It was on a spring day in 1929 that the Royal Family's close connection to RAF Northolt had its beginnings. A Bristol Fighter (J8430) piloted by Flying Officer G.C. Stamp, arched lazily into the sky leaving the green fields of Middlesex in its wake. Accompanying the Flying Officer was the eldest son of King George V, Edward, Prince of Wales, (later King Edward VIII) the first member of the Royal Family to take to the skies from RAF Northolt, but certainly not the last.
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Prince Albert (the future King George VI) with Major Louis Greig, about to make a flight to northern France, where the Prince was serving as the First World War ended |
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From its inception in 1918, the Royal Air Force has fostered close links with the Royal Family. Although King George V never flew, he was closely associated with the Air Force, a tradition carried on in a more hands-on fashion by his sons. Prince Albert (later King George VI) was the first member of the Royal Family to serve in the Royal Air Force between 1918 and 1919, becoming a qualified pilot in the process. His elder brother, Edward, Prince of Wales, and his younger brother, Prince George (later Duke of Kent) both learned to fly at Northolt in 1929 and 1930.
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King George V with his two eldest sons, Edward, Prince of Wales, and Albert, Duke of York. The photograph is signed by all three men and was taken at the RAF Review |
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On 21 July 1936, King Edward VIII formed The King's Flight at RAF Hendon and in so doing, became the first British monarch ever to fly. The new Flight, under its first captain, Wing Commander E.H. Fielden, operated a single twin-engine Dragon Rapide, G-ADDD, which had previously belonged to the king himself., before purchasing its own plane, the Airspeed Envoy III, G-AEXX. The formation of The King's Flight was part of a Royal tour of the RAF undertaken by the king, which included a formal inspection of RAF Northolt on 8 July 1936, when the king was accompanied by Prince Albert, who later in the year, would succeed to the throne as King George VI.
During the Second World War, the Royal Air Force, assisted by squadrons from many different countries such as Poland and Canada defended the country with great zeal and bravery. Winston Churchill declared at the time: "never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few". RAF Northolt played an important part in providing one of the bases from which planes and squadrons of various nationalities fought against the ambitions of the German offensive by waging a mighty battle in British skies against the ferocious and highly skilled Luftwaffe.
King George VI, who had already visited the Station in 1938 as king, was able to watch the squadrons in action from the Sector Operations Room in RAF Northolt in September 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain. The day was an extremely busy one for the Station as recorded by Group Captain Vincent:
"The visit of the king was a most inspiring day. The squadrons took off to intercept a raid on Southampton while he was there. He watched the interception from the Sector Operations Room and heard the leader's 'Tally Ho' and subsequent orders....pilots from Northolt had destroyed sixteen aircraft for no loss to us....(the king) overstayed his programmed time by about two hours."
A little under two years later on 25 August 1942, King George VI lost his younger brother, Prince George, Duke of Kent, who had first learned to fly at Northolt some 12 years earlier, in a flying accident in Scotland while serving with the Royal Air Force. Prince George was the first member of the House of Windsor to be killed in active service in war. Thirty years later, Prince George's nephew, Prince William of Gloucester, also lost his life in a flying accident, when his plane crashed at Halfpenny Green airfield in August 1972. The Prince was 31.
The Queen's first flight was from RAF Northolt in July 1945, when she accompanied King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on a visit to Northern Ireland. On her father's death in 1952, The King's Flight was renamed The Queen's Flight, but remained stationed at RAF Benson. In 1995, the Northolt connection was further strengthened when The Queen's Flight was moved from RAF Benson to RAF Northolt to amalgamate with No. 32 Squadron and become No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron. The Queen, like her father, uncle and grandfather before her, paid an official visit to RAF Northolt in May 1997 to visit the newly formed squadron.
That same year saw RAF Northolt feature in the aftermath of the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The BAe146 which brought her body home from Paris was captained by Squadron Leader Graeme Laurie with The Prince of Wales on board. The plane was met by among others, the Lord Chamberlain, the Prime Minister, the Lord-Lieutenant of London, the Secretary of State for Defence, and the RAF Chaplain in Chief. The world watched with sadness as The Queen's Colour Squadron of the RAF provided the bearer party and carried the coffin draped in a royal standard, from the plane. It was a poignant moment in the history of the Station and a moving scene for onlookers around the world.
Today, RAF Northolt and No. 32 (The Royal) Squadron, continue to provide the Royal Family with the means of getting to and from various official engagements around the country and the world. The close relationship developed between the Royal Family and the Station looks set to continue for many years to come, a relationship that began with a solitary flight nearly 75 years ago.
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