RAF Bicester

RAF Bicester lay in Oxfordshire and was among the oldest of the Royal Air Force’s permanent stations, its origins reaching back to a Royal Flying Corps landing ground established during the First World War. Rebuilt and expanded between the wars, it became a substantial bomber and training base, home over the years to a long succession of squadrons including Nos. 2, 5, 12, 33, 48, 90, 100, 101, 104, 108, 142, 144 and 217. The aircraft that passed through reflected the changing decades, from biplanes such as the Hawker Hart and the Boulton Paul Overstrand to the Bristol Blenheim, Avro Anson and Supermarine Spitfire.

Through the Second World War Bicester served chiefly as a training station rather than a front-line operational airfield, and No. 13 Operational Training Unit was based there preparing aircrew for combat. The station moved between commands over its life, sitting under Bomber Command and later being associated with other groups as wartime needs shifted.

Flying continued into the post-war years, with RAF use winding down by 1976 and gliding carried on at the site afterwards. The airfield is notable for retaining one of the most complete surviving examples of an inter-war RAF expansion-period station in Britain. In recent times the site has been redeveloped by Bicester Motion (formerly Bicester Heritage) as an automotive business and heritage centre, while its historic buildings remain a recognised piece of aviation heritage.