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{{Short description|Former Royal Air Force flying base in Hampshire, England}}{{about||RAF aircraft called Andover|Avro Andover|and|Hawker Siddeley Andover|the current use of this site|Marlborough Lines}}{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}{{More footnotes needed|date=May 2012}}

factoids

| pushpin_map = Hampshire | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Hampshire| pushpin_label = RAF Andover| pushpin_label_position = Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)>Ministry of DefenceRoyal Flying CorpsAviation Section, U.S. Signal CorpsRoyal Air ForceAir Transport AuxiliaryUnited States Army Air ForcesArmy Air Corps (United Kingdom)>Army Air CorpsRoyal Canadian Air Force| controlledby = Air Defence of Great BritainRAF Fighter CommandRAF Maintenance CommandRAF Army Cooperation CommandRAF Support Command| open_to_public = | site_other_label = | site_other = | site_area = | code = World War I>First World WarEuropean theatre of World War IICold War| events = | past_commanders = | garrison = | occupants = | designations = | website = | footnotes = | IATA = ADV| ICAO = EGWA| FAA = | TC = | LID = | GPS = | WMO = 790}}{{sfn2012|p=34}}| r1-number = 01/30| r1-length = Asphalt concrete>Asphalt| h1-number = | h1-length = | h1-surface = | airfield_other_label = | airfield_other = }}RAF Andover {{Airport codes|ADV|EGWA}} is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, {{Convert|2|mi}} west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air Forces, and the Air Transport Auxiliary were also stationed at the airfield.The airfield has a notable place in history as the site of the first attempt to develop a viable long-range electronic navigation system, during the First World War, and also of the first British military helicopter unit and first European helicopter flying training school, during the Second World War.RAF Andover was also used before and after the Second World War for a variety of other aeronautical research and flight testing. The RAF Staff College, Andover was founded here in 1922, the first college to train officers in the administrative, staff and policy aspects of running an air force.RAF Andover saw action during the Second World War. Corporal Josephine Robins, one of only six members of the WAAF to win the Military Medal during the War, won her award for courage while rescuing people during an air-raid on the airfield in the Battle of Britain. Three squadrons of the Royal Canadian Air Force were formed at RAF Andover. Before and during the Battle of Normandy, it was used by the United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force as an operational tactical fighter airfield.The RAF station closed in 1977 and the site was later redeveloped. In 2009 part of it became Marlborough Lines, home to the Headquarters of the British Army.

Airfield history

File:RAF Andover crest.jpg|thumb|left|upright|RAF Andover badge ]]

Before 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 Anglo-Saxon and medieval cemeteries. Military activity began with the construction during or shortly after 43 AD of the Portway (called here Monxton Road), a Roman road from Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) to Old Sarum (Sorbiodunum), which just north of the airfield meets at East Anton crossroads the Icknield Way, the Roman road from Winchester (Venta Belgarum) to Mildenhall (Cunetio).WEB,weblink ANDOVER BUSINESS PARK Archaeological desk–based assessment, June 2007, Museum of London Archaeology Service,weblink 16 November 2021, 16 November 2021, The Andover sections of these roads were constructed by the Legio II Augusta.File:HandleyPageO400.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|A Handley Page O/400 lands at RAF Andover, 1918]]Very close to the site which became the airfield, in 1910 the British Army airship Beta made a forced landing at Little Park in Anna Valley.WEB, Airship Beta,weblinkweblink 12 May 2022, 12 May 2022, Sense of Place,

1912 to 1918

The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) opened a station near Andover in August 1917 during the First World War. The station was mainly built by German prisoners of war, some of whom left their signatures in roof spaces of buildings on the station.File:The Royal Flying Corps in the First World War Q66954.jpg|thumb|left|Officers of 104 Squadron RFC at Andover before the squadron left for France in early 1918]]Plans for an RFC "Training Depot Station" on the site had first been made in 1912. The station motto was Vis et armis consilioque orta (), reflecting the station's role in training aircrews, who had completed basic flying training, to learn to fly the Handley Page Type O and Airco DH.9 bombers. The first unit to occupy the station was No. 2 School of Navigation and Bomb Dropping, which took up residence while the station was still under construction.Amongst squadrons formed at Andover was 106 Squadron, on 30 September 1917, who were equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 reconnaissance aircraft for army co-operation duties, being posted to Ireland in May 1918.American squadrons were also based at the airfield, as from 24 December 1917 to 6 June 1918 Andover was host to a detachments of the 13th Aero Squadron and 104th Aero SquadronWEB,weblink Operational History of the 13th Bomb Squadron – World War I, 13th Bomb Squadron, 26 July 2021, of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps.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,WEB,weblink A History of Air Navigation in the Royal Air Force, Royal Air Force Historical Society Journal 17, 21 October 1996, p. 8, RAF Museum, 7 October 2020, and early results led to 550 sets of RDF equipment being ordered by the United States Army Air Service,WEB,weblink The Development of Military Night Aviation to 1919, William Edward Fischer Jr, Air University Press, December 1998, p. 129, U.S. Department of Defense, 7 October 2020, but the war ended before any operational use was made of the system. This was the first attempt to develop a long-range electronic navigation system, of a kind that is today used routinely worldwide.When the RAF Station closed in 1977 a number of artefacts from the airfield's early history and later were donated to 1213 (Andover) Squadron Air Training Corps. These included a large carved wooden copy of the RFC cap badge which was later donated to the Army Flying Museum and is now on display in its café.

