Early use The base was opened as RAF Middle Wallop, a training school for new pilots in 1940. It was originally intended for bomber use; however, with the
Battle of Britain being fought,
No. 609 Squadron RAF, flying the
Supermarine Spitfire Ia, and
No. 238 Squadron RAF flying the
Hawker Hurricane I were moved to Middle Wallop. (a veteran of the
Battle of France, and brother of another notable RAF pilot,
"Cocky" Dundas), and three remarkable Americans,
"Red" Tobin,
Andy Mamedoff, and
"Shorty" Keough. Keough, who was less than five feet tall, was reputed to be the shortest pilot serving in the RAF. In September 1940
604 Squadron RAF, a specialist night fighter unit, received the
Bristol Beaufighter, equipped with four 20-mm cannon under the nose and improved Mark IV AI radio-location equipment. As one of the few Squadrons thus equipped, 604 squadron helped provide night time defence over the UK during the Blitz from late 1940 until mid-May 1941. In this time 50 air victories had been claimed by No. 604 Squadron, 14 by F/L
John Cunningham.
RAF Chilbolton was designated the relief landing airfield for Middle Wallop, until it became a fully fledged Fighter Station in its own right, as the Battle of Britain progressed. Squadrons serving at Middle Wallop included: •
No. 16 Squadron RAF initially between April 1942 and January 1943 with the Mustang I, returning 1 June 1943 as a full squadron with the Spitfire V until 29 June 1943. The squadron returned on 6 October 1947 with the Tempest F.2, staying until 17 October 1947. •
No. 19 Squadron RAF from 1 March 1943 and 5 April 1943 with the Spitfire VC; with a brief 3 day move to Membury during this period. •
No. 23 Squadron RAF as a detachment between March 1941 and February 1942 with the Havoc I •
No. 32 Squadron RAF between 15 December 1940 and 16 February 1941 with the Hurricane I •
No. 56 Squadron RAF between 29 November 1940 and 17 December 1940 with the Hurricane I •
No. 93 Squadron RAF reformed here on 7 December 1940 from No. 420 Flight with a variety of aircraft including Harrow II (LAM), Havoc I, Wellington IC, Boston I and Havoc I (Turbinlite) •
No. 151 Squadron RAF between 16 August and 17 November 1943 with a detachment at Coltishall flying Mosquito VI & XII •
No. 164 (Argentine–British) Squadron RAF between 8 February and 20 June 1943 with the Hurricane IID & IV •
No. 169 Squadron RAF from 21 June 1943 until 30 September 1943 when the squadron was disbanded flying the Mustang I •
No. 182 Squadron RAF between 1 March and 5 April 1943 with the Typhoon IB •
No. 234 (Madras Presidency) Squadron RAF between 14 August and 11 September 1940 with the Spitfire I •
No. 236 Squadron RAF between 14 June and 4 July 1940 with the Blenheim IF •
No. 238 Squadron RAF multiple times between 20 June 1940 and 1 February 1941 with the Hurricane I •
No. 245 (Northern Rhodesian) Squadron RAF between 19 December 1941 and 26 October 1942 with a detachment at Shoreham flying the Hurricane IIB & IIC •
No. 247 (China-British) Squadron RAF initially as a detachment between 17 May and 21 September 1942 with the Hurricane I & IIB. The full squadron returned on 28 February 1943 flying the Hurricane IIB and Typhoon IB, staying until 5 April 1943 when the squadron moved to Fairlop •
No. 256 Squadron RAF as a detachment between 6 February and 26 March 1941 with the Defiant I •
No. 286 Squadron RAF as a detachment sometime between April 1942 and 1944 with the Master III, Defiant I & III, Hurricane I & IIX and Oxford •
No. 400 Squadron RCAF between 4 December 1942 and 1 February 1943 with the Mustang I •
No. 406 Squadron RCAF between 8 December 1942 and 31 March 1943 with the Beaufighter VIF •
No. 414 Squadron RCAF between 1 February and 26 May 1943 with the Mustang I •
No. 456 Squadron RAAF between 29 March and 17 August 1943 with the Mosquito II & VI •
No. 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron AAF initially between 4 July and 25 July 1940 with the Hurricane I. The squadron returned on 24 August 1942 with Spitfire VB & VC, before leaving on 19 October 1942 going to Ballyhalbert •
