December, it was
commissioned
as
HMS
Gamecock
.
[9]
RNAS Bramcote
was given the
ships
name
HMS
Gamecock
following normal Royal Navy practice and it was used by flying units of the
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
between August 1947 and October 1957. The first unit to be based was
1833 Naval Air Squadron
which was equipped with
Supermarine Seafire
, a
navalised
version of the
Supermarine Spitfire
single engine fighter aircraft. IInitially the F15 and F17 variants of Supermarine Seafire were used, but from June 1952, the unit became the only RNVR squadron to be equipped with the Supermarine Seafire FR47 version, which was fitted with contra-rotating propellers. These were replaced by
Hawker Sea Fury
FB.11, a single-seat fighter aircraft, in February 1954. The jet-powered
Supermarine Attacker
single-seat fighter aircraft was received in October 1955, and because these required better runway facilities, the squadron then moved to nearby
RAF Honiley
.
[10]
The
Midland Air Division
was formed on 1 July 1953 to control Bramcote-based squadrons.
1844 Naval Air Squadron
formed at Bramcote on 15 February 1954, being equipped with
Fairey Firefly
AS.6 anti-submarine aircraft.
Grumman Avenger
AS.5 aircraft replaced the Fireflies in March 1956. Both squadrons ceased to exist on 10 March 1957 when all of the United Kingdom's reserve flying units were disbanded as an economy measure.
[10]
British army
[
edit
]
In 1959 the airfield was transferred to the British Army as
Gamecock Barracks
.
[11]
Units and aircraft
[
edit
]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
Citations
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Ritchie, Berry (1997).
The Good Builder: The John Laing Story
. James & James.
- Falconer, J (2012).
RAF Airfields of World War 2
. UK: Ian Allan Publishing.
ISBN
978-1-85780-349-5
.
- Halley, J.J.
The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1981-1988
. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 1988.
ISBN
0-85130-164-9
.
- 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
.
- Sturtivant, R.
The Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm
. Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 2001.
ISBN
0-85130-223-8
.
- Sturtivant, R; Hamlin, J; Halley, J (1997).
Royal Air Force flying training and support units
. UK: Air-Britain (Historians).
ISBN
0-85130-252-1
.
External links
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