Teach, Learn, Apply
The Station Crest features a set of arrows fronted by a propeller. The arrows were taken from the Rothschild coat of arms and are a tribute to the heritage of the estate. The propeller serves to signify the Air Force.
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.
Group Captain Dan Startup was born and raised in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. After studying A levels while also a member of the Air Training Corps he attended Warwick University where he read a joint Mathematics & Physics degree. With an aspiration to then join the Royal Air Force as an engineering officer, he went on to complete a Masters degree in Flight Dynamics & Control Systems with Aerospace Vehicle Design at Cranfield University. Having completed a flight test course as part of this degree, he caught the flying bug and joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot.
After flying training, Startup joined the Chinook Helicopter Force and served in several operational locations overseas and on many tasks within the United Kingdom. He commanded a joint Chinook and Sea King squadron in the Falkland Islands and led on operations in Sierra Leone, Beirut, Iraq and Afghanistan before taking up a staff appointment with the Commitments Branch of the newly formed Joint Helicopter Command. After completing Advanced Staff College where he gained the Masters degree in Defence Studies, he completed a short tour within the Permanent Joint Headquarters before taking command of a Merlin helicopter squadron, which again was heavily deployed operationally. After further appointments in the Royal Air Force Career Management organisation and Resource and Plans area, he was promoted into 22 Group Headquarters as the Senior Air Staff Officer. He assumed command of Royal Air Force Halton in August 2020.
RAF Halton, Wendover, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP22 5PG.
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.
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