RAF Lyneham

RAF Lyneham stands on a flat stretch of Wiltshire countryside six miles north-east of Chippenham. Built in 1939 on land that once held Lyneham Court manor house and Cranley Farm, the station began as a grass airfield with dispersed hangars to reduce its visibility to enemy aircraft. During the Second World War it grew into a transport hub with three runways, the longest reaching 6,000 feet by 1943. Squadrons such as No. 511 RAF flew long-range routes to Gibraltar and Malta using Liberators and Yorks before the war ended. The airfield also served as a clearance point for overseas flights, handling planning, customs and briefing for other stations. The station became the RAF’s principal Hercules base after the war. No. 99 Squadron flew Yorks during the Berlin Airlift, while later units operated Hastings and Britannias on trooping flights to India and the Far East. In 1956 the main runway was lengthened to 7,830 feet to accommodate de Havilland Comets of No. 216 Squadron. By 1958 Lyneham hosted part of the V-bomber dispersal plan, with space for four Vulcan or Victor aircraft. Five Hercules squadrons were based here by 1976, making it the RAF’s largest operational airfield. Today the site is Ministry of Defence Lyneham and houses the Defence School of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering. The hangars and runways remain, though flying ended in 2011 when the last Hercules left for RAF Brize Norton. Visitors can still see the extended main runway and the relocated main gate from the 1950s rebuilding programme. The dispersed layout of wartime buildings survives around the airfield’s edge. Beyond the gates, the route taken by repatriation cortèges through Royal Wootton Bassett is marked by memorials to fallen service personnel.