1918 to 1939

Between the wars, the airfield housed a number of RAF units, including from 1919 the RAF School of Navigation, as No. 2 School of Navigation and Bomb Dropping was retitled. The RAF Staff College was founded here on 1 April 1922, to provide staff training to selected officers, and eventually moved to Bracknell in 1970.(File:The first RAF Staff College course at Andover.jpg|thumb|right|The first RAF Staff College course at Andover in 1922 with Jane the dog)A still preservedWEB,weblink Sanctuary, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) conservation magazine, issue 34, 2005, p. 93, 15 June 2020, reminder of the RAF Staff College on the former airfield is a headstone from 1926 on the North Site marking the grave of Jane. She was a dog belonging to the first Commandant Robert Brooke-Popham.WEB,weblink Gravestone at former RAF Andover, Andover Advertiser, 11 June 2010,weblink 3 November 2021, 3 November 2021, The formation of the Royal Air Forces Association followed a conversation in 1929 in the Sergeants' Mess of RAF Andover.WEB,weblink How it all began – a brief history of the RAF Association,weblink 13 October 2018, 13 October 2018, RAF Andover continued to be used for a variety of aeronautical research and flight testing. As part of this, several experimental military aircraft made their first flights from the airfield. Amongst them were the Westland Yeovil; the Westland Witch; the Westland F.7/30; and all of the Westland-Hill Pterodactyl series of experimental flying wing aircraft.File:12 Squadron RAF Fairey Foxes Hendon 1929 IWM H(AM) 162.jpg|thumb|left|Fairey FoxFairey FoxTwo experimental bomber squadrons were based at RAF Andover in the late 1920s and early 1930s, No. 12 Squadron RAF and No. 101 Squadron RAF. No. 13 Squadron was also based here for five years between 1924 and 1929, operating Armstrong Whitworth Atlas aircraft.No. 12 squadron operated Fairey Fawn light bombers from March 1924, and later the Fairey Fox bomber, which was significantly faster than its contemporaries. To this day, 12 Squadron's 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.A typical annual training programme for 12 Squadron consisted of individual training in the autumn, working up to Squadron training in the summer consisting of bombing, formation flying, navigation exercises and gunnery. Experimental trials carried out included some limited night flying and the introduction into service and testing of parachutes for aircrew. This involved a number of practice jumps being performed by observers, who would climb out of the aircraft onto a small ladder and await a signal from the pilot as the aircraft flew over the airfield at 2000 ft. 12 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.File:Camm hart 500.jpg|thumb|left|Hawker HartHawker HartThe 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. Andover was considered as one of the locations for the Royal Review before Mildenhall was chosen.WEB,weblink 1935 RAF REVIEW: BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT, 11 June 2020, Key Aero, 20 May 2023, File:BP Sidestrand.jpg|thumb|A Boulton-Paul Sidestrand of No. 101 Squadron RAFNo. 101 Squadron RAFSeveral home-based squadrons, including 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 Andover in August 1936, and on its return took delivery of the Hawker Hind. In 1936, 12 Squadron, with 44 and 142 Squadrons also stationed at Andover, played host to a visit by Generalfeldmarschall Werner von Blomberg when he was the German Minister of War.WEB,weblink No.12 (Bomber) Squadron, 5 January 2021, It was also around this time that the majority of B Flight were taken to form the nucleus of the newly formed No. 63 Squadron. 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, 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 Fairey Fox light bombers. The high performance of the Sidestrand impressed 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 Andover.

