Early years and the Second World War s of
No. 12 Operational Training Unit based at RAF Benson during July 1940 Construction of RAF Benson began in 1937 as part of the 1930s RAF expansion programme which was largely a response to the threat of war with
Nazi Germany. Construction was undertaken by contractors
John Laing & Son. Benson was officially opened as an RAF station under
No. 6 Group in early 1939. In the early hours of 2 August 1940, a Battle took off from Benson for a cross-country training exercise but crashed into a nearby hill. The crew included
Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth, founder of the
Shuttleworth Collection, who was killed. Benson's long association with royalty began in September 1940, when the
King's Flight relocated to the station. This initial association was short-lived, as the flight was disbanded in 1942 to form the core of
No. 161 Squadron at
RAF Newmarket, to which responsibility for the transportation of royalty was transferred. The Battles and Ansons of No. 12 OTU were replaced in December 1940 with
Vickers Wellington medium bombers. Spitfire and Mosquito aircraft flew missions over occupied Europe, including the provision of battle damage assessment images after
Operation Chastise, the attack on German dams by
No. 617 Squadron in May 1943. By December 1944, Benson had two runways extending to which had been constructed using concrete and
wood-chips. There was a selection of hangar types, including four C-type hangars, four over-size (O)
blister hangars and fourteen extra-over-size (EO) blister hangars. Ten concrete
hard-standings were available, and a total of 3,198 personnel were based at the station.
Post-war Post-war
demobilisation saw the disbandment of No. 542 Squadron and No. 544 Squadron in August and October 1945 respectively, with No. 540 and No. 541 Squadrons following in September 1946. The King's Flight reformed at Benson in 1946 and received four
Vickers Vikings during the following year. The unit was renamed the Queen's Flight on the coronation of
Elizabeth II in June 1953. Benson retained a photographic reconnaissance role into the early 1950s. Thereafter, Benson became the focus of the RAF's medium-range
tactical transport fleet, operating the
Armstrong Whitworth Argosy C.1. The first of six aircraft arrived on 20 November 1961 to form the
Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) which trained Argosy crews. The OCU later moved to
RAF Thorney Island. In February 1962,
No. 105 Squadron formed to establish the first front-line unit for the type. It was soon followed by
No. 215 Squadron. By the end of 1963 both units had departed for the
Middle East and
Far East respectively. Two further Argosy units were established,
No. 114 Squadron and
No. 267 Squadron, both operating from Benson until the early 1970s.
Support helicopters Benson's current support helicopter role began in 1992, when
No. 60 Squadron reformed at the station, flying the
Westland Wessex HC2. The Mobile Catering Support Unit (MCSU), featuring a training facility and three Air Combat Support Units, returned in November 1992, having previously been stationed at Benson during the 1970s. June 1997 saw the
Westland Puma HC1 introduced at Benson, when
No. 33 Squadron arrived from RAF Odiham. The Puma Operational Conversion Flight, previously part of
No. 27 Squadron at Odiham moved in during February 1998. Due to the increased level of helicopter activity at Benson, it was necessary to relocate the University of London Air Squadron to RAF Wyton during 1999. In October 1999, as a result of the
Strategic Defence Review, the RAF's Support Helicopter Force was amalgamated into the newly formed tri-service Joint Helicopter Command, now called the
Joint Aviation Command. The new command, reporting to the
British Army's
Land Command, combined the battlefield support helicopters operated by the RAF,
Fleet Air Arm and
Army Air Corps.
21st century No. 28 Squadron reformed at Benson in July 2001 to equip with the new
AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 support helicopter. A further Merlin unit,
No. 78 Squadron, reformed in late 2007 to operate six Merlin HC3As which had been purchased from the
Royal Danish Air Force. However, in November of that year, the Puma force was brought together when
No. 230 Squadron relocated from
JHC Flying Station Aldergrove to Benson. The ceremony marked the disbandment of No. 78 Squadron and its replacement by
846 Naval Air Squadron (NAS). The final Merlin along with 845 NAS departed on 16 June 2016, bringing nearly 15 years of Merlin operations at Benson to a close. In May 2015, it was announced that the Chinook Operational Conversion Flight, comprising six
Boeing Chinooks and 150 personnel would transfer from RAF Odiham to Benson, to form a joint Puma and Chinook OCU, training crews on both aircraft types. The move began in December 2015 as the unit joined their Puma counterparts under a reformed No. 28 Squadron. During 2016, the
Joint Helicopter Support Squadron moved from RAF Odiham to Benson. BAe 146 aircraft of No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron temporarily relocated to Benson between 15 April 2019 and late October 2019 due to the resurfacing of the runway at RAF Northolt. In May 2020, the Rotary Wing Operational Evaluation and Training Unit, which had been at Benson since 1997, adopted the
No. 22 Squadron nameplate and took on the operational testing and evaluation role for the whole of Joint Helicopter Command. == Infrastructure and facilities ==