RAF High Wycombe RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station , situated in the village of Walters Ash , near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire , England . It serves as the Headquarters of RAF Air Command , and was originally designed to house RAF Bomber Command in the late 1930s . The station is also the headquarters of the European Air Group . The location of the station was originally suggested by Wing Commander Alan Oakeshott when the Air Ministry was seeking a new , secure , site for Bomber Command away from London . Wing Commander Oakeshott was killed in combat in 1942 and is commemorated on the Naphill war memorial and in the name of the station ' s welfare centre , opened in 2011 . The motto of RAF High Wycombe in Latin is ' Non Sibi ' , which translates as ' not for ourselves ' . History . Construction . Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War , the Air Ministry sought a safe location for RAF Bomber Command away from London . The wooded area near Naphill , Walters Ash and Lacey Green was suggested by Wing Commander Alan Oakeshott as ideal for this purpose , since the trees could provide natural camouflage from the air . Buildings were designed to resemble other uses , such as the Officers ' Mess which was built to look like a manor house . The fire station was built with a tower to resemble a village church . Trees were preserved as much as possible to maintain the camouflage they provided . Roads were laid out so as to avoid most trees . The building work was carried out by John Laing and Son Ltd , with 400 workmen and 80 specialists involved . Tunnels were dug to connect each block on the station , linked to an Operations Block built below ground . To preserve secrecy , the station was known as " Southdown " in March 1940 , as part of a directive by the Air Ministry . The site ' s postal address was given as " GPO High Wycombe . United States Army Air Forces . During the Second World War High Wycombe was used by the United States Army Air Forces . It was the home of the 325th Reconnaissance Wing from 9 August 1944 though 20 October 1945 . The VIII Bomber Command Headquarters was at RAF Daws Hill , on the other side of High Wycombe near the M40 . RAF Daws Hill was decommissioned in August 2007 . Cold War . Operationally during the Cold War the Director UKWMO would have been located at the United Kingdom Regional Air Operations Command ( UK RAOC ) within Strike Command ' s Operations Centre nuclear bunker at RAF High Wycombe to instigate the national Four minute air raid warnings , with the Deputy Director located at a standby UK RAOC , described at the time as being " elsewhere in the UK " , but has since been revealed as being at Goosnargh near Preston within the UKWMO Western Sector nuclear bunker . Warnings were instantly distributed around the country by the HANDEL Warning Broadcast System via 250 Carrier Control Points located at major police headquarters and 17 , 000 WB400 ( later WB1400 ) carrier receivers in armed forces headquarters , hospitals , post offices , Royal Observer Corps posts and private homes in remote rural areas where hand operated sirens replaced the power sirens in the urban towns . In 1958 , Headquarters , 7th Air Division of the Strategic Air Command , supporting SAC operations in UK relocated to High Wycombe from RAF South Ruislip , and commanded all SAC operations until 1965 . The station crest , incorporating a thunderbolt and two pillars to symbolise the support the station gave to Bomber Command , was approved on 23 November 1966 . The station ' s title , Royal Air Force Station High Wycombe , was officially approved on 1 January 1969 . From 1983 to 1984 there was a peace camp protesting against the building of a bunker there at that time to house strike command . Present . RAF High Wycombe is situated roughly three miles from the town of High Wycombe over three sites - No 1 Site houses the Command HQ and the Combined Air Operations Centre ( CAOC - UK CAOC or CAOC 9 ) , No 2 Site houses the officers ' mess , while No 3 site is the domestic site , airmen and NCO ' s quarters , MT yard , PT flight and Supply Flight . There is a large bunker at the site near , the existence of which is officially classified , but which nevertheless is clearly visible on satellite photographs ( e . g . Google Earth ) . An automatic weather station was installed in the complex in 1995 ( WMO ID 03660 ) with an official station name of " High Wycombe , HQAIR " . The site is a non - flying station and was home to RAF Strike Command before it became part of the newly formed RAF Air Command on 1 April 2007 . Air Command is commanded by an Air Marshal . RAF High Wycombe is commanded by a Group Captain . Since 2009 , the station has been responsible for reviewing UFO sightings as part of efforts to identify any possible unauthorised military incursions into UK airspace . Civil servants tasked with reviewing such sightings relocated to the station from the Ministry of Defence Main Building in London . The Ministry of Defence and Serco Group agreed a ten - year contract in February 2010 whereby Serco would provide support services at RAF High Wycombe and RAF Halton , including leisure services , general engineering and catering . The actor David Jason officially opened the station ' s new welfare centre , named after Wing Commander Alan Oakeshott , in July 2011 . An Armed Forces Community Covenant between the station and Wycombe District Council was signed on 16 April 2012 , designed to strengthen the links between the military and the local community . Personnel exercised the station ' s Freedom of Wycombe District on 29 May 2012 , parading through Princes Risborough .