1939 to 1945

File:Bristol Blenheim - Poix - Royal Air Force- France, 1939-1940. C1166.jpg|thumb|left|Bristol Blenheims of 59 Squadron taking off from Poix-de-PicardiePoix-de-PicardieAt the start of the Second World War, RAF Andover was home to 59 Squadron flying Bristol Blenheim bombers, and to the headquarters of RAF Maintenance Command.WEB,weblink RAF Andover, Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation, 17 May 2022, 59 Squadron deployed from Andover in October 1939 to Poix-de-Picardie in France, returning to Andover in May 1940WEB,weblink Blenheim Operations – The Battle of France – No. 59 Squadron Service History, No. 59 Squadron RFC and RAF,weblink 12 August 2022, 12 August 2022, after the Battle of France ended in defeat. French Air Force aircraft and crews going into exile to continue fighting were on arrival initially directed to Andover.WEB,weblink Escape from France in a Potez 63/11, Aircraft, Airfields and Airshows, 17 May 2022, Andover was later also used by several operational flying training units and as an operational fighter station by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).File:Pundit Light wartime locations, offset from airfield.jpg|thumb|right|Map of airfields including Andover, showing associated Pundit Light positions]]From 1937,WEB,weblink Airfield Pundit Codes, RAF Lincolnshire, 19 April 2022, Andover was given the Pundit Code AV. The code AV was broadcast in morse code by a mobile red light beacon at night, during the latter part of the Second World War. The code was also painted on the airfield hangar nearest to the control tower, and remained visible until the hangars were demolished in 2001.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}While Andover was an operational USAAF station, Andover was designated as Station 406.WEB,weblink Army Air Forces Stations, Captain Barry Anderson, USAF, 31 January 1985, Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, 19 April 2022, The Air Transport Auxiliary's (ATA) Central Ferry Control was also based at RAF Andover. A civilian organisation that – unusually for the time – had female pilots, the ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, Maintenance Units, scrapyards, and active service squadrons and airfields. Central Ferry Control allocated the required flights to all ATA Ferry Pools.WEB,weblink ATA OPERATIONS, AIR TRANSPORT AUXILIARY Museum and Archive, 3 November 2021, RAF Andover was one of four airfields in Hampshire to be given a decoy site in 1940, to deceive enemy aircraft into attacking a spurious target. Andover had two decoy sites, the first being at Hurstbourne Tarrant, a type 'Q' decoy site (Q70b) with fake aircraft and buildingsWEB,weblink Airfield Bombing Decoy Q70b, Historic England Research Records, 17 May 2022, in use from 1940 to October 1944.WEB,weblink Hurstbourne Tarrant, Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust, 17 May 2022, From September 1940, fake machine gun posts were added there. Andover's second decoy site, Q70a in use from July 1940 to July 1941,WEB,weblink Thruxton (decoy), Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust, 17 May 2022, was at Thruxton but its exact location is unknown.File:Corporal JM Robins, MM, WAAF (1941) (Art.IWM ART LD 1467).jpg|left|thumb|upright|Corporal Josephine Robins, MM, WAAF, painted in 1941 by Laura KnightLaura KnightRAF Andover was attacked twice by the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. At 1700 hours on 13 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 two killed. The following day, on 14 August 1940, 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.Corporal Josephine Robins, a Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) telephone operator at RAF Andover was awarded the Military Medal for her courage during these raids. The citation for the award, printed in The London Gazette of 20 December 1940, stated that: "Corporal Robins was in a dug-out which received a direct hit during an intense enemy bombing raid. A number of men were killed and two seriously injured. Though dust and fumes filled the shelter, Corporal Robins immediately went to the assistance of the wounded and rendered first aid. While they were being removed from the demolished dug-out, she fetched a stretcher and stayed with the wounded until they were evacuated. She displayed courage and coolness of a very high order in a position of extreme danger".WEB,weblink Art: Corporal J M Robins, MM, WAAF, Imperial War Museum, 18 June 2020, Corporal Robins' Military Medal was one of only six such awards of this medal made to members of the WAAF in the entire Second World War.It was thought at the time that these air raids 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,BOOK, Bungay, Stephen, The most dangerous enemy, a history of the Battle of Britain, n. 13, p. 462, 2001, Aurum Press, 978-1845134815, London, WEB,weblink Middle Wallop Airfield – History, Aircraft, Airfields and Airshows, 17 May 2022, as the Luftwaffe thought wrongly that it was an operational bomber station.WEB,weblink Grossbritannien England (Hampshire). Andover : Fliegerhorst : LUFTWAFFE TARGET FOLDER (February 1939), Imperial War Museum, 17 May 2022, In 1941 RAF Andover was attacked twice, causing heavy damage to one hangar, which had to be demolished.In June 1941, No. 2 School of Army Co-operation at Andover was re-designated as No. 6 Operational Training Unit (OTU). It was equipped with Bristol Blenheims and operated within No. 17 Group, Coastal Command. Its task was to re-train Westland Lysander pilots onto Bristol Blenheim Mk. Vs in the ground attack role, to serve primarily in the Middle East and Far East. No 6 OTU was absorbed into No. 42 OTU on 18 July 1941, moving to RAF Ashbourne in October 1942.