The Royal Air Force Station

Lyneham to Change
With the expansion of the Royal Air Force, the area was surveyed for a possible airfield in 1937. First reconnaissance indicated that the water table would be to near the surface, but this did not become a hinderance the builders arrived in 1939.

A local resident recalls the early days when things historicity changed in Lyneham village. "Officials came, men dug holes over the fields and decided that was the place for the new station". She remembers vividly the day she was en-route to play her daily game of tennis, to be confronted with industrial machinery changing the loved corn fields, field-paths and lanes into the aerodrome. The Village Green was used to build "phoney" Spitfire Hangers, one camouflaged as a church.

The RAF station’s arrival in 1940 and its housing developments have obscured parts of the village of Lyneham, straddling the Hilmarton – Lyneham road. The nucleus of the village lay to the north where houses are still grouped around the green. Also at that time the green was crossed by the Hilmarton and Chippenham – Swindon roads. Since the Second World War Lyneham’s development was limited to an area west of Church End. This was where the new schools were located, surrounded by housing for the RAF base. There was also an extension to this housing in the apex of the Preston and Hilmarton roads. The airfield of the RAF base lies to the west of the Calne – Lyneham road. It stretches the width of the Corallian ridge from Bradenstoke to the edge of Catcomb Wood.

RAF Lyneham was opened in 1940 and assumed full station status in 1942. By 1968 it covered over 1,200 acres and was the main employer in the parish. Land which had belonged to Lyneham Court Farm, Church Farm, Cranley Farm and Bradenstoke Abbey Farm was now used to create the airfield.

There were no married quarters for several years, few off duty facilities for servicemen, so the Women's Volunteers Service took over the village hall and opened a Forces Canteen as an off station rendezvous. The hall had no electricity- as the villagers were ostracised from the service until the termination of the war. The Royal Air Force station opened as Number 33 Maintenance Unit on the 18th May 1940 with no ceremonies and very few people. The early record books indicate station strength comprised of 4 officers, 1 other rank and 15 civilians. Mobility was provided by 9 vehicles - 1 staff car, 2 tenders, 1 van, 2 tractors, a mobile crane, an ambulance and a Crossley fire engine. Refuelling of the aircraft was carried out with a 450 gallon tanker with 2 petrol trailers, and for the fitter people 2 bicycles were used for transport. Since the arrival of the airforce base the village has grown dramatically and can now boast of having many shops and services, as is often the case of towns near a military base. In 1968 the C130 Hercules, built by Lockheed, arrived and the station became home to the RAF’s fleet of Hercules. De Havilland Comets were also stationed here at the same time as 216 Squadron. These aircraft were used for transporting the Royal Family and other VIPs. One of them, “Sagittarius”, is now the RAF base’s gate guardian. In the 1970s Lyneham became the main tactical transport base for the RAF in the United Kingdom. The Hercules have assisted in moving both troops and supplies in times of conflict, famines or other emergencies, and are now a common sight in the skies over Lyneham and the surrounding countryside. They are a much loved aircraft by pilots and locals alike being affectionately known as “Fat Albert”.

Sadly, however, in July 2003 the MOD announced plans to close the base by 2012 and to transfer the 50 strong Hercules Fleet to the airbase at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. This will lead to 580 jobs being lost on the base and the remaining 1920 jobs being re-deployed to other sites.

This will have an effect on the economic welfare of Lyneham and on its social climate too but we will have to wait and see exactly what these effects are likely to be.