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RAF Lyneham, in Wiltshire, became one of the RAF’s most important transport bases after the war, but its Second World War origins already point toward that logistical identity. Built in 1939-40 and opened operationally in May 1940, the station began as a maintenance and support site rather than as a classic fighter or bomber base. Its early wartime designation as No. 33 Maintenance Unit highlights its initial function: receiving, processing and supporting aircraft, with a small initial staff and a strong reliance on civilian labour and practical improvisation as the RAF expanded.
Even in its early phase, Lyneham was not immune to attack. In September 1940 a Luftwaffe aircraft attacked the station, dropping incendiaries and high explosive bombs and strafing parts of the airfield, causing fatal casualties among civilian workers. The incident is a reminder that ‘support’ stations were still targets, and that the air war reached beyond famous front-line bases. As the conflict continued, the airfield gained hard runways and expanded infrastructure, making it increasingly suitable for heavier aircraft and sustained movements.
Lyneham’s key wartime squadron story begins in October 1942 with the formation of No. 511 Squadron from No. 1425 (Communication) Flight. No. 511 Squadron operated regular long-range transport schedules to Gibraltar using Consolidated Liberators – long-legged aircraft well suited to extended routes over sea. To extend the route from Gibraltar to Malta, the unit also used the Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle, and as the war progressed it expanded into a broader long-range transport role. Importantly, it became the first RAF squadron to operate the Avro York, a transport derived from the Lancaster design, which symbolises the way wartime needs drove the adaptation of bomber technology into airlift capability.
The squadron’s work sits in the strategic ‘connective tissue’ of the war: moving personnel, urgent stores and high-priority freight between the UK, Gibraltar and onward to the Mediterranean and, later, supporting longer-distance trooping and transport tasks. Transport operations demanded reliability rather than spectacle. Routes had to be flown in all seasons, with complex diplomatic and security considerations, tight loading standards and accurate navigation over long sea legs. This placed heavy demands on maintenance discipline and on crew competence, especially when flying heavy aircraft at long range with limited diversion options.
- Early wartime role: No. 33 Maintenance Unit (aircraft receiving/processing support).
- Key wartime flying unit: No. 511 Squadron (formed Oct 1942 from No. 1425 Flight), operating Liberators to Gibraltar, Albemarles for route extension, and later Avro Yorks.
- Why it mattered: sustained the RAF’s long-range transport capability during a period when the Mediterranean and global links were strategically critical.
Lyneham’s WW2 chapter therefore foreshadows its later reputation. It was a station built around logistics, maintenance and long-range movement – functions that rarely attract dramatic headlines but which, in a global war, were as strategically decisive as bombers and fighters.
Long-range transport flying also carried a diplomatic and planning dimension. Routes to Gibraltar and beyond depended on clearances, timing, refuelling arrangements and the secure handling of passengers and freight. Stations like Lyneham were therefore as much administrative hubs as flying bases, integrating movement control with aircraft maintenance and crew scheduling.