(File:Messerschmitt Bf108.jpg|right|thumb|Me 108 Aldon of the Maintenance Command Communications Squadron)The Maintenance Command Communications Squadron from 1942 used three Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifuns,WEB,weblink DID THE ALLIES USE CAPTURED GERMAN AIRCRAFT?, Key Aero, 17 May 2023, known in RAF service as the Aldon. Two were impressed from pre-war British civilian owners,WEB,weblink German Luftwaffe Warplanes, 1939–1945: Messerschmitt survivors, Military History Books by Harold A Skaarup, 17 May 2023, and one was taken over from the German Embassy when war was declared.WEB,weblink Messerschmitt Aldon (in RAF Service), Brit Modeller, 17 May 2023, File:P-38s-370fg.jpg|left|thumb|Lockheed P-38s of the USAAF's 370th Fighter Group370th Fighter GroupFrom February through July 1944, Andover was used by fighter squadrons (the 401st, 402nd, and 485th squadrons of the 370th Fighter Group) of the 71st Fighter Wing of the Ninth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces, flying Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft. Flying from RAF Andover, the 370th dive-bombed radar installations and flak towers, and escorted bombers that attacked bridges and marshalling yards in France as the Allies prepared for the invasion of the Continent. The 370th also provided cover for Allied forces that crossed the English Channel on D-Day and flew armed reconnaissance missions over the Cotentin Peninsula until the end of the month. The 370th Fighter Group moved to their Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at Cardonville, France (ALG A-3) on 20 July. The USAAF lost a total of 31 P-38s from Andover before the move to France.File:Auster.aop9.tw511.arp.jpg|thumb|right|Taylorcraft AusterTaylorcraft AusterThree Canadian Army Air Observation Post (AOP) Squadrons of the Royal Canadian Air Force – No. 664 Squadron RCAF, No. 665 Squadron RCAF, and No. 666 Squadron RCAF – were formed at RAF Andover between 9 December 1944 and 5 March 1945, equipped with Auster Mark IV and V aircraft. The pilots and observers were officers recruited from the Royal Canadian Artillery and O.R.s from the Royal Canadian Artillery and Royal Canadian Air Force. The pilots were trained to fly de Havilland Tiger Moth aircraft at No. 22 Elementary Flying Training School RAF (Cambridge); thereafter, successful candidates were further trained at No. 43 Operational Training Unit, the Air Observation Post School based at RAF Andover which was dedicated to training British and Commonwealth AOP flight-crews.Lieutenant-Colonel Terry Willett, Royal Artillery, commanded No. 43 OTU at RAF Andover as the first officer to command the AOP training organisation.WEB,weblink Lieutenant-Colonel Terry Willett, 11 March 2011, Daily Telegraph, 18 May 2020, Among the Canadian students trained by No. 43 Operational Training Unit at RAF Andover for No. 666 Squadron RCAF was Captain James Doohan, who later achieved fame as an actor playing (Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek)'s Chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander Scott. While under training he flew an Auster Mark IV between two telegraph poles on Salisbury Plain, to prove it could be done.WEB,weblink Last Flight and Epitaphs, Canadian Army Aviation, 18 May 2020, British Army AOP training at RAF Andover, with Auster Mark V aircraft, continued until at least 1949. One of the three squadrons was re-established after the war as 665 Squadron, Army Air Corps, based in Northern Ireland.File:RAF Sikorsky R-4 taking off 1945.jpg|thumb|Sikorsky R-4Sikorsky R-4RAF Andover has a unique place in British history: the first British military unit to be equipped with helicopters, the Helicopter Training Flight, was formed in January 1945 as part of 43 OTUWEB,weblink OTUs 41-43, Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation, 19 May 2020, under the command of Squadron Leader B. H. Arkell. This was also the first European helicopter flying-training school, although the first European military unit formed solely with helicopters was the Luftwaffe's Transportstaffel 40 in 1944. The Helicopter Training Flight was equipped with nine Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly I helicopters, and trained 100 British Army pilots for AOP duties,WEB,weblink Individual History - SIKORSKY R -4B HOVERFLY MK.1 KL110 (With parts of KK995), RAF Museum, 5 January 2021, as well as pilots for the first RAF squadron to be equipped with helicopters, 529 Squadron, which carried our radar calibration duties.

