List of RAF hospitals

Royal Air Force hospitals were dedicated medical care facilities at strategic locations to cater for RAF personnel. The hospitals were staffed by the medical branches of the Royal Air Force, and would serve as a higher tier of medical facility above the normal station sick quarters, or later, station medical centre. The RAF had many hospitals within the United Kingdom, and additionally had several hospitals abroad.

British Forces in Aden: Steamer Poin. The RAF hospital is in the background

The Second World War caused an expansion of facilities and locations, however the end of that conflict, and the withdrawal by the RAF from the Middle and Far East, accelerated closures.

History
Matlock - Rockside Hall, used as a neuro-psychiatric hospital

The first hospital for aviation personnel in the British military was at Hampstead in London. This facility opened in 1917 and was open to those from the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.[1] Staffing at RAF Hospitals was based on the number of beds and the work that was undertaken at that facility. Some of the larger bases could have a roll of between 4,000 and 10,000 people to cater for. Halton, Cranwell, Matlock, Ely, and Torquay were considered separate entities from any RAF bases. Halton and Cranwell had 20 and 12 medical officers respectively, whereas the large training bases at Cosford and St Athan only had eight each.[2] The original RAF Officers Hospital was opened at Finchley in 1919, moved to Uxbridge in 1925, and then to Torquay in 1940. A third move was precipitated in October 1942 when the hospital at Torquay was bombed incurring 19 fatalities.[3] Most of the hospitals were built in the 1930s or 1940s, to cater either for the RAF Expansion Period, or due to the outbreak of the Second World War.[4]

The hospitals were spread out across Great Britain, and at strategic points throughout the world. One oddity was Lancashire, which had five RAF Hospitals within its borders (RAF Hospital Cleveleys, RAF Hospital Kirkham, RAF Hospital Morecambe, RAF Hospital Padgate, and RAF Hospital Weeton), which were deemed to be far enough away from enemy action in the Second World War to be relatively safe from bombing.[5] By the second half of the 1980s, the RAF had five service hospitals (three in the UK, and two abroad, Ely, Halton, Wroughton, and Akrotiri and Wegberg respectively). The average that each hospital had in terms of complement of staff was broken down as 22% officers, 54% other ranks, and 24% civilian employees.[6]

By 1996, all RAF hospitals in the UK and abroad had closed apart from the one at RAF Akrotiri, but by that time, the hospital had been changed into a joint asset, rather than strictly just RAF. All three forces in the UK concentrated their medical services at bases and in Ministry of Defence Hospital Units (MDHU), which meant that military medical staff were embedded in public hospitals.[7]

