page_title: RAF Wittering
section_title: Second World War
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Wittering / History / Second World War
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Air Force Fighter Command, 1939-1945. Flight-Lieutenant M H Brown and Pilot Officer Chatham of No. 1 Squadron RAF standing by the nose of a Hawker Hurricane Mark I at Wittering, Huntingdonshire. Mark Henry Brown was the first Canadian fighter pilot of the war to become an 'ace'. He had, by the time this photograph was taken, shot down at least 18 enemy aircraft over France and Great Britain, and in the following month, was appointed Commanding Officer of No. 1 Squadron. One year later, flying from Malta, he was killed in a fighter sweep over Sicily.
context_page_description: Royal Air Force Station Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the district of East Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire is the nearest town, the runways of RAF Wittering cross the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
context_section_description: During the Second World War, the station was very active during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz in 1940–41 in No. 12 Group (controlled from RAF Watnall in Nottingham) as it was the main fighter station for a lot of the southern East Midlands, and fighters from the station would often patrol as far as Birmingham.  During the Battle of Britain many squadrons were rotated through Wittering to spells in the south of England with No. 11 Group that was bearing the brunt of the battle.  With many of the Luftwaffe raids during the Blitz taking part at night, Wittering-based squadrons were instrumental in the development of night combat techniques. These included the use of the Turbinlite aircraft which replaced the nose with a powerful searchlight insulated in the nose of Havocs and Bostons. In April 1943 No. 141 Squadron were moved in, operating de Havilland Mosquitoes.   1943 also saw the station host 2 USAAF squadrons, albeit temporarily: 63 Fighter Squadron USAAF with its P47s operated from Wittering between January and March before moving to RAF Horsham St Faith; 55 Fighter Squadron operated its P38s and P51s from Wittering between August and March 1944 before moving to nearby RAF Kingscliffe.
  Emergency landing ground K3 was renamed as Collyweston Landing Ground in 1940 with the construction of some blister hangars, a perimeter track and some dispersals, although the next main fighter station further north was RAF Coleby Grange. Embry in Mission Completed states that in 1940 (the station's official history indicates that this was actually in 1941), while used by 25 squadron, equipped with Beaufighter night fighters, the runway was extended from 1,400 yards to 3 miles long to reduce landing accidents at night and in bad weather.
  The Station's innovative role continued and developed throughout the war.  It became the home of both fighter and gunnery research and development units working with new equipment and techniques.  In addition, No. 1426 (Captured Enemy Aircraft) Flight (colloquially known as the RAFwaffe) was based at Collyweston Landing Ground with its wide range of captured Luftwaffe aircraft both evaluating their performance and touring allied bases. In January 1945, the captured enemy aircraft were removed.
  During the war, the airfield was bombed five times, with seventeen people being killed on 14 March 1941. Aircraft from the station downed 151 Luftwaffe aeroplanes and 89 V-1 flying bombs. Hugh Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Putney served at the station, as did Andrew Humphrey (later Chief of the Defence Staff from 1976 to 1977, who flew Supermarine Spitfires with 266 Squadron).
caption: Flight Lieutenant M H Brown and Pilot Officer Chatham of No. 1 Squadron standing by the nose of a Hawker Hurricane Mark I at Wittering,. CH1566
exif: {}