1945 to 1977

(File:RAF Andover - 25 September 1945.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial photo oriented to the south of RAF Andover, 25 September 1945)Post-war, RAF Andover continued to be used for helicopter flying training and operational research, C Flight of 657 Squadron, Army Air Corps, being renamed 1901 (Air Observation Post) Flight in February 1947.WEB,weblink RAF Helicopters, the First Twenty Years, Royal Air Force, Air Historical Branch, 6 January 2022, The Flight used six Sikorsky R-6A Hoverfly II (an improved version of the Hoverfly I) helicopters, and Auster AOP.6 aircraft to train British Army and Royal Air Force pilots and carry out operational trials.WEB,weblink 1901 (Air Observation Post) Flight, Helicopter History Site, 6 January 2022, The Hoverfly IIs had little effective operational capability, but gave the Army valuable experience in the helicopter's potential use. In addition to artillery direction, the Flight's experimental activities included photography, radar trials, air/ground communications, and fighter evasion. In January 1948, the Flight moved to Middle Wallop.On 14 September 1955, RAF Andover was honoured with the freedom of the Borough of Andover. No. 12 Squadron RAF took part in the ceremony with a flypast of its English Electric Canberra B Mk. 6 bombers, to mark the Squadron's pre-war association with RAF Andover.File:Hawker P. 1127 - NASA.jpg|thumb|The Hawker P.1127Hawker P.1127Andover continued its association with pioneering the use of helicopters in Britain when the Joint Experimental Helicopter Unit,WEB,weblink Joint Experimental Helicopter Unit, Helicopter History Site, 5 January 2021, a joint Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, 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 helicopters and was disbanded at the end of 1959 to form No. 225 Squadron RAF.WEB,weblink 225 Squadron, Helicopter History Site, 6 January 2022, The station's association with aviation research continued, as trials of the Hawker P.1127, the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA 1 (both experimental vertical take-off aircraft), and the Hawker Siddeley Harrier partially took place on the station. The Harrier was the developed form of the P.1127 and Kestrel, and was the world's first operational vertical/short take-off and landing aircraft.File:Macdrop Para Briefing.jpg|thumb|left|A Hawker Siddeley AndoverHawker Siddeley AndoverTrials of the Hawker Siddeley Andover (the second RAF aircraft of that name) were also partially carried out at RAF Andover. In commemoration of this, Hawker Siddeley presented the Borough of Andover with a framed photo of the aircraft, and the type was also named after the town. The Andover's main role in RAF service was tactical transport, for which its unique ability to "kneel" – to allow vehicle entry at a shallow angle via a rear ramp – was an asset. Other roles included aero-medical evacuation, STOL, and parachute and 1 ton container drops. The Andover could also be fitted with long-range ferry tanks, which enabled the short-range Andover to fly long distances, such as across the Atlantic Ocean. Andovers were still in RAF service for the photo reconnaissance role under the Open Skies Treaty and for use by the Empire Test Pilots' School until 2012.File:Percival Pembroke.jpg|right|thumb|A Percival Pembroke of No. 21 Squadron RAFNo. 21 Squadron RAFRAF Andover was throughout the post-1945 period the home of a number of communications squadrons, the last one of which was No. 21 Squadron RAF, which used de Havilland Devon and Percival Pembroke aircraft. The squadron had been re-formed on 3 February 1969, when the Western Communication Squadron RAF was re-designated at RAF Andover. It provided transport for senior officers in the western part of the United Kingdom and was disbanded following defence cuts on 31 March 1976.Just before the RAF station closed in 1977, 1213 (Andover) Squadron Air Training Corps moved into the buildingWEB,weblink SU3245 : Andover – 1213 ATC Headquarters, Tuesday 6 May 2008, Geograph, 15 September 2021, which had been used as Station Headquarters.BOOK, RAF Andover, Souvenir Programme, Battle of Britain "At Home", Saturday 17 September 1949, Airfield plan, 1949, RAF Andover,

Post-RAF use

The RAF station was closed on 10 June 1977 and the airfield was handed over to the British Army. It was used by Army Air Corps units based at Middle Wallop, as well as Defence Equipment & Support (formed by the merger of the Defence Procurement Agency(DPA) and the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO)). The last RAF personnel working in these units left in November 2009.The former airfield site retains an RAF link through the presence of 1213 (Andover) Squadron,WEB,weblinkweblink dead, 2021-04-13, Squadron Finder, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wing Air Cadets, 8 April 2021, WEB,weblink Andover Air Cadets, Facebook page, Facebook, 19 April 2023, Air Training Corps. Sometime after 1967 the Squadron was issued with a Percival Pembroke with the serial number WV742, maintenance number 8111M, for instructional use.WEB,weblink Percival Pembroke, WV742 C.1, RAF Seletar & Tengah Association, 8 April 2021, This was around 1978 sold to a film company and transported to Ilkley Moor in Yorkshire for use in the TV series The Sandbaggers.WEB,weblink Whitley Z9274 on Ilkley Moor, Aircraft Accidents in Yorkshire, 8 April 2021, A former cadet of the Squadron, Lieutenant-Commander Gordon Batt, DSC, of 800 Naval Air Squadron Fleet Air Arm, was killed in action during the Falklands War in 1982.WEB,weblink BATT G. W. J. Lieutenant Commander, DSC – South Atlantic Medal Association (82), 22 August 2018, 29 January 2021,