Hospitals in the United Kingdom
List of Royal Air Force Hospitals in the United Kingdom
Location Coordinates Open Beds[lower-alpha 1] Details Ref
Bridgnorth, England 52.534°N 2.380°W / 52.534; -2.380 1939 – 1946(?) 140 (1940) Situated at RAF Bridgnorth, and looked after basic recruits and the local population. [8]
Church Village, Wales 51.572°N 3.316°W / 51.572; -3.316 September 1942 – April 1946 290 (1943) The hospital was located 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Pontypridd to avoid the areas being bombed in South Wales. [9]
Cleveleys, England 53.874°N 3.047°W / 53.874; -3.047 March 1943 – October 1945 200 (1942) Known as the RAF Officers' Hospital, it took on the role of the officers' convalescent hospital after RAF Hospital Torquay was bombed in October 1942. [10][11]
Cosford, England 52.651°N 2.289°W / 52.651; -2.289 1939 – December 1977 500 (1940) (Motto: Via ad salutem – Latin: The road to health) [12][13][14]
Cranwell, England 53.0354°N 0.497°W / 53.0354; -0.497 April 1918 – June 1940 355 (1939) Replaced as a hospital by RAF Hospital Rauceby. Cranwell was reduced to a station sick quarters. [15][16][17]
Ely, England 52.413°N 0.275°E / 52.413; 0.275 1939 – 1992 185 (1985) The Princess of Wales Hospital[note 1] [19]
Evesham, England 52.085°N 1.947°W / 52.085; -1.947 August 1941 – March 1946 378 (1940) As the hospital was not on a main RAF camp, it was used to treat cases of VD in the RAF. When treatment was complete, service personnel (both RAF and WAAF) could then be posted to a 'fresh' unit, rather than back to the one they arrived from. However, the stigma of the hospital treating such cases caused some local concern in the short-term. To combat this, non-VD patients were wheeled around the hospital environs and in the town to promote the notion that the hospital was actually there to treat injured service personnel. [20][21][22]
Finchley, England 51.596°N 0.195°W / 51.596; -0.195 May 1919 – June 1925 Initially called the RAF Central Hospital, it was formed at Hampstead in 1917, it soon moved to Finchley. It was one of the three post-war RAF Hospitals along with Halton and Cranwell, but was the smallest and first to close. In June 1925, the hospital was moved to RAF Uxbridge, becoming the officer's Hospital. [23][24]
Halton, England 51.769°N 0.727°W / 51.769; -0.727 31 October 1927 – 31 March 1996 180 (1972) The first purpose built RAF Hospital in the Air Force's history. On opening, it had 204 beds and the hospital building formed three sides of a quadrangle, the fourth side being the nurses accommodation. (Motto: Vigilance) [25][19][26]
Haverfordwest, Wales 51.831°N 4.963°W / 51.831; -4.963 February 1945 – April 1946 Short-lived hospital. The RAF personnel in the area numbered between 5,000 and 6,000 (across RAF Haverfordwest, RAF Pembroke Dock and RAF St Davids), and medical services were undertaken at Haverfordwest under the aegis of Coastal Command (most other RAF hospitals being under Technical Training Command). Was raised to hospital status in 1945. [27]
Henlow, England 52.015°N 0.303°W / 52.015; -0.303 1939 – 1948 200 (1939) [28][29]
Hereford, England 52.085°N 2.795°W / 52.085; -2.795 June 1940 – November 1947 192 (1942) Cared for the service personnel at Hereford, Ludlow, Madley, Newland and Shobdon. [30][29]
Innsworth, England 51.893°N 2.197°W / 51.893; -2.197 June 1940 – September 1948 117 (1940) [31]
Kirkham, England 53.775°N 2.873°W / 53.775; -2.873 June 1940 – June 1948 270 (1940) [5]
Lochnaw, Scotland 54.923°N 5.126°W / 54.923; -5.126 June 1942 – October 1945 Originally opened to cater for the remoter stations in south-west Scotland which were less able to reach civilian hospitals. The RAF Hospital was moved in the first year into Nissen huts built in the castle grounds. These had been provided for, and built by American forces which were then diverted elsewhere. However, the particular design of hut was at serious risk of fire, of which several did occur before the hospital could accept patients. [32][33]
Locking, England 51.338°N 2.904°W / 51.338; -2.904 1939 – 1949 Based at RAF Locking, at its peak, the hospital on the training base had to provide medical needs to 7,000 personnel. In 1944, it treated many of the casualties arising from Operation Overlord (D-Day). After 1949, the hospital was downgraded to a normal station sick quarters (SSQ). [34]
Matlock, England 53.144°N 1.549°W / 53.144; -1.549 October 1939 – May 1945 Based in Rockside Hydro in Matlock, the facility was used between October 1918 and April 1919 for personnel returning from the First World War. During the Second World War, it was used as a neurological hospital. [35][36]
Melksham, England 51.352°N 2.127°W / 51.352; -2.127 July 1940 – 1946 218 (1943) [37]
Morecambe, England 54.072°N 2.875°W / 54.072; -2.875 February 1940 – April 1944 RAF station hospital. Several hotels and large buildings were requisitioned in the Second World War for basic training, driver training, and engine and airframe fitters. [38][39]
Nocton Hall, England 53.165°N 0.413°W / 53.165; -0.413 1940 – 1983 740 (?) Was used by the USAF post 1983, including during the First Gulf War, when it provided an overspill capability for wounded personnel. During the period under American control, the beds numbered 1,500. (Motto: Sicut qui ministrant – Latin: (We are) as they who serve) [40][41][42]
Northallerton, England 54.343°N 1.430°W / 54.343; -1.430 1940 – 1947 450 (1944) Operated by the RAF, but catered mostly for patients from the Royal Canadian Air Force (No. 6 Group RAF), whose bases were nearby. [43][44]
Padgate, England 53.409°N 2.559°W / 53.409; -2.559 May 1939 – 1957 110 (1941) Originally opened at the recruit centre of RAF Padgate to deal with recruits, it later dealt with suspected smallpox cases among troops disembarking ships at Liverpool docks. [45][46]
Rauceby, England 52.983°N 0.450°W / 52.983; -0.450 June 1940 – January 1945 250 (1940) Took over from RAF Cranwell Hospital in 1940. [47]
St Athan, Wales 51.408°N 3.447°W / 51.408; -3.447 1940 – 1961 The hospital was too close to the docks at Cardiff and was bombed several times, with one instance in 1940 requiring patients to be moved to civilian hospitals until repairs could be made [48][29]
Torquay, England 50.472°N 3.505°W / 50.472; -3.505 October 1939 – October 1942 243 (1940) Used as a convalescent hospital. Was bombed in October 1942 with 19 deaths and multiple injuries. [12]
Uxbridge, England 51.545°N 0.471°W / 51.545; -0.471 June 1925 – 1972 This hospital opened in 1925 when the hospital at Finchley was closed down. After the officers hospital was moved in 1940, it became a WAAF hospital, then a station hospital until closure. (Motto: Count nothing human indifferent) [49][50][51]
Weeton, England 53.820°N 2.935°W / 53.820; -2.935 May 1940 – December 1959 198 (1940) The hospital survived past the end of the Second World War, with a commanding officer being appointed for the last time in June 1959. [52][53]
West Kirkby, England 53.372°N 3.182°W / 53.372; -3.182 1940 – 1957 [29]
Wilmslow, England 53.336°N 2.203°W / 53.336; -2.203 July 1940 – December 1958 [29]
Wroughton, England 51.512°N 1.767°W / 51.512; -1.767 1941 – 1996 280 (1985) In 1982, all aeromedical evacuations from the Falklands Conflict were assessed at Wroughton, being the nearest military hospital to RAF Lyneham (the disembarkation point). (Motto: Salubritas per industriam – Latin: Health through work) [29][54][55][56][19]
Yatesbury, England 51.436°N 1.923°W / 51.436; -1.923 February 1949 – December 1947 232 (1940) [57][29]
  1. Peak capacity if known

