History
Bawtry Hall itself, was erected around 1785 by a prosperous wool-merchant from Wakefield, Yorkshire.
During the Second World War the RAF took it over and it became an RAF command centre. RAF Bawtry did not have its own airfield but instead took advantage of RAF Bircotes, which was located literally next-door. Here the station based a number of communications aircraft.
Bawtry Hall served the Royal Air Force from 1941–1984; first as HQ for No. 1 Group, Bomber Command during and after the Second World War, then as Strike Command HQ up to and including the later stages of the Cold War. The famous bombing of the airfield at Port Stanley by Vulcan bombers from RAF Waddington during the Falklands War was co-ordinated from the operations room at Bawtry Hall.
RAF Bawtry became the centre of the RAF Meteorological Service for many years and ceased military operations in 1986.
No.1 Group Bomber Command units based at RAF Bawtry comprised as follows: -
| Airfield . | Squadron | Aircraft Type | Number of Aircraft . |
| RAF Elsham Wolds | 103 Sqn | Avro Lancaster I and III | 17 |
| RAF Elsham Wolds | 576 Sqn | Lancaster I and III | 8 |
| RAF Kirmington | 166 Sqn | Lancaster I and III | 23 |
| RAF Ingham | 300 (Polish) Sqn | Vickers Wellington X | 23 |
| RAF Ingham | 300 (Polish) Sqn | Lancaster I and III | 0 - Re-equipping |
| RAF Wickenby | 12 Sqn | Lancaster I and III | 16 |
| RAF Wickenby | 626 Sqn | Lancaster I and III | 14 |
| RAF Grimsby | 100 Sqn | Lancaster I and III | 18 |
| RAF Grimsby | 550 Sqn | Lancaster I and III | 7 |
| RAF Ludford Magna | 101 Sqn | Lancaster I and III | 22 |
| RAF Binbrook | 460 Sqn RAAF | Lancaster I and III | 27 |
| RAF Kelstern | 625 Sqn RAAF | Lancaster I and III | 17 |
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During the Miners' Strike in the mid-1980s, up to 17,000 Police were based at RAF Bawtry to provide a central Operations and co-ordination point on the South Yorkshire / Nottinghamshire border.
Read more about this topic: RAF Bawtry
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“Both place and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me.”
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