Squadrons

WEB,weblink Andover (Weyhill), Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust, 1 May 2020, {{columns-list|colwidth=15em|

• No. 2 Squadron RAF
• No. 9 Squadron RAF
• No. 11 Squadron RAF
• No. 16 Squadron RAF
• No. 44 Squadron RAF
• No. 51 Squadron RAF
• No. 53 Squadron RAF
• No. 59 Squadron RAF
• No. 81 Squadron RAF
• No. 82 Squadron RAF
• No. 103 Squadron RAF
• No. 104 Squadron RAF
• No. 105 Squadron RAF
• No. 107 Squadron RAF
• No. 116 Squadron RAF
• No. 119 Squadron RAF
• No. 142 Squadron RAF
• No. 148 Squadron RAF
• No. 169 Squadron RAF
• No. 170 Squadron RAF
• No. 207 Squadron RAF
• No. 214 Squadron RAF
• No. 215 Squadron RAF
• No. 285 Squadron RAF
• No. 289 Squadron RAF
• No. 296 Squadron RAF
• No. 613 Squadron RAF
• No. 651 Squadron RAF
• No. 660 Squadron RAF
• No. 661 Squadron RAF
• 801 Naval Air Squadron
• 807 Naval Air Squadron
• 808 Naval Air Squadron
• 809 Naval Air Squadron
• 879 Naval Air Squadron
• 887 Naval Air Squadron

}}

Units

The following units were also here at some point:{{columns-list|colwidth=40em|

• No. 2 (Bomber) Group RAF (January 1937 – May 1938){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=170}}
• No. 2 School of Army Co-operation (October 1939 – May 1941){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=77}}
• No. 3 (Bomber) Group RAF (May 1936 – January 1937){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=170}}
• No. 4 Fighter Command Servicing Unit
• No. 7 Group RAF (December 1919 – April 1926){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=171}}
• No. 11 Group Pool RAF (January 1939 – July 1939){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=187}}
• No. 15 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit RAF (December 1942 – February 1943){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=43}}
• No. 26 Blind Approach Training Flight RAF (October 1941 – November 1941) became No. 1526 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF (November 1941){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=138}}
• Satellite of No. 41 OTU RAF (May – June 1943, December 1943, February – March 1944, May 1944 & February 1945){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=240}}
• No. 51 (Army Co-operation) Wing RAF (May 1939 – October 1939){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=316}}
• No. 54 (Maintenance) Wing RAF (May 1942 – July 1942){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=316}}
• No. 227 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (May 1947 – May 1950){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=230}}
• A detachment of No. 431 Flight RAF (September – November 1940){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=132}}
• No. 1900 Independent Air Observation Post Flight RAF (January 1947 - December 1948){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=146}}
• No. 2759 Squadron RAF Regiment
• Air Component Field Force Communication Squadron RAF
• Air Navigation School RAF (January 1935 – January 1936){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=58}}
• Army Co-operation Reservoir RAF (December 1939 – ?){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=77}}
• Central Area RAF (October 1933 – November 1933){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=87}}
• Maintenance Command Communication and Ferry Squadron RAF (November 1960 – March 1964){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=202}} became Western Communication Squadron RAF (March 1964 – February 1969){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=309}}
• Maintenance Command Communication Flight RAF{{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=202}}
• Maintenance Command Communication Squadron RAF (May 1944 – ? & ? – August 1949){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=202}}
• Meteorological Research Flight RAF (December 1950 – December 1952){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=223}}
• RAF Staff College Flight RAF (April 1922 – April 1927){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=266}}
• School of Air Pilotage RAF (September 1919 – April 1920) became Air Pilotage School RAF (April 1920 – January 1923){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=60}}
• School of Instruction, Southern Training Brigade RAF (June 1918){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=194}}
• RAF Support Command (September 1973 – June 1977){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=285}}
• Wessex Bombing Area RAF (April 1926 – June 1926){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=309}}
• Western Area RAF (October 1933 – May 1936){{sfn|Sturtivant|Hamlin|Halley|1997|p=309}}

