listen to a lecture on servicing aircraft in the field, in front of a line of instructional airframes, during the early 1940s The first recorded
military aviation at Halton took place in 1913 when the then owner of the Halton estate,
Alfred de Rothschild, invited No
3 Squadron of the
Royal Flying Corps to conduct manoeuvres on his land. Following a
gentlemen's agreement between Rothschild and
Lord Kitchener, the estate was used by the
British Army throughout the
First World War. In 1916 the Royal Flying Corps moved its air mechanics school from
Farnborough, Hampshire to Halton, and in 1917, the school was permanently accommodated in workshops built by German
PoWs. The estate was purchased by the
British Government for the nascent
Royal Air Force at the end of the First World War for £112,000. In 1919
Lord Trenchard established the
No. 1 School of Technical Training at RAF Halton for RAF
aircraft apprentices, which remained at the station until it moved to
RAF Cosford in the early 1990s. Also in 1919,
Halton House – a French-style mansion built for
Alfred de Rothschild – was re-opened as the station's
Officers' Mess, a role which the
grade II listed building continued until 2025. In July 1952 the uncrowned
Queen Elizabeth II performed one of her first duties as Sovereign by presenting a
colour to Number 1 School of Technical Training; the first to be awarded to an apprentice school, and the first to be presented to an '
other rank' when Sergeant Apprentice Hines, of the 63rd Entry, received the colour from Her Majesty. In 1967, RAF Halton was the site of the unsolved case of the
murder of aircraftswoman Rita Ellis. The case was reopened in 2010 to take advantage of modern forensic techniques, and in 2017 a new
DNA profile enabled the police to eliminate 200 of the original suspects. In late 2020, the
Thames Valley Police's major crime review team issued a further appeal for anyone with information to come forward. When No. 1 School of Technical Training moved to
RAF Cosford in 1993, they took over guardianship of the Queen's Colour and on 31 October 1997, Her Majesty presented RAF Halton with its second colour. RAF Halton was the only station to be granted the dignity of two Queen's colours. The move of No. 1 School of Technical Training to RAF Cosford afforded space for the RAF School of Recruit Training to be moved from RAF Swinderby to RAF Halton in July 1993, where it has been ever since. In the year 2004–2005, RAF Halton trained 24,000 personnel, though not all were Phase 1 recruits; some were attending the Airman's Command School which trains Non-Commissioned Officers (NCO) in Phase 2 and 3 disciplines. From 1917 to 1963, a
spur railway line ran from
Wendover to Halton to supply coal and goods to the station. The history of the RAF station and specifically apprenticeship training over the years is preserved by the
Trenchard Museum located at RAF Halton, and managed by the RAF Halton Apprentices Association. In 2010 a major project by members of the station re-excavated the training trenches used during the First World War and made them available as an educational exhibit. No.
613 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, which operated the
Grob Vigilant T1, was disbanded in November 2016 by the MoD as part of its Better Defence Estate strategy. In July 2018, the headquarters of the Logistics Specialist Training Wing (LSTW) relocated to the new Defence College of Logistics, Policing and Administration at
Worthy Down Camp in
Hampshire. The remaining element of the LSTW, the Logistics Supply Training Squadron, moved to Worthy Down over the months following 24 October 2019. The following units were here at some point: • RAF Police School • No. 6 RAF Police Squadron •
Special Investigation Branch RAF Hospital Halton '''Princess Mary's RAF Hospital Halton''' was opened in 1927 as a large purpose-built military hospital, replacing an earlier makeshift medical facility housed in wooden huts that had been opened in 1919. The hospital was the second unit in the United Kingdom to have a
renal facility, and besides developing a cure for
Sandfly fever, the hospital was the first in the world to use
penicillin on a large scale in 1940, just after its discovery. The hospital was closed in 1995 due to Government defence cuts. The buildings remained derelict until 2008 when they were demolished for new housing in a development called
Princess Mary Gate.
Airfield The site has a grass airfield, used mainly by
gliders,
light aircraft,
microlights and the RAF
hot air balloon. The airfield is the home of the
Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association, Chilterns Gliding Centre, The Halton Aero Club and the RAF Halton Microlight Club. The airfield was also used as the filming location for the German airfield in
Wonder Woman. == Based units ==