Former RAF North Luffenham

 Second World War 1939-1945, RAF - Royal Air Force, draw only border, closed / former military, former air force base

Former Thor Missile Base with Bloodhound Missile protection

RAF North Luffenham was a Royal Air Force station in Rutland, United Kingdom. It is near to the villages of Edith Weston and North Luffenham. The station was built as a training airfield, opening in 1940. It was later taken over by 5 Group of Bomber Command as a heavy bomber base, and was expanded by the building of concrete runways later in the war. In 1951, the station was transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force to become the temporary home of 1 Fighter Wing, the first Canadian NATO base in Europe. 1 Wing moved to Marville, France in 1955.

From 1959 to 1963, North Luffenham was home to PGM-17 Thor intermediate range ballistic missiles.In mid-1964 No.3 Ground Radio Servicing Squadron was transferred from RAF Norton, Sheffield, Yorkshire. In 1963 the RAF Aviation Medical Training Centre (AMTC) moved from its original location at RAF Upwood to RAF North Luffenham. The Centre was commanded by a senior RAF Medical Officer who with his medical and technical team were responsible for fitting and instructing aircrew in the use of flying protective clothing and equipment, including partial pressure suits, which kept the pilot conscious in the event of loss of cabin pressure at high altitude.

From 1965 to 1997 part of the Joint Services Language School was based here. Russian-language graduates of the school were employed at radio monitoring stations located close to the USSR border in order to monitor Russian air-to-ground radio voice traffic during airborne interception/ border incursion etc.

The station buildings were taken over by the British Army and renamed St George's Barracks. In August 2007, 16th Regiment Royal Artillery relocated here from the Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich. However, a small part of the southeast corner of the airfield was retained by the RAF and occupied by the Airfield Explosive Ordnance Disposal Training Flight (AEOD).

www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/s76.html