}}

The RAF Staff College

The RAF Staff College was founded at RAF Andover on 1 April 1922, to provide staff training to selected officers, usually of Flight Lieutenant or Squadron Leader rank to enable them to undertake staff officer duties at the Air Ministry, and Command or Group HQs. It was closed on the day that Britain declared war, 3 September 1939. But in November 1939, shortened courses were restarted until the college was placed under Care and Maintenance on 28 May 1940. The Staff College re-opened at Bulstrode Park in December 1941, the college returning to Andover in 1948. It was raised to Group status within Training Command on 1 June 1968 and eventually moved to Bracknell in 1970.

Legacy

Andover Road on the site of the former RAF Changi in Singapore is named after RAF Andover.BOOK, Yew Peng, Ng, What's In The Name? How The Streets And Villages In Singapore Got Their Names, p. 71, 2017, World Scientifics, 978-9813221390, Singapore, Museums preserve a number of aircraft which were based at RAF Andover during their service lives. The RAF Museum preserves a Sikorsky R-4B Hoverfly I,WEB,weblink INDIVIDUAL HISTORY, SIKORSKY R -4B HOVERFLY MK.1 KL110 (With parts of KK995), RAF Museum, 17 May 2022, a Avro Anson C. 19;,WEB,weblink INDIVIDUAL HISTORY, AVRO ANSON C.19/1 TX214/7817M, RAF Museum, 17 May 2022, a De Havilland Devon C. 2,WEB,weblink INDIVIDUAL HISTORY, De HAVILLAND DEVON C.2/2 VP952/8820M, RAF Museum, 17 May 2022, and a Percival Pembroke C. 1.WEB,weblink INDIVIDUAL HISTORY, HUNTING_PERCIVAL PEMBROKE C.1 WV746/8938M, RAF Museum, 17 May 2022, The Yorkshire Air Museum preserves a De Havilland Devon C. 2.WEB,weblink De Havilland Devon VP967, Yorkshire Air Museum, 2 March 2022, 17 May 2022, One of the Maintenance Command Communications Squadron Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifuns, known in RAF service as the Aldon, is displayed by the Airbus Defence and Space Flugmuseum Messerschmitt in Manching.WEB,weblink Me 108, Flugmuseum Messerschmitt, 17 May 2023, This example was originally owned by the German Embassy in London and had the RAF serial number AW167 before being sold to a Swiss owner who registered it as HB-ESM, before the Flugmuseum Messerchmitt acquired it as D-ESBH.Two of RAF Andover's former gate guardians have been preserved. The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Hanley, Staffordshire preserves RAF Andover's former gate guardian in 1952WEB,weblink SPITFIRE RW388, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, 17 May 2022, and 1963 to 1967,WEB,weblink SPITFIRE/RW388, Warbrird Registry, 17 May 2022, WEB,weblink RW388, ABPic, 17 May 2022, a Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. XVIE with the serial number RW388. The RAF Museum preserves RAF Andover's former 1957 to 1962 gate guardian,WEB,weblink INDIVIDUAL HISTORY, SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE P.R.XIX PM651/7758M, RAF Museum, 17 May 2022, a Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk. XIX with the serial number PM651.Two Luftwaffe aircraft captured in 1945 were displayed at RAF Andover and are now preserved in the RAF Museum. A Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4 night fighter was displayed at RAF Andover from 1949 to 1957,WEB,weblink INDIVIDUAL HISTORY, MESSERSCHMITT Bf110G-4/R6 W/NR.730301 AIR MINISTRY 34; 8479M, RAF Museum, 17 May 2022, and a Junkers Ju 87 G-2, was displayed at RAF Andover in 1954.WEB,weblink INDIVIDUAL HISTORY, JUNKERS Ju-87G-2 494083/8474M, RAF Museum, 17 May 2022,

