AAC Middle Wallop explained

AAC Middle Wallop
Ensign:Flag of the British Army.svg
Ensign Size:90px
Location:Middle Wallop, Stockbridge, Hampshire
Pushpin Map:Hampshire
Pushpin Label:AAC Middle Wallop
Pushpin Map Caption:Location within Hampshire
Type:Army Air Corps airfield
Code:MW
Ownership:Ministry of Defence
Operator:British Army
Controlledby:Army Air Corps
Built:/40
Used:Royal Air Force (April 1940–1945 and 1946–1957)
Fleet Air Arm (1945–1946)
Army Air Corps (1957 – present)
Battles:European theatre of World War II
Cold War
Elevation:90.5m (296.9feet)
Icao:EGVP
R1-Number:08/26
R1-Length:1096m (3,596feet)
R1-Surface:Grass
R2-Number:17/35
R2-Length:1181m (3,875feet)
R2-Surface:Grass
Footnotes:Source: Middle Wallop Defence Aerodrome Manual[1]

Army Aviation Centre (AAC) Middle Wallop is a British Army airfield located near the Hampshire village of Middle Wallop, used for Army Air Corps training. The base hosts 2 (Training) Regiment AAC and 7 (Training) Regiment AAC under the umbrella of the Army Aviation Centre. 2 (Training) Regiment performs ground training; 7 (Training) Regiment trains aircrew on AAC aircraft after they complete basic training at RAF Shawbury.

The base is notable for having previously served as both a Royal Navy (as HMS Flycatcher) and a Royal Air Force (as RAF Middle Wallop) controlled airfield, as well as an Army one.

History

Early use

The base was opened as RAF Middle Wallop, a training school for new pilots in 1940.[2] It was originally intended for bomber use; however, with the Battle of Britain being fought, No. 609 Squadron RAF, flying the Supermarine Spitfire Ia, and No. 238 Squadron RAF flying the Hawker Hurricane I were moved to Middle Wallop.[2]

Among the fighter pilots who flew from here in the Battle of Britain were former journalist John Dundas[3] (a veteran of the Battle of France, and brother of another notable RAF pilot, "Cocky" Dundas), and three remarkable Americans, "Red" Tobin, Andy Mamedoff, and "Shorty" Keough.[4] Keough, who was less than five feet tall, was reputed to be the shortest pilot serving in the RAF.[5]

In September 1940 604 Squadron RAF, a specialist night fighter unit, received the Bristol Beaufighter, equipped with four 20-mm cannon under the nose and improved Mark IV AI radio-location equipment. As one of the few Squadrons thus equipped, 604 squadron helped provide night time defence over the UK during the Blitz from late 1940 until mid-May 1941. In this time 50 air victories had been claimed by No. 604 Squadron, 14 by F/L John Cunningham.[6]

RAF Chilbolton was designated the relief landing airfield for Middle Wallop, until it became a fully fledged Fighter Station in its own right, as the Battle of Britain progressed.[7] [2]

In a post-war memoir, an RAF night-fighter pilot who began flying Beaufighters from Middle Wallop with 604 Sqdn in January 1942 recalls the grass airfield as presenting challenges for the pilots of the big fighters. He describes Middle Wallop as having:

. . . two runways of 1,400 and 800yd, which undulated so that their bumps would catch the unwary coming in to land. Ten tons of Beaufighter thus required a fair degree of accuracy in the approach speed. If you had 10-15mph too much on the clock as you came over the hedge, the aeroplane would then float for a hundred yards or so before touching down at 80mph, and thus use up the spare margin of distance available for stopping. Weak brakes then meant a trip through the far hedge, or an exciting ground loop. So we all quickly learned the value of precision flying and brought our aircraft in to land within 1 per cent of 105mph on the approach and 90mph over the hedge.[8]

Squadrons serving at Middle Wallop included:

USAAF use

Middle Wallop was also used by the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force to house Headquarters IX Fighter Command, beginning in November 1943. A month after the headquarters arrived, the 67th Reconnaissance Group was moved from RAF Membury. The move of the 67th Group was made in December 1943 so it would be in close proximity to IX FC Headquarters. The 67th Group flew the photographic versions of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning (F-5) and North American P-51 Mustang (F-6) to fly artillery-adjustment, weather-reconnaissance, bomb-damage assessment, photographic-reconnaissance, and visual-reconnaissance missions to obtain photographs that aided the invasion of the Continent.[9]

