RAF Hereford

Credenhill Barracks
RAF Hereford
Near Credenhill, Herefordshire, in England
Credenhill Barracks
RAF Hereford within Herefordshire
Coordinates 52°05′06″N 002°47′42″W / 52.08500°N 2.79500°W / 52.08500; -2.79500Coordinates: 52°05′06″N 002°47′42″W / 52.08500°N 2.79500°W / 52.08500; -2.79500
Site information
Owner Ministry of Defence
Operator British Army
Site history
Built 1999 (1999)
In use 1999 - Present
Battles/wars Second World War
Airfield information
Helipads
Number Length and surface
01 40 metres (131 ft) Asphalt

Royal Air Force Hereford or RAF Hereford, and also known as RAF Credenhill, was a non-flying station of the Royal Air Force situated in the village of Credenhill near Hereford, United Kingdom. It was commissioned in 1940 and served as home for a range of training schools from 1940[1] until closure in 1999. RAF Hereford was home to Administrative Apprentice training until the final entry (330) graduated and passed out in August 1973, following which the station continued to provide Supplier trades training to adult entrants to the RAF, and 'in service' junior command and leadership/promotion training until 1999. The station was subsequently redeveloped for use by the British Army and established as a depot for the Special Air Service.

History

First World War

After the outbreak of the First World War, the Ministry of Munitions were required to create a number of Royal Ordnance Factory munitions production facilities quickly and cheaply. In 1912 Herefordshire County Council had bought 185 acres (75 ha) of the former Rotherwas estate from the Lubienski-Bodenham family, overlooked by Dinedor Hill and bordered by the Wye meadows.[2][3]

A site of 100 hectares (250 acres) was acquired by the Ministry on 15 June 1916, at Lower Bullingham just south of Hereford on the junction of the Welsh Marches Line and the Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway. Laid out to a standard design, ROF Rotherwas encompassed:[2][3]

For storage purposes, the ROF also acquired railway-connected lands at Credenhill.[2][3]

All components were produced elsewhere, with the facility responsible for final production: inserting explosive into shells and fitting detonators. Shell filling began on 11 November 1916, with both Lyddite and Amatol explosives being used in production. From June 1918, supplied with dichloroethyl sulphide by the National Smelting Company at Avonmouth Docks, the facility produced mustard gas shells.[4][5] By the end of WW1, the average output of shells from the facility was 70,000 per week.[2][3][6]

Second World War

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the same site at Credenhill was leased from the farmer land owner. This housed:

Graduation photograph of 2 Squadron RAF Admin Apprentices, RAF Hereford, August 1973; the final entry to graduate from No. 3 School of Technical Training

Current use

No. 658 Squadron AAC has been posted here.[8] 22 Regiment, Special Air Service is also based here.

References

  1. ↑ https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/units/474/raf-hereford/
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Royal Ordnance Factory Rotherwas". Herefordshire County Council. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Edmonds, John (2004). The History of Rotherwas Munitions Factory, Hereford. Logaston Press.
  4. ↑ Haber L.F. (1986). "10". The Poisonous Cloud. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198581420.
  5. ↑ Ian F.W. Beckett. "The Home Front 1914-1918: How Britain Survived the Great War". Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "Rotherwas Ordnance, Hereford". archaeologists.tv. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "RAF Hereford (Credenhill)". Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  8. ↑ Gary Parsons (January 2014). "News briefs". AirForces Monthly. Stamford: Key Publishing: pg.7.
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