RAF Brize Norton
Royal Air Force Station Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about 65 mi (105 km) west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the settlements of Brize Norton, Carterton and Witney.The station is home to Air Transport, Air-to-Air refuelling and Military Parachuting, with aircraft operating from the station including the Hercules, C-17 Globemaster, TriStar and VC10.Major infrastructure redevelopment began in 2010 ahead of the forthcoming closure of RAF Lyneham in 2012, at which point Brize Norton became the sole air point of embarkation for British troops.By the end of June 2011 all flying units from RAF Lyneham had moved to RAF Brize Norton.HistoryRoyal Air ForceRAF Brize Norton was opened in 1937 as a training base and one of the first squadrons to use the airfield was No. 110 Squadron RAF which was mainly based at RAF Wattisham but a detachment used Brize Norton from June 1939 until 17 March 1942 with the Bristol Blenheim Mks I and IV before leaving for the far-east. 296 Squadron and 297 Squadron both moved in on 14 March 1944 with their Armstrong Whitworth Albemarles before 296 squadron added the Handley Page Halifax V to their inventory and moved to RAF Earls Colne on 29 September 1944 and 297 squadron moving to the same place a day later. 297 Sqn returned after the Second World War had ended, on 5 September 1946 with the Halifax Mks A.7 and A.9 from RAF Tarrant Rushton before leaving during the summer of 1947 on 21 August moving to RAF Fairford.