RAF Upwood Control Tower

 

Control tower in mid to late 1950s Type 343/43


Control tower in the early 1950s

Control tower in the early 1950s

 

THE DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER in 1966 with the control tower in the background

Control tower close up in 1966

Picture taken in 2006 showing where the control tower use to stand.

Newspaper cutting

The words below were taken from the newspaper cutting (date unknown)

THE DEMOLITION of the old control tower at R.A.F. Upwood marks the final end of a flying era which began as far back as 1917.

Royal Air Force Upwood
where the R.A.F. School of Education is currently situated, was first established in 1917 when the airfield was used for the training of aircrew destined for night flying duties at the Western Front. With the end of World War I, the airfield reverted to agricultural use until the expansion of the Royal Air Force in 1937.

Bomber Command
Throughout World War II, Upwood was a station of Bomber Command. Until May 1943 its role was the training of aircrew to fly Blenheims; then, after a short period of reconstruction during which the concrete runways were laid, it became the base for two Pathfinders Squadrons, equipped with Mosquitoes and Lancasters.
Apart from a few months in Transport Command in 1946, when the Station was concerned with air trooping, Upwood continued its association with Bomber Command in peace time. The four squadrons of Lincolns based here operated successfully in several trouble spots of the world until they were replaced by two squadrons of Canberras.
After these disbanded in 1960 and 1961, the Station went through an unsettled phase under first Signals and then Transport Command; during this period it housed three R.A.F. Regiment squadrons and several smaller units for short periods.

Training
In March 1964 the Station finally severed its direct connection with operational Commands and transferred to No. 22 Group, Technical Training Command, to become, as it is now, the R.A.F. School of Administration.
During July 1964 the R.A.F. School of Education and the R.A.F. Central Library and Book Depot came to Upwood as a separate unit.
With the formation of Training Command in 1968, R.A.F. Upwood was transferred to No. 24 Group, but functional and administrative control ,of the R.A.F. School of Education was retained by H.Q. Training Command, apart from those departments of the School that are functionally controlled by M.O.D. (A.F.D.).

If you have any pictures of RAF Upwood's control tower, please let me know,
thanks Sean Edwards