Waddington Airfield History

RAF Waddington is located south of Lincoln between the A15 and A607. A training aerodrome was first established at the site in 1916. The aerodrome closed in 1919 but was reopened in 1926, and was home to No.503 Squadron which on 1 April 1928, became No.503 (County of Lincoln) (Bombing) Squadron. In 1936, the station was reconstructed as part of Scheme ‘L’ with five ‘C’ Type hangars and the associated technical and accommodation buildings were constructed to the north-west side of the grass-surfaced flying field.

When WWII broke out, Waddington was a bomber airfield within 5 group and was involved in the war from the very beginning. The two Hampden equipped squadrons based at the airfield were No.44 Squadron and No.50 Squadron, the latter moved to Lindholme, south Yorkshire, on 10th July 1940. On 1st November 1940, No.207 Squadron reformed at the airfield to receive the RAF’s first Manchester bombers. They remained at Waddington until 17th November 1941, when they transferred to Bottesford, Leicestershire. In February 1941, an element of No.207 Squadron formed the nucleus of reformed No.97 Squadron, who left Coningsby on 10th March.

On 9th may 1941, both the airfield and the village suffered a disastrous air raid. In the village, the church and 19 houses were destroyed by two land mines. On the airfield, five bombs landed destroying an air raid shelter, killing four and the NAAFI, killing seven NAAFI girls and the manageress, Mrs Constance Raven. Today, the rebuilt mess is named Ravens Bar in her memory.

On 19th December 1941, No.420 (Snowy Owl) Squadron RCAF formed at Waddington, equipped with Hampdens. They later became part of 6 (RCAF) Group Bomber Command on 7th August 1942 upon their move to Skipton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire. Also on 7th August, No.9 Squadron arrived from Honington, Suffolk. Initially equipped with Wellingtons, it converted to Lancasters in September 1942.

A few months earlier, on 17th April 1942, No.44 Squadron, Waddington together with No.97 Squadron, Woodhall Spa, equipped with Lancasters, took part in the daylight attack on the factory complex at Augsburg, for which the raid leader, Squadron Leader John Nettleton, received the Victoria Cross. The airfield was due to have its concrete runways laid during 1943 so No.9 Squadron moved out to Bardney on 14th April. Following No.9 Squadron’s move, No.44 Squadron left on 31st May and construction work began.

When the airfield reopened it was with an Australian presence, No.467 Squadron RAAF arrived from Bottesford on 13th November 1943. On the 25th November, No.463 Squadron RAAF was formed from No.467 Squadron’s ‘C’ Flight. Both squadrons operated from Waddington with Lancasters until the end of the war in Europe. Having moved to Skellingthorpe on 3rd June 1945, No.463 Squadron was disbanded on 25th September. On 15th June 1945, No.467 Squadron moved to Metheringham and they too disbanded shortly afterwards on 30th September.

RAF Waddington would remain a bomber station for many years after WWII. It is still an operational airfield and popular as a venue for the RAF’s annual Air Show.

