Full WW2 control tower details and photos for this wartime airfield are coming soon. Please check back later as this is work progress. If you would like to contribute information or photos please get in touch.
RAF Syerston, in Nottinghamshire, began the war as a Bomber Command station and later became closely tied to training and conversion work – an arc that mirrors the RAF’s need to both fight and continually replenish itself. Opened as part of the pre-war expansion, Syerston entered service with twin-engined bombers and contributed to early Bomber Command operations when navigation aids were limited and loss rates were high. As the bomber offensive expanded and aircraft types changed, stations like Syerston were increasingly used to build crews and standardise procedure before posting them to front-line squadrons.
Bomber Command’s early and mid-war phases depended on aircraft such as the Vickers Wellington and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, and later on the move toward four-engined heavies. Syerston’s wartime environment therefore involved a mixture of operational flying, training flying, and (in later phases) the processing of crews and aircraft through conversion syllabi. Operational Training Units and related training organisations in the region used aircraft like the Wellington to teach crew coordination, night navigation and bombing routines. Heavy Conversion Units then taught crews to handle the weight and complexity of aircraft such as the Halifax and Lancaster.
What made Syerston valuable was its ability to generate safe, repeatable flying in a congested central England environment. Night flying was always hazardous – weather, icing and navigation error killed many crews even before enemy action – so training and continuation flying demanded discipline. Syerston’s operations rooms, flying control staff and meteorology sections were part of the station’s contribution, reducing avoidable losses and keeping syllabi on track. Ground crews maintained aircraft that were flown hard by trainees, absorbing the wear of repetitive circuits and cross-countries.
As the war approached its end, many stations with training and conversion roles also became involved in holding and reallocation tasks: aircraft were staged, modified or prepared for new postings, and the training estate adjusted rapidly to the changing global picture. Syerston’s WWII story therefore connects to the wider ‘training engine’ of Bomber Command, showing how the RAF sustained its long offensive by continually producing crews with standardised habits and reliable skills.
- Primary wartime role: Bomber Command station with later emphasis on training/conversion support as needs evolved.
- Typical unit types: bomber squadrons in earlier phases; OTU/conversion-linked organisations and specialist flights in later phases.
- Typical aircraft in the station’s wartime ecosystem: Wellington/Whitley-era bomber types and trainers, with later Halifax/Lancaster conversion and continuation contexts.
RAF Syerston’s WWII significance lies in this blend of fighting and training. It illustrates how the RAF could not simply ‘operate’ its way to victory; it had to train, standardise and replace at scale – work carried out on airfields like Syerston across the country.
This station also contributed by reducing bottlenecks and improving safety: spreading traffic across the network, providing diversion capacity, and sustaining training throughput when weather or congestion threatened to slow the wider system.