Redevelopment

When the A303 trunk road was straightened to bypass Weyhill to the south, its new route crossed the northern perimeter of the former airfield.WEB, 1958, Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 SU34: Hampshire (showing earlier route of A303),weblink 1 January 2021, National Library of Scotland, In 2013 a solar farm was completed on the remainder of the site, south of the A303.WEB, Andover Airfield Solar Developments Ltd,weblink 2021-01-01, Downing LLP, In 2007, the site of Andover Airfield became the focus of local controversy when developers submitted a planning proposal to build a large distribution centre for the Tesco supermarket company.Planning Application{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} According to the proposal, the main building would have been more than 85,000 sq metres (21 acres), which would make it one of the biggest buildings in Europe.NEWS,weblink Arriving soon at Stonehenge: 480 trucks a day from Tesco's 'megashed', Finch, Julia, 22 February 2008, The Guardian, en-GB, 0261-3077, 8 November 2016, Approval was granted in 2008 but the developer failed to reach agreement with Tesco;WEB,weblink Controversial megashed approved, 1 December 2008, BBC News – Hampshire, 8 November 2016, a regional distribution centre for the Co-op Group was built instead,WEB,weblink Co-op signs up for airfield site, Dancy, Steve, 11 September 2009, Andover Advertiser, 8 November 2016, and the rest of the site became a business park.WEB,weblink Andover Business Park, www.andoverbp.com, 8 November 2016, To mark the closure of the airfield for the redevelopment a sculpture by Chris Brammall, entitled Flight and Navigation, was unveiled on 6 October 2014. It features aircraft that flew from the airfield, and was unveiled with the last RAF flag to fly from the airfield when it was an RAF station. The flag had been kept by local Councillor Ian Carr, who was a navigator with No. 21 Squadron RAF flying de Havilland Devons from the airfield.WEB,weblink Andover Flight and Navigation, 15 June 2020,

Marlborough Lines

From November 2009, a site on the former airfield was named Marlborough Lines and subsequently became home to the Army Headquarters.{{Citation|url=http://www.bfbs.com/news/blogs/wiltshire-blog-38531.html|title=Wiltshire Blog|author=Shirley Swain|publisher=BFBS|date=6 September 2010|quote=the former DLO site in Andover is officially declared the home of the British Army. Renamed Marlborough Lines, the new HQ for Land Forces will be opened|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418102212weblink|archive-date=18 April 2011|df=dmy-all}}

See also

• Amport House

References

Citations

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

• 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 History 666 (Calgary, Abel Book Company, 2006)
• Battle of Britain 'At Home' – Saturday 17 September 1949 – Souvenir Programme, (RAF Andover, 1949)
• Brooks, Robin J., Hampshire Airfields in the Second World War, (Countryside Books, 1996)
• 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)
• Collett Wadge, D, Women in Uniform, (Sampson Low, 1946)
• BOOK, Falconer, J, RAF Airfields of World War 2, 2012, Ian Allan Publishing, UK, 978-1-85780-349-5,
• 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)
• Fromow, Lt. Col. Dave, Canada's Flying Gunners, (Ottawa, A.O.P. Pilot's Association, 2002)
• Freeman, Roger A., UK Airfields of the Ninth Then and Now, (Military and Naval Press, 2006)
• 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
• James, Derek N., Westland aircraft since 1915, (Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1991)
• Knight, Darrell., Artillery Flyers at War: A History of the 664, 665 and 666 'Air Observation Post' Squadrons of the Royal Canadian Air Force, (Alberta Publishing; 2nd edition 2017)
• Rust, Kenn C., The 9th Air Force in World War II, (Aero Publishers, California, 1967/1970)
• BOOK, Sturtivant, R, Hamlin, J, Halley, J, Royal Air Force flying training and support units, 1997, Air-Britain (Historians), UK, 0-85130-252-1,
• Test Valley Borough Council, Andover Development Areas – Historic Environment and Archaeology: Option 9 – Andover Airfield, 2004
• Warner, Guy & Boyd, Alex, Army Aviation in Ulster, (Colourpoint, 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

{{Commons category|RAF Andover}}

• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120613210157weblink">The RAF Staff College, Andover
• RAF Andover crest and list of RAF units from 1917 to 1977
• Hampshire Airfields webpage on RAF Andover history, with original photos and RAF and USAAF units based at the station
• Start of collection of First World War photographs of construction, use, and groundplans of Andover Airfield
• Hampshire Airfields webpage with original photos of USAAF 402 Fighter Squadron based at the station
• American Air Museum in Britain webpage with information on U.S. Army Air Forces units, people and aircraft based at RAF Andover
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141013084701weblink">USAF Historical Research Agency Fact Sheet on 13 Bomb Squadron
• Official UK National Monument Record webpage on Andover Airfield
• Paintings, photographs, documents, etc. about RAF Andover held by UK Imperial War Museum
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20210928135148weblink">Photos and details of RAF Andover control tower, other buildings, and aircraft
• Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust webpage on Andover Airfield, with recent photos of site as well as videos of RAF units and activity in the 1920s and 1930s on RAF Andover
• Photographs of former Airfield buildings in 2008 within UK National Grid square SU3245
• Photographs of former Airfield buildings in 2008 within UK National Grid square SU3345
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100914210428weblink">Andover Sound local radio station report with pictures of the RAF Farewell to Andover event

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