Date	Squadron	Notes
1916		RFC Waddington opens.
November 1916	No.47 Trg Sqn	Operating the Avro 504, Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2 / FE.2 and RE.8, Airco DH.6 and Farman Shorthorn. The training squadron disbanded at the station on the 4th July 1918.
November 1916	No.48 Trg Sqn	Operating the Airco DH.6 and Farman Shorthorn. The training squadron disbanded at the station on the 4th July 1918.
March 1917	No.82 Sqn	Operating the Avro 504, Royal Aircraft Factory RE.8 and Armstrong Whitworth FK.8. The squadron left the station on the 17th November 1917.
May 1917	No.51 Trg Sqn	Operating the Avro 504 and Airco DH.4 / 9. The training squadron left the airfield on the 4th October 1918.
November 1917	No.44 Trg Sqn	Operating the Airco DH.4 / 6 and 9. The training squadron disbanded at the station on the 14th March 1919.
November 1917	No.75 Trg Sqn	Operating the Airco DH.4 / 9. The training squadron left the airfield on the 22nd December 1917.
December 1917	No.97 Sqn	Operating the Airco DH.9. The squadron left the station on the 21st January 1918.
June 1918	No.163 Sqn	The squadron left the station on the 4th July 1918.
July 1918	No.48 TDS	Operating the Avro 504, Sopwith Camel and Pup, Airco DH.6. The Training Depot Station disbanded at Waddington on the 14th March 1919.
February 1919	No.204 Sqn	The squadron disbanded at the airfield on the 31st December 1919.
March 1919	No.203 Flt	Operating the Sopwith Camel. The flight left the station in December 1919.
March 1919	No.23 Sqn	The squadron disbanded at the airfield on the 31st December 1919.
1919		Station put on Care and Maintenance.
1926		Station re-opened.
October 1926	No.503 (County of Lincoln) Sqn	Operating the Avro 504 and Tutor, Fairey Fawn, Handley Page Hyderabad, Westland Wallace, Hawker Hind and Hart. The squadron disbanded at Waddington on the 31st October 1938.
1934		Station received major rebuild, and fully re-opened in 1937.
May 1937	No.110 Sqn	Operating the Hawker Hind and Bristol Blenheim. The squadron left the airfield on the 11th May 1939.
May 1937	No.50 Sqn	Operating the Hawker Hind and Handley Page Hampden. The squadron left Waddington on the 10th July 1940.
June 1937	No.44 Sqn	Operating the Hawker Hind, Bristol Blenheim, Handley Page Hampden and Avro Lancaster. The squadron left the airfield on the 31st May 1943.
June 1937	No.88 Sqn	Operating the Hawker Hind. The squadron left Waddington on the 10th July 1937.
June 1940	No.142 Sqn	Operating the Fairey Battle. The squadron left the airfield on the 3rd July 1940.
November 1940	No.207 Sqn	Operating the Avro Manchester. The squadron left the station on the 17th November 1941.
January 1941	No.6 BAT Flight	Operating the Bristol Blenheim, Handley Page Hampden and Airspeed Oxford. The Beam Approach Training Flight was re-numbered No.1506 BAT Flt on the 16th November 1941.
February 1941	No.97 Sqn	Operating the Avro Manchester. The squadron left the station on the 15th March 1941.
November 1941	No.1506 BAT Flt	Operating the Airspeed Oxford. The Beam Approach Training Flight left the airfield on the 9th May 1943.
December 1941	No.420 (RCAF) Sqn	Operating the Handley Page Hampden. The squadron left Waddington on the 6th August 1942.
August 1942	No.9 Sqn	Operating the Avro Lancaster and Vickers Wellington. The squadron left the airfield on the 14th April 1943.
November 1942	No.1661 HCU	Operating the Avro Lancaster and Manchester. The Heavy Conversion Unit left Waddington on the 20th December 1942.
May 1943		Station closed for concrete runways to be laid. Re-opened in November 1943.
November 1943	No.463 (RAAF) Sqn	Operating the Avro Lancaster. The squadron left the airfield on the 3rd July 1945.
June 1945	No.617 Sqn	Operating the Avro Lancaster. The squadron left Waddington on the 19th January 1946.
July 1945	No.9 Sqn	Operating the Avro Lancaster. The squadron left the station on the 1st January 1946.
January 1946	No.50 Sqn	Operating the Avro Lancaster and Lincoln. The squadron disbanded at the station on the 31st January 1951.
January 1946	No.61 Sqn	Operating the Avro Lancaster and Lincoln. The squadron left the airfield on the 6th August 1953.
July 1946	No.12 Sqn	Operating the Avro Lincoln. The squadron left Waddington on the 18th September 1946.
October 1946	No.57 Sqn	Operating the Avro Lincoln and Boeing B-29 Washington. The squadron left the airfield on the 5th June 1952.
July 1948	372 Bomb Sqn / 307 Bomb Grp (USAF)	Operating the B-29 Superfortress. The squadron left the station on the 19th October 1948.
November 1948	342 Bomb Sqn / 97 Bomb Grp (USAF)	Operating the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. The squadron left Waddington on the 10th February 1949.
March 1950	No.100 Sqn	Operating the Avro Manchester. The squadron left the airfield on the 14th August 1953.
June 1952	No.49 Sqn	Operating the Avro Lincoln. The squadron left the station on the 14th August 1953.
1953		No flying squadrons present due to reconstruction of the airfield. Squadrons returned in 1955.
November 1954	No.103 Sqn	Operating the English Electric Canberra. The squadron left the station in December 1954.
May 1955	No.27 Sqn	Operating the English Electric Canberra. The squadron disbanded at Waddington on the 31st December 1956.
May 1955	No.21 Sqn	Operating the English Electric Canberra. The squadron disbanded at the station on the 30th June 1957.
June 1956	No.203 OCU	Operating the Avro Vulcan and English Electric Canberra. The Operational Conversion Unit left Waddington on the 18th June 1961.
May 1957	No.83 Sqn	Operating the Avro Vulcan. The squadron re-numbered to No.44 Sqn on the 10th August 1960.
August 1960	No.44 Sqn	Operating the Avro Vulcan. The squadron disbanded at Waddington on the 21st December 1982.
June 1961	No.101 Sqn	Operating the Avro Vulcan. The squadron disbanded at the station on the 4th August 1982.
August 1961	No.50 Sqn	Operating the Avro Vulcan. The squadron disbanded at Waddington on the 31st March 1984.
January 1975	No.9 Sqn	Operating the Avro Vulcan. The squadron disbanded at the station on the 1st May 1982.
April 1984	Vulcan Display Flight	Operating the Avro Vulcan. The display flight disbanded at the airfield in September 1994.
December 1984	Nimrod Joint Trials Unit	Operating the BAe Nimrod. The trials unit disbanded at Waddington in April 1987.
July 1991	No.8 Sqn	Operating the Boeing E-3D Sentry. The squadron are still present at Waddington.
August 1995	No.51 Sqn	Operating the BAe Nimrod and Boeing RC-135 Rivet Joint. The squadron are still present at the airfield.
April 1996	No.23 Sqn	Operating the Boeing E-3D Sentry. The squadron disbanded at the station on the 3rd October 2009.
April 2004	No.5 (AC) Sqn	Operating the Raytheon Sentinel. The squadron are still present at the station.
October 2012	No.13 Sqn	Operating the Reaper UAV. The squadron are still present at the airfield.