AP 118 · No. 10 Section I · Museums RAF Halton
Airfield heritage · Buckinghamshire

RAF Halton

Military flying at Halton began in 1913. Alfred de Rothschild invited No. 3 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, to hold manoeuvres on his estate near Wendover. The Army used the estate through the First World War. In 1916 the RFC moved its air mechanics school here from Farnborough. From 1917 it worked in permanent workshops built by German prisoners of war. The Government bought the estate for the new RAF for £112,000.

1913
Opened
3
Flying units listed
1
Museum on site

Also known as No. 1 School of Technical Training

History

The story of RAF Halton

In 1919 Lord Trenchard set up No. 1 School of Technical Training at Halton for RAF aircraft apprentices. Generations of 'Halton Brats' trained here until the school moved to Cosford in 1993. Rothschild's Halton House became the officers' mess. Princess Mary's RAF Hospital opened in 1927 and was among the first to use penicillin on a large scale. In the Second World War Halton kept training. No. 529 Squadron formed here in June 1943 to calibrate radar with Cierva autogyros and a Hornet Moth.

In July 1952 the Queen presented a colour to the apprentice school, the first to an apprentice unit. Recruit training moved to Halton in 1993. The grass airfield is used by gliding, light aircraft and microlight clubs. The station is being run down for disposal. The Trenchard Museum keeps the story of the apprentices.

Order of battle

Flying units

UnitYearsAircraft
No. 1 School of Technical Training1919–1993
No. 529 Squadron1943–1945Cierva C.30, de Havilland Hornet Moth
RAF School of Recruit Training1993
Today

What survives

Visit

The museum on the airfield

MuseumAdult entryAirframesHeadline exhibit
Trenchard MuseumAylesbury, Buckinghamshire By appointment 6 The Trenchard Museum at RAF Halton tells the story of the RAF's apprentice scheme — 'Trenchard's Brats' — on the working base where…
  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Halton