No. 504 (County of Nottingham) Squadron AAF between 19 October and 30 December 1942 with the Spitfire VB & VC •
No. 537 Squadron RAF formed here on 8 September 1942 from No. 1458 Flight using a variety of aircraft including Havoc I (Turbinlite), Boston III (Turbinlite), Hurricane IIB & IIC and the Havoc I. Before disbanding on 25 January 1943 •
No. 601 (County of London) Squadron AAF between 1 June and 17 June 1940 with the Hurricane I •
No. 604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron AAF between 27 July 1940 and 18 February 1943 with the Blenheim I and Beaufighter IF •
No. 609 (West Riding) Squadron AAF between 6 July and 2 October 1940 with Spitfire I
USAAF use Middle Wallop was also used by the
United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force to house Headquarters
IX Fighter Command, beginning in November 1943. A month after the headquarters arrived, the
67th Reconnaissance Group was moved from
RAF Membury. The move of the 67th Group was made in December 1943 so it would be in close proximity to IX FC Headquarters. The 67th Group flew the photographic versions of the
Lockheed P-38 Lightning (F-5) and
North American P-51 Mustang (F-6) to fly artillery-adjustment, weather-reconnaissance, bomb-damage assessment, photographic-reconnaissance, and visual-reconnaissance missions to obtain photographs that aided the
invasion of the Continent. After
D-Day, both the 67th RG moved to its
Advanced Landing Ground at
Le Molay-Littry (ALG A-9) and IX FC Headquarters moved to Les Obeaux, France in late June 1944 ending the USAAF presence at Middle Wallop. During the American use, the airfield was designated as USAAF Station 449, ID Code: MW.
RAF / RNAS use Middle Wallop returned to
Royal Air Force use from July 1944 for
No. 418 Squadron RCAF and its
de Havilland Mosquito night-fighters. In January 1945, in an exchange with the Royal Air Force, Middle Wallop was transferred to
Royal Navy use, and became 'RNAS Middle Wallop'.
HMS Flycatcher, the headquarters for the
Mobile Naval Air Base organisation then moved in from
RNAS Ludham, Norfolk, which reverted to RAF use. In 1946, the Royal Air Force occupied Middle Wallop again.
No. 164 Squadron RAF with its Spitfires came and were renumbered to
No. 63 Squadron RAF. The following year, No. 227 OCU, an Army
air observation post training unit, was moved to the airfield. This was renamed as the
Air Observation Post School in 1950, and the
Light Aircraft School in 1952.
Army Air Corps use In 1954 a Development Flight (CFS) with helicopters was formed there, this led to the
Joint Experimental Helicopter Unit in 1955. On 1 September 1957, when British Army aviation became independent of the RAF, RAF technicians remained until
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) technicians were fully trained to take over, On 1 October 1958 the airfield was handed over from
RAF Home Command to the Army Air Corps. Middle Wallop was transferred to the new Army Air Corps with the former Light Aircraft School RAF becoming the Army Air Corps Centre. The centre was made up of the: • Depot Regiment • Demonstration and Trials Squadron • Training Cell • 78th Army Education Centre • Standards department The centre was also made up of the Pilot Training Wing (renamed Flying Wing in 1965), Tactics Wing, Technical Wing (disbanded 1965), Aircraft Servicing Branch and Administrative Wing. The Army Air Corps Centre was previously the
Light Aircraft School RAF (1953–57),
Air Observation Post School RAF (1950–53),
No. 227 (Air Observation Post) Conversion Unit (1947–50),
No. 227 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (1947),
No. 43 Operational Training Unit (1942–47),
No. 1424 (Air Observation Post) Flight RAF (1941–42) and
D Flight RAF within the
No. 1 School of Army Co-operation RAF (1940–41). The School of Army Aviation was established in 1965 by renaming and separating the Training Cell which included the ground instructional part of the Tactics Wing, Aircraft Engineering Training Wing and the Flying Wing. The school was disbanded during March 1973. It changed its name to the Army Aviation Centre on 1 August 2009. ==Operational units==