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 Waterbeach, north of Cambridge, was built in 1940 and became operational in January 1941 under RAF Bomber Command. It grew into a heavy bomber and conversion station with a strong identity tied to both operational flying and the training pipeline that produced combat crews. Unlike some airfields that became famous for a single dramatic episode, Waterbeach’s significance comes from sustained, practical contribution: flying, converting, and preparing crews and aircraft for the demanding night offensive.
The first major wartime squadron recorded at Waterbeach was No. 99 Squadron, operating Vickers Wellington bombers in 1941-42. The Wellington era required careful navigation and discipline: many sorties involved long hours over the North Sea and hostile coasts, with crews relying on early navigation aids, visual fixes, and strong crew coordination. Waterbeach’s early operations were closely tied to the broader Bomber Command effort to strike targets while also learning – often painfully – how to survive the growing German night fighter and flak system.
Waterbeach also became important for heavy bomber conversion. No. 26 Conversion Flight, operating Short Stirlings, was upgraded on 2 January 1942 to form No. 1651 Conversion Unit. This unit trained crews on Stirling heavy bombers (variants I and III) and even flew operational sorties in 1942, losing aircraft in the process – an illustration of how conversion units sometimes straddled training and combat roles when operational demand was high. Additional conversion activity included a 214 Squadron Conversion Flight and later heavy conversion units such as No. 1665 HCU (Stirling) and No. 1678 HCU (Lancaster Mk II), the latter specifically training crews for an operational Lancaster squadron.
That operational squadron was No. 514 Squadron, which served at Waterbeach from 1943 to 1945 flying Avro Lancasters (marks I, II and III). In Bomber Command terms, 514 Squadron’s work would have involved the familiar but brutal routine of briefing, long night flights, attacks on heavily defended targets, and the constant strain on men and machines. The recorded toll – hundreds of aircrew killed while serving with the squadron – reflects the dangerous reality faced by Lancaster crews even in the later war years.
The station’s wartime landscape was built around heavy aircraft: long runways, dispersals, hangars, bomb dumps, and the service infrastructure needed to keep four-engined bombers flying. Waterbeach also carried the ‘hidden’ work of the bomber war: armament fitters loading thousands of bombs, engineers swapping engines and repairing flak damage, meteorological staff briefing crews on icing and winds, and operations staff tracking aircraft that might be late, diverted, or missing.
Waterbeach’s story did not end in 1945, but its WW2 period remains central. The combination of Wellington operations, Stirling and Lancaster conversion, and Lancaster squadron service makes it a station that represents the full bomber system: not just the raids, but the training and preparation that made those raids possible. For visitors today, surviving buildings and the station layout help tell that story on the ground.