RAF Bicester Travel Guide

RAF Bicester began as a Royal Flying Corps training aerodrome in 1916, established to prepare airmen for the Western Front during World War I. Initially equipped with canvas Bessonneau hangars, the site expanded through the 1920s into a bomber station under the RAF's Home Defence Expansion Scheme. By the late 1930s, it had grown to accommodate larger aircraft and featured new C-type hangars and a control tower, reflecting its increasing strategic importance. The airfield’s grass flying field and 1939 boundaries remain largely intact, preserving the layout that defined its operational period.

During the Second World War, RAF Bicester was a key Operational Training Unit for Bomber Command, training British and Commonwealth crews on medium bombers like the Bristol Blenheim and later Mosquitos. It was from this site that the prototype Handley Page Halifax, the RAF’s first four-engine heavy bomber, made its maiden flight in October 1939. The airfield also supported the build-up to D-Day by storing and supplying essential materials. Defensive structures such as pillboxes, trenches, and bomb stores built during this period still stand, illustrating the airfield’s wartime role.

RAF Bicester is recognized as a Scheduled Monument and is the most complete example of an interwar RAF bomber base in the UK. The site includes listed hangars, bomb stores, and air-raid shelters, many of which have been restored or conserved with support from Historic England. Notably, a unique shelter with advanced damp-proofing measures remains a subject of historical investigation. The airfield’s military landscape, including dispersed aircraft parking areas and defensive works, offers a tangible link to RAF operational history.

After WWII, RAF Bicester adapted to various roles including aircraft crash investigation, parachute servicing, and gliding. The domestic site was sold in 2010, but the airfield itself has found new life as Bicester Heritage, the UK’s first heritage business park dedicated to historic motoring and aviation. This innovative reuse preserves the site’s aviation legacy while fostering a community of specialists in vintage aircraft and motorcar restoration, ensuring the continuation of traditional skills and the site’s cultural significance.

The airfield retains its expansive grass flying field, surrounded by original buildings and defensive structures that blend military functionality with the rural Oxfordshire landscape. The site’s historic fabric is complemented by its open vistas and the preserved layout of runways and dispersal areas, offering visitors a sense of the operational scale and atmosphere of a WWII bomber station. Conservation efforts have balanced heritage preservation with adaptive reuse, maintaining the site’s character while supporting sustainable development.

RAF Bicester stands as a monument to the evolution of British air power and the strategic vision of figures like Sir Hugh Trenchard. It embodies the RAF’s transition into a meritocratic and technology-driven force, training thousands of aircrew who served in critical campaigns. The site’s preservation and ongoing use as a heritage hub provide educational opportunities and inspire future generations to appreciate the historical and technical achievements of the RAF during a pivotal era.