RAF Cottesmore | |||||||||||||
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| Cottesmore, Rutland in England | |||||||||||||
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 We Rise to Our Obstacles[1] | |||||||||||||
  RAF Cottesmore Location within Rutland  RAF Cottesmore RAF Cottesmore (the United Kingdom) | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 52°43′46″N 000°39′05″W / 52.72944°N 0.65139°W | ||||||||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||||||||
| Code | CT[2] | ||||||||||||
| Area | 379 hectares[3] | ||||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||||||
| Operator | Royal Air Force (1938–1942 and 1945–2012) United States Army Air Forces (1943–1945) | ||||||||||||
| Controlled by | RAF Bomber Command * No. 5 Group RAF * No. 6 (T) Group RAF * No. 92 (OTU) Group RAF[2] | ||||||||||||
| Condition | Closed | ||||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||||
| Built | 1936 | ||||||||||||
| Built by | George Wimpey & Co Ltd | ||||||||||||
| In use | 1938–2012 | ||||||||||||
| Fate | Transferred to the British Army and became Kendrew Barracks. | ||||||||||||
| Battles/wars | European theatre of World War II Cold War | ||||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||||
| Identifiers | IATA: OKH, ICAO: EGXJ, WMO: 03453 | ||||||||||||
| Elevation | 140 metres (459 ft)[2] AMSL | ||||||||||||
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Royal Air Force Cottesmore or more simply RAF Cottesmore is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. On 15 December 2009, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth announced that the station would close in 2013 as part of defence spending cuts, along with the retirement of the Harrier GR9 and the disbandment of Joint Force Harrier.[4] The formal closing ceremony took place on 31 March 2011, and the airfield became a satellite of RAF Wittering until March 2012.[5]
In July 2011 Defence Secretary Liam Fox announced plans for it to be the airfield for one of five of the Army's Multi-Role Brigades. In April 2012 it was renamed Kendrew Barracks after Major General Sir Douglas Kendrew.[6]
- ^ Pine, L. G. (1983). A dictionary of mottoes (1 ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 264. ISBN 0-7100-9339-X.
- ^ a b c Falconer 2012, p. 71.
- ^ "Defence Estates Development Plan (DEDP) 2009 – Annex A" (PDF). GOV.UK. Ministry of Defence. 3 July 2009. p. 19. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ^ "Harrier jets take off on retirement". London Evening Standard. 16 December 2010. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- ^ "Last parade as RAF base shuts". This is Leicestershire. 1 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 April 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
- ^ "Cottesmore Army base named as Kendrew Barracks" Stamford Mercury, 23 April 2012