Syerston Airfield

Jet Provost at RAF Syerston - 1960s

Newark Air Museum Archive

Current operations at RAF Syerston

Howard Heeley

Memorial plqaue on Longhedge Lane

Howard Heeley

By Howard Heeley

Grid Ref: Sheet 129; SK730480; 6 miles SW of Newark

Opened: December 1940

Squadrons: 304 (Silesian) Sqn; 305 (Wielpolska) Sqn; 408 (Goose) Sqn; 61 Sqn; 106 Sqn; 1485 Bombing & Gunnery Flt; 1668 HCU; No. 5 Lancaster Finishing School; 1690 Bomber Defence Training Flt; 504 (County of Nottingham) Auxiliary Sqn; 22 FTS; 2 FTS; Central Gliding School; 643 Volunteer Gliding Squadron; 644 Volunteer Gliding Squadron.

Aircraft: Battle; Wellington; Hampden; Lancaster; Martinet; Mosquito; Tiger Moth; Prentice; Piston Provost; Jet Provost; Viking glider; Vigilant motor glider; Venture T Mk 2.

Nationalities: Polish; Commonwealth
Things of note: Flt Lt William Reid was awarded his VC whilst flying with 61 Sqn from the base. In 1943 Wg Cdr Guy Gibson was commanding officer of 106 Sqn at Syerston before he was given the task of forming 617 Sqn – The Dambusters. In September 1958 a Vulcan bomber disintegrated during an Airshow killing all the crew

Current status: Some significant structures remain in day to day use on the western side of the A46; whilst a lot of the former quarters on the western side have fallen into disrepair. Some wartime structures can still be seen in the ground of the Flintham Hall Estate. Gliding activities are a common sight on most days throughout the year – weather permitting. There is an aviation memorial/commemoration that can be visited on the airfield perimeter at Longhedge Lane.

(This information was originally published in the 2011 booklet “Aviation in Nottinghamshire”, which was produced by the Newark Air Museum thanks to a Local Improvement Scheme grant from the Nottinghamshire County Council. Photographs sourced from the Newark Air Museum Archive.)

This page was added by Howard Heeley on 11/12/2014.

Comments about this page

I was at that display at Syerston in 1958 with my dad the Vulcan did a couple of circuits quite high then did a flypast down the runway and started breaking up in front of us. I'll never forget it, very sad. There's a photo of the same aircraft in the cafe at the parachute school at Langar aerodrome a few months before it crashed.

By P.Bowler
On 24/11/2014

It was very sad indeed; the incident is documented in Tim O'Brien's book about the airfield - I still think that copies are available from the Newark Air Museum shop.

By Howard Heeley
On 25/11/2014

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