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RAF Oakington, near Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, was an important Bomber Command station whose wartime story spans both operational bombing and the critical training and conversion work that fed the front line. Opened in the late 1930s and expanded during the war, Oakington sat within a region that became one of the busiest aviation landscapes on earth. Its location offered practical advantages: access to North Sea routes toward targets, proximity to other bomber bases for shared support and diversion planning, and good transport links for the constant flow of personnel, fuel and bombs.
In the early and mid-war years Oakington hosted bomber squadrons operating aircraft such as the Vickers Wellington and, later, a shifting mix as Bomber Command re-equipped and reorganised. Squadrons associated with Oakington include No. 149 Squadron and No. 101 Squadron in different phases, reflecting the station’s operational contribution as tactics and aircraft types evolved. Early bomber operations were often flown with limited navigation aids and high workload. Oakington therefore illustrates a ‘learning period’ of Bomber Command, when crews and stations were building the procedures – night navigation discipline, route planning, formation handling and defensive practice – that later made sustained operations more effective.
A major later identity for Oakington was training and conversion. Stations in the Bomber Command orbit were often reassigned to operational training units or conversion units when strategic needs required more trained crews for new aircraft types. Conversion work was demanding: crews had to learn complex systems, heavier take-off weights, and the teamwork required for multi-engine aircraft in darkness and bad weather. The ‘unit story’ at Oakington therefore includes not only operational squadrons but also the training organisations that ensured Bomber Command could replace losses and expand capability as the campaign intensified.
Oakington’s day-to-day work would have been defined by disciplined routine. Operations and intelligence staff ran briefings; armourers loaded bombs; engineers kept engines and airframes reliable; electricians and radio trades maintained increasingly complex equipment; and flying control managed night traffic in a region where multiple stations were launching and recovering simultaneously. Weather and congestion created constant risk, which is why diversion planning and standardised procedures were central. Every safe landing and every repaired aircraft mattered, because non-combat losses could quietly erode operational strength.
- Notable wartime associations included bomber squadrons such as No. 149 Squadron and periods of No. 101 Squadron activity, alongside training and conversion functions as needs shifted.
- Typical missions and activity: night bomber operations in earlier phases, and later crew training/conversion and continuation flying.
- Why it mattered: contributed both sorties and trained crews – supporting Bomber Command’s ability to sustain a long offensive campaign.
RAF Oakington’s Second World War significance lies in that dual contribution. It was both an operational base and, at times, part of the training engine that made operations sustainable. Together those roles tell a fuller story of how Bomber Command fought: not just through raids, but through the continuous production of trained crews and reliable aircraft.
Oakington’s unit story is best presented as a timeline: early bomber squadrons (Wellington era), followed by shifts into training and conversion functions as Bomber Command’s needs changed. That approach helps readers understand that the same airfield could contribute both directly (through sorties) and indirectly (through trained crews and standardised procedure).