RAF Middle Wallop

From September 1940 No. 604 Squadron flew radar-equipped Beaufighters from here. It helped defend Britain at night during the Blitz, claiming 50 victories by May 1941. One pilot recalled the bumpy grass runways as a hazard for ten-ton Beaufighters. In November 1943 the US Ninth Air Force put IX Fighter Command headquarters here as Station 449. The 67th Reconnaissance Group followed, and both left for France in June 1944. The Royal Navy held the airfield briefly in 1945 as HMS Flycatcher.

After the war Middle Wallop trained air observation post pilots. It became the Light Aircraft School in 1952. Helicopter development work began in 1954. When Army aviation became independent in 1957, the school became the Army Air Corps Centre. The airfield passed fully to the Army in October 1958. It is still the home of the Army Air Corps and of Army flying training.