After D-Day, both the 67th RG moved to its Advanced Landing Ground at Le Molay-Littry (ALG A-9) and IX FC Headquarters moved to Les Obeaux, France in late June 1944 ending the USAAF presence at Middle Wallop. During the American use, the airfield was designated as USAAF Station 449, ID Code: MW.[10]

RAF / RNAS use

Middle Wallop returned to Royal Air Force use from July 1944 for No. 418 Squadron RCAF and its de Havilland Mosquito night-fighters.[11]

In January 1945, in an exchange with the Royal Air Force, Middle Wallop was transferred to Royal Navy use, and became 'RNAS Middle Wallop'. HMS Flycatcher, the headquarters for the Mobile Naval Air Base organisation then moved in from RNAS Ludham, Norfolk, which reverted to RAF use.[12]

In 1946, the Royal Air Force occupied Middle Wallop again. No. 164 Squadron RAF with its Spitfires came and were renumbered to No. 63 Squadron RAF. The following year, No. 227 OCU, an Army air observation post training unit, was moved to the airfield. This was renamed as the Air Observation Post School in 1950, and the Light Aircraft School in 1952.[11]

Units

The following units were also here at some point:[13]

Army Air Corps use

In 1954 a Development Flight (CFS) with helicopters was formed there, this led to the Joint Experimental Helicopter Unit in 1955. On 1 September 1957, when British Army aviation became independent of the RAF, Middle Wallop was transferred to the new Army Air Corps with the former Light Aircraft School RAF becoming the Army Air Corps Centre. The centre was made up of the:

The Army Air Corps Centre was previously the Light Aircraft School RAF (1953–57), Air Observation Post School RAF (1950–53), No. 227 (Air Observation Post) Conversion Unit (1947–50), No. 227 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (1947), No. 43 Operational Training Unit (1942–47), No. 1424 (Air Observation Post) Flight RAF (1941–42) and D Flight RAF within the No. 1 School of Army Co-operation RAF (1940–41).

The School of Army Aviation was established in 1965 by renaming and separating the Training Cell which included the ground instructional part of the Tactics Wing, Aircraft Engineering Training Wing and the Flying Wing. It changed its name to the Army Aviation Centre on 1 August 2009.[14]

Operational units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Middle Wallop Airfield.[15] [16] [17]

British Army

Army Air Corps
  • Headquarters, Army Air Corps
    Joint Aviation Command/Army Air Corps

    The base is also the home of the Historic Army Aircraft Flight a charitable trust that flies historic Army aircraft for public display and the Army Flying Museum.[18]

    References

    Bibliography

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Middle Wallop Defence Aerodrome Manual (DAM). 4 September 2017. British Army. Military Aviation Authority. 7 July 2018.
    2. Web site: Middle Wallop Airfield – History. Aircraft, Airfields and Airshows. 17 May 2022.
    3. Book: Franks, Norman. Wings of Freedom: Twelve Battle of Britain Pilots. 1980. William Kimber. London. 978-0-7183-0396-9. 180.
    4. Book: Caine, Philip D. . Eagles of the RAF: The World War II Eagle Squadrons . https://web.archive.org/web/20211028090037/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA264356.pdf . live . 28 October 2021 . . 69.
    5. Web site: Battle of Britain London Monument - P/O V C KEOUGH . 24 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151224103826/http://www.bbm.org.uk/Keough.htm . 24 December 2015 . dead . dmy-all .
    6. 'Aces High' Shores & Williams, page 74
    7. Web site: Chilbolton. UK Airfield Guide. 25 February 2021.
    8. Howard-Williams, Jeremy.  Night Intruder: A Personal Account of the Radar War Between the RAF and Luftwaffe Night-Fighter Forces (Memoirs of World War Two in the Air Book 1). Sapere Books. 2023. Page 30.
    9. Web site: 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group. American Air Museum. 25 February 2021.
    10. Web site: Middle Wallop. Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. 25 February 2021.
    11. Web site: RAF Middle Wallop airfield. www.ControlTowers.co.uk.
    12. Web site: Flycatcher(2) Middle Wallop. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070926215508/http://www.btinternet.com/~faahistoryweb/Flycatcher-2.htm. 26 September 2007. 2 May 2007.
    13. Web site: Middle Wallop . Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. 6 September 2023.
    14. Web site: Army Aviation Centre. Ministry of Defence. 8 July 2016.
    15. Web site: Selection process. The British Army. en. 6 November 2017.
    16. Web site: Historic Aircraft Flight. The British Army. en. 6 November 2017.
    17. Web site: AAC Structure. The British Army. en. 6 November 2017.
    18. News: Army Flying Museum launches woollen helicopter campaign. 26 January 2021. Andover Advertiser. 25 February 2021.

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