The two-county station the Harrier jump jet called home

IN the history of British military aviation, the Harrier is one of the most iconic of all the aircraft to have operated since the end of WWII.

While the jet is probably best remembered for operations 8000 miles from Britain in the Falklands, its home was a station that crosses the boundaries of two English counties – Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire – with Wittering the destination in August 1969 for the ground-breaking VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft to enter RAF service.

The new breed of fighter became synonymous with Wittering, one of the jets proudly standing as its gate guardian, ZD469, which is clearly visible from the A1; its proximity to the Great North Road was evident in June 2018 when a red Renault veered off the dual carriageway crashing into the Harrier, thankfully both the driver and aircraft surviving the collision, the car itself not so lucky.  

(RAF Wittering gate guardian)

It was more than half a century before the arrival of the Harrier that military flying began near the current site of the station, May 1916 seeing the establishment of a Flight of No. 38 Home Defence (HD) Squadron at a location on Wittering Heath, just south of Stamford. Initially known as RFC Stamford, as well as being used as a site for fighters operating against Zeppelin attacks on the east of England, the station served as a pilot training facility and a PoW camp, April 1918 seeing Stamford become RAF Wittering.

Post WWI, the station became a storage depot before being placed under care and maintenance in January 1920, later the site being transformed into the Central Flying School (CFS) in 1926 when it relocated from Upavon in Wiltshire.          

It retained its CFS role until 1935, replaced by No. 11 Flying Training School before Wittering became a Fighter Command station in April 1938 within No. 12 Group, Nos. 23 and 213 Squadrons among the units arriving and taking part in exercises flying aircraft including Bristol Blenheims and Hawker Hurricanes to improve combat readiness.

Further expansion of the site continued up to the outbreak of WWII with three new hangars constructed, No. 213 relocating south to Biggin Hill early in 1940 with their Hurricanes to provide air cover for the retreating British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in May of that year.

Throughout WWII, the station’s squadrons were engaged with enemy fighters and bombers above the skies of Britain, Wittering’s aircraft predominantly operating in the night fighter role, the station coming under attack from the Luftwaffe on a number of occasions, most notably on March 14, 1941, when a lone aircraft dropped a number of bombs on the site killing 16 airmen and one officer. 

Wittering was also renowned for its air defence research and development, with new night combat techniques tested and modified during WWII before being rolled out across the country. The station also became home to the so-called ‘Rafwaffe’: No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight RAF operating captured German Heinkels, Junckers and Messerchmitts, and others, taking them around the UK in what could appropriately be described as a flying circus, demonstrating the capabilities of the enemy aircraft and briefing pilots and others on how best to counter their threat.  

The station was expanded in 1943, merging with nearby Collyweston, its new longer runway utilised by US aircraft including long-range P-38 Lightning fighters, the American presence remaining until after the end of WWII, the station returning to Flying Training Command in 1948 before coming under the control of Bomber Command in the early 1950s.

One of the most significant events during its Bomber Command phase was in November 1953 when Wittering became the home to Britain’s first operational nuclear bomb, Blue Danube, Vickers Valiants of No. 1321 established to integrate the new weapon into service; all of the V-bomber force operated from the station for spells during the late 1950s and 1960s, with four Valiants of No. 49 Squadron departing from the station early in 1957 to test Britain’s H-bomb in the Pacific, codenamed Operation Grapple.

Up until the late 1960s, V-bombers at Wittering were on high alert with nuclear-armed aircraft on permanent standby ready to depart at short notice – the QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) of its time. With Britain’s nuclear deterrent becoming centred on the Polaris submarine fleet, Wittering required a new role which came in August 1969 when No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron became the first to receive the VTOL Harriers.

In May 1971, four of No. 1’s Harriers were operated from HMS Ark Royal, the first time the aircraft had flown from an aircraft carrier, and a decade later the jet was etched into the psyche of the British public when they played a pivotal role in the Falklands War – nine GR3s flown from Wittering to St Mawgan in Cornwall on May 3, 1982, before heading out to Ascension Island, mid-air refuelling from Victor Tankers allowing them to arrive nine hours later.

 Six were transported by sea on the Atlantic Conveyor before flying from the cargo ship directly onto HMS Hermes, 1(F) Squadron taking part in ground attacks on Argentinean positions on the Falklands – three aircraft went down during the conflict, but none in air-to-air combat and no aircrew lost their lives.

(A Harrier landing at RAF Wittering)

The station retained its Harrier force through to 2010, operating in a number of conflicts including the Iraq War and in Afghanistan before a Defence Review shortly after the coalition government came to power ended Wittering’s 41-year association with the jet.

The future of Wittering appeared under threat with the departure of the Harrier fleet but after a flying hiatus of several years, the station’s runways once again returned to operational duty, No. 16 Squadron among the units arriving to run the pilots of the future through their paces. The station is now the home of the A4 force, supporting RAF operations across the globe, and is one of the RAF’s major training centres.