A History of RAF Waddington, 1916-1945

RAF Waddington
ISBN 1-903953-44-8
New Edition
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by Raymond Leach
A detailed illustrated history of this Lincolnshire RAF Station spanning two world wars.

"As the title suggests, a huge tome that will encompass the incredibly varied and important history of Waddington. Ray is a well-known FlyPast contributor and his high standards are well regarded. The 'illustrated' part of the title might give the impression that this is a portfolio only, not so, this is a deep and definitive study."
Ken Ellis, Flypast

RAF Waddington has a history as long and illustrious as any in the Royal Air Force and is best known for its role as a bomber station - in fact, when No 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron disbanded on 31st December 1982, it was the longest serving bomber station in any air force in the world.

The full story of the men, the aircraft and the major sorties flown from RAF Waddington are comprehensively described within the pages of this substantial and detailed account, which runs to over 300 A4 pages and is illustrated with over 100 black & white photographs. It will be of great interest to aviation historians and to veterans of the many squadrons that have served at the station over the years.

Squadron Leader Raymond Leach MBE served as aircrew in the Royal Air Force and in a career spanning 30 years logged over 5,000 flying hours in more than 60 different types of aircraft. During his time in the service he was instrumental in the restoration of the RAF’s sole remaining Lancaster to flying condition. He subsequently flew with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for four seasons. Later in his career he flew five seasons with the Vulcan Display Flight. He served at RAF Waddington on three separate tours of duty in flying and staff appointments. It was during his last tour at Waddington that he compiled the history of the Station, which included a ten volume series of photograph albums.

Aerial view of RAF Waddington, 1918.

RAF Waddington crest.

Armstrong Whitworth 1918

Armstrong Whitworth, 1918.

503 Squadron Hyderabad 1930.

50 Squadron Hawker Hart, 1940.

Armstrong Whitworth 1918

50 Squadron Hampden 1941.

267 Squadron Lancaster, 1943.
details: softback | large format 205 x 290 mm | 300 pages
genre: military history / RAF history
readership: military historians / aviation enthusiasts / general readers
themes: RAF in World War 1 and 2 / RAF Bomber Command