Non-flying administrative, headquarters and support station
Area
46 hectares (110 acres)[1]
Site information
Owner
Ministry of Defence
Operator
Royal Flying Corps (1917–1918) Royal Air Force (1918–2010)
Open to the public
Yes (Battle of Britain Bunker)
Condition
Closed
Site history
Built
1917 (1917)
In use
1917–2010 (2010)
Fate
Site sold by MOD for redevelopment, majority of station buildings demolished.
Operations room now Battle of Britain Bunker Museum
Battles/wars
Battle of Britain Evacuation of Dunkirk Preparation for D-Day Normandy Campaign
RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a 44.6-hectare (110-acre) site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three years before the founding of the RAF. Until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the station was open to the public.
The station is best known as the headquarters of No. 11 Group RAF, which was responsible for the aerial defence of London and the south-east of England during the Battle of Britain. Hillingdon House served as the group's headquarters. A bunker, subsequently known as the Battle of Britain Bunker, was built nearby to house the 11 Group Operations Room, which controlled fighter squadrons operating within the group. The Operations Room was also responsible for providing air support during the evacuation of Dunkirk in May 1940 (Operation Dynamo) and the D-Day landings (Operation Overlord). It was here that Winston Churchill first said, "Never in the history of mankind has so much been owed by so many to so few", which he repeated in a speech to Parliament four days later.
RAF Uxbridge closed on 31 March 2010 as part of a reduction in the number of Ministry of Defence installations in the Greater London area. Many of its remaining military units were relocated to nearby RAF Northolt the following day. Plans for redevelopment, consisting of a mixture of new residential and commercial properties and the retention of all listed buildings, were approved in January 2011.[2] A small part of the station incorporating the Battle of Britain Bunker retains the RAF Uxbridge name and is owned by Hillingdon Council.
The River Pinn runs through the site from north to south, passing Hillingdon House and the Battle of Britain Bunker. The land around the river is mainly wooded and designated as greenbelt, and Hillingdon Golf Course borders the south of the station.[3] A footpath through the site that had closed in 1988 was reopened in 2011.
^"Defence Estates Development Plan (DEDP) 2009 – Annex A" (PDF). GOV.UK. Ministry of Defence. 3 July 2009. p. 49. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
^Cite error: The named reference PlansApproved was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Environmental Statement: Site Description" (PDF). London Borough of Hillingdon. January 2009. pp. 5–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
RAFUxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a 44.6-hectare (110-acre) site that originally...
centre of those events, since renamed the Crown & Treaty, still stands. RAFUxbridge houses the Battle of Britain Bunker, from where the air defence of the...
more simply RAF Northolt (IATA: NHT, ICAO: EGWU) is a Royal Air Force station in South Ruislip, 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) from Uxbridge in the London...
The Battle of Britain Bunker is an underground operations room at RAFUxbridge, formerly used by No. 11 Group Fighter Command during the Second World War...
left RAFUxbridge, allowing the US Air Force and Navy to move from RAF Daws Hill, RAF Blenheim Crescent and RAF West Ruislip. Units from Uxbridge would...
and Uxbridge. Hillingdon is the second least densely populated of the London boroughs, due to a combination of large rural land in the north, RAF Northolt...
Force Ensign, at RAFUxbridge Restored Operations Room at RAFUxbridge Line up of 485 Squadron 'Subscription' Spitfire Mk. Vbs at RAF Kenley in 1941 BS456...
station RAFUxbridge was established within the grounds. In military use, the house has served over time as the first headquarters for No. 11 Group RAF and...
Shrewsbury; RAF St Athan, Barry, South Glamorgan; RAFUxbridge, Middlesex; RAF Valley, Anglesey; and RAF Woodvale, Formby, Liverpool. Air Officers Commanding-in-Chief...
RAF Hospital Uxbridge was a military hospital within the Royal Air Force station RAFUxbridge. Douglas Bader arrived at the hospital in 1932 to recover...
musical support to the Royal Air Force. Based at RAF Northolt (previously at RAFUxbridge) and RAF Cranwell, it forms the central administration of one...
with RAFUxbridge and Richmond. From 1951 until 1962 the station accommodated the 3911th Air Base Group United States Air Force in addition to RAF personnel...
Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) was formed at Hillingdon House, at RAFUxbridge. The formation was radically reorganized with the creation of Bomber...
Britain Squadrons List of RAF aircrew in the Battle of Britain RAF Box RAFUxbridgeRAF Watnall RAF Newcastle "The Royal Air Force - Stations Pages". Royal Air...
Group at RAF Barton Hall, No. 11 Group RAF at RAFUxbridge, No. 12 Group RAF at RAF Watnall, No. 13 Group RAF at RAF Newcastle and No. 14 Group RAF at Raigmore...
group were posted to RAFUxbridge, and subsequently Dutt was sent with most of the others to No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School RAF at Prestwick to train...
needed morphine for pain relief, Bader was transferred to the hospital at RAFUxbridge and fought hard to regain his former abilities after he was given a new...
After some leave, he then moved to No. 24 (Training) Group at RAFUxbridge for his RAF basic training. He was commissioned with the rank of acting pilot...
of service, and volunteered for the Royal Air Force. Lee reported to RAFUxbridge for training and was then posted to the Initial Training Wing at Paignton...
development programme. RAF Stanmore Park formed part of No 11 Group, which was originally at RAFUxbridge and then transferred to nearby RAF Bentley Priory until...
RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central...
secretly used by the Royal Air Force to train aircrew based at RAF Northolt and RAFUxbridge in water survival methods. A narrow gauge railway, the Ruislip...
all either killed or captured. 1981 January: Bomb inside RAF band barracks in RAFUxbridge. A security patrol discovered the bomb surrounded by drums...
Tangmere Military Aviation Museum Kent Battle of Britain Museum ADLG Visits RAFUxbridge Battle of Britain Operations Room British Invasion Defences The Falco...
personnel and activities to other locations near London, particularly RAFUxbridge. The plan apparently fizzled, however, when the US Navy voiced its preference...
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