RAF Alconbury - Aquarius Club

Aquarius Club

Beginning in the 1960s, the Airman's Club at RAF Alconbury was said to be one of the best nightclubs in the United Kingdom. It became known as the "Aquarius Club". In the mid-1960s mainstream entertainers often performed there. By the mid-1970s, the "AQ Club", as it was also known, was considered to be one of the finest disco dance clubs.

Each Friday and Saturday night two or three bus loads of women, primarily from the Huntingdon area, but also from the Northamptonshire towns of Kettering and Corby (the "Corby Commandos") and Leicester or ("Leicester Molesters") would be allowed on the base to go to the club and socialise with the young American Airmen. The round-trip bus fare was only 50 pence, and quite a few ladies were regular visitors.

The origin term "Commandos" is uncertain. The legend goes that woman's entrance fee was usually paid for by the man who signed to escort her. But before signing in was required, the first 50 women were allowed in free of charge. This created a rush to be one of the first into the club. It is alleged that one evening, an airman saw the bus arrive and seeing the women fighting to get into the club, said to his buddy "Look at them, they look like a bunch of commandos."

Normally the club would be standing-room-only with men and women in their twenties enjoying the disco music, pizza, slot machines, beer, cocktails, and members of the opposite sex in an environment that matched the best clubs in London at the time. There was a yearly membership charge to Airmen but there was no cover charge to enter the club and the prices of food and drink were much less than in London.

Many single men and women met their future spouses at the Aquarius club. Although the Alconbury NCO Club also had music and dancing, the environment at the Aquarius Club was more geared towards the single Airmen and was much more fast-paced. The ratio of women to men was often two-to-one at weekends.