    Hospitals outside the United Kingdom
    List of Royal Air Force Hospitals outside of the United Kingdom
    Location[lower-alpha 1] Name[lower-alpha 2] Coordinates Open Beds[lower-alpha 3] Details Motto Ref
    Cairo, Egypt RAF No. 5 Hospital Middle East 30.0629°N 31.274°E / 30.0629; 31.274 March 1943 – March 1947 Formed at Cairo in March 1942, and moved to Abassia in January 1943. Alatos Recreamus – Latin: We restore to health the wing borne men [58][59][60][61]
    Aden, Yemen RAF Khormaksar Hospital Beach 12.831°N 45.029°E / 12.831; 45.029 1959 – 1967 163 (1959) Smaller hospital in the Aden Protectorate adjacent to RAF Khormaksar. Health is a crown on the heads of the fit that is seen by none but the sick[note 2] [62][63][64]
    Aden, Yemen RAF Steamer Point 12.785°N 44.981°E / 12.785; 44.981 1928 – 1967 180 (1955) Hospital was taken over by the RAF in 1928, and was used by all service personnel in the Aden Protectorate and their families. Merchant seaman also used the facilities. Cuilibet adjumenta salutus [65][66][67][68]
    Akrotiri, Cyprus The Princess Mary's Hospital 34.5696°N 32.9373°E / 34.5696; 32.9373 1963 – 1996 170 (1972) Opened in 1963, the unit was turned into a military hospital in 1996, after all the RAF Hospitals closed. It continued as Joint military hospital until 2013. Strive to heal [69][70][71]
    Brussels, Belgium RAF No. 8 General Hospital 50.833°N 4.349°E / 50.833; 4.349 September 1944 – 1945 Was originally created at Ashton Down in England, and then moved to Bayeaux, Normandy after D-Day, before becoming permanent at Brussels. [72][73]
    Changi, Singapore 1.376°N 103.983°E / 1.376; 103.983 1947 – 1973 RAF Hospital which opened post-war near to RAF Changi airfield. Wings of mercy [74][75]
    Habbaniya, Iraq No. 6 RAF Hospital 33.382°N 43.573°E / 33.382; 43.573 December 1937 – 1956 500 (1937) Was deemed to be an RAF General Hospital (RAFGH), but was downgraded to a station hospital in 1956. [75]
    Hinaidi, Iraq 33.287°N 44.475°E / 33.287; 44.475 ? – 1936 A report from 1930/1931, stated that temperatures in the shade at Hinaidi were 49 °C (120 °F), which proved problematic in keeping patients cool. Hospital was moved to RAF Habbaniya in December 1937. [76]
    Lagens, Azores 38.763°N 27.089°W / 38.763; -27.089 September 1943 – October 1946 150 (1943) [77]
    Maison Carrée, Algeria No. 2 RAF General Hospital 36.721°N 3.137°E / 36.721; 3.137 September 1943 – August 1946 200 [78][79]
    Reykjavik, Iceland RAF No. 11 General Hospital 64.122°N 21.928°W / 64.122; -21.928 March 1942 – 1946 200 (1942) Taken over from the Army in 1942; was administered by Coastal Command. [80][81][82]
    Rostrup, Germany 53.210°N 7.987°E / 53.210; 7.987 1952 – 1953 The hospital was a temporary one, being replaced by RAFH Webgerg. The design of Rostrup was considered poor by the Air Commodore of the Construction Branch of the RAF, and he redesigned the plans, which were put into effect for Wegberg. [83]
    Takoradi, Gold Coast[note 3] 4.895°N 1.774°W / 4.895; -1.774 January 1942 – November 1947 170 [84][85]
    Wegberg, Germany, 51°09′26.21″N 6°18′19.81″E November 1953 – April 1996 220 (1972) The hospital was built to replace one at Rostrup. Wegberg was known as the 100-day hospital due to the amount of time it took to construct (which was actually 111 days). Inter era sales – Latin: In [the] midst of ferocity, healing [86][83][19]
    1. Modern day location; some non-UK locations may have been in different sovereign states
    2. Some hospitals did not have names
    3. Peak capacity

      See also

      Notes
      1. Was known as RAF Hospital Ely between 1939 and 1987. It was renamed in 1987.[18]
      2. Original motto was in Arabic.
      3. The Gold Coast is now known as Ghana.

      References
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      2. Rexford-Welch 1954, p. 33.
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      4. TRAFBFW 1997, p. 64.
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