RAF Halton
THE STATION
The primary role of RAF Halton is to train military and civilian personnel to perform to the highest standard for military operations.
RAF Halton has lodger units across a range of specialities from air activity to defence media operations.
RAF Halton is one of the largest RAF stations and home to approximately 2,100 personnel from all three armed services, foreign military, contractors, and civilians.
Commander
Group Captain James Brayshaw LLB(Hons) FCIPD RAF
Group Captain Brayshaw joined the RAF as an Airman in 1989 and was commissioned in 1994 into the Administration (Secretary) Branch.
Throughout his career he has served on numerous RAF Stations and was responsible for RAF recruiting and selection in London. He has frequently worked in Joint units working alongside the Army and Royal Navy.
ADDRESS
RAF Halton, Wendover, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP22 5PG.
KEY DATES
- 1913 - First recorded flight at RAF Halton.
- 1917 - Formation of The School of Technical Training.
- 1922 - First Apprentice Scheme Entry began training.
- 1947 - King George VI signified approval to the award of Colours to the RAF in the UK.
- 1952 - The Queen (then HRH The Princess Elizabeth) presented Colours to No 1 School of Technical Training.
- 2017 - The Duchess of Cornwall presented the new replacement Queen’s Colour to the Station.
HISTORY
September 1913, Alfred de Rothschild invited the Army to use his land for summer manoeuvres. The soldiers were joined by No 3 Squadron RFC. On the outbreak of World War 1 Alfred offered his estate to Lord Kitchener for military training. By 1916, Halton was covered in tents and huts accommodating some 20,000 troops.
In 1917 there was an expansion of technical training in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and Halton became the main training unit for aircraft mechanics. Permanent workshops were constructed to house the RFC's many trades. The population expanded and by the end of 1917 some 14,000 air mechanics were trained. At the end of the war, November 1918 the station had under training 6000 airmen mechanics, 2000 women, and 2000 boys at a Boys Training Depot, all supported by 1,700 instructors.
On Rothschild’s death in January 1918, his nephew Lionel inherited Halton House and its lands. The Air Board purchased the estate for the Royal Air Force which had been formed on 1 April combining the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. Fortunately, Lionel was a willing seller and the estate was purchased by the War Office in 1919 for £112,000.
The end of World War One, Trenchard’s vision of a permanent RAF was published in a memorandum endorsed by Winston Churchill, the Secretary of State for Air, December 1919. Trenchard believed that the only way to recruit high quality mechanics for the Service was to train them internally. His vision was the recruitment of well-educated boys aged 15 and 16 who could absorb the technical training.
The first Entry of 500 boys arrived in January 1922 to the school now named No 1 School of Technical Training. Trenchard’s ex-apprentices went on to form 40% of the RAF’s ground crew and 60% of its skilled tradesmen.
