Editing RAF Digby (section)

== History ==
===First World War===
There are dated photographs that show that the airfield was already in use for flying training by [[Royal Naval Air Service|Royal Naval pilots]] in the summer of 1917, although no documents supporting this have ever been found. The photographs show contemporary hangars, sheds and aircraft already in place around grassed runways and uniformed Royal Naval trainee pilots from the HMS Daedalus facility at [[RAF Cranwell|Cranwell]] receiving instruction. What is on record is the minutes of a conference held at the Scopwick airfield in November 1917 that confirmed its suitability for conversion to a training depot station in its own right. On 12 January 1918 the War Office issued the authority notice for the site to be formally taken over under the Defence of the Realm Regulations.<ref name=rafinfo1918>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/digbyhistory_1918.htm|title=RAF Digby - RCAF Digby: A history: 1918|publisher=RAF Lincolnshire info|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>
[[File:504 at Old Warden.jpg|thumb|left|AVRO 504 type that flew from the station]]
Early accommodation for personnel was under canvas and the first pilots arrived on 28 March 1918, commanded by [[John D'Albiac|Major John H D’Albiac]] a former [[Royal Marines]] aviator. The party left Royal Flying Corps Portholme Meadow aerodrome in [[Huntingdonshire]] and moved to Scopwick, bringing [[Handley Page]] bombers with them. RAF Scopwick aerodrome was deemed officially open with their arrival, although the newly established Royal Air Force did not formally come into existence until four days later on 1 April 1918. D’Albiac was appointed as RAF Scopwick's first commanding officer. A works report dated November 1918 shows that all building works had been completed. Designated as No. 59 Training Depot Station RAF, its initial establishment of 10 x [[Handley Page Type O|Handley Page 0/100s]], 18 x [[Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2|FE2EB/DS]] and 30 x [[Avro 504]]Ks indicates that it was a night bomber training unit. The only action seen by RAF Scopwick during World War I was when a German Zeppelin attempted a bombing raid, with its bombs missing the station and falling in a nearby field.<ref name=rafinfo1918/>

===Between the wars===
In April 1920 No. 59 TDS handed over to [[No. 3 Flying Training School RAF]] whose first commander was Squadron Leader [[Arthur Harris|A T Harris]], later to become known as Air Marshal 'Bomber' Harris. Five months later the name of the station changed from Scopwick to RAF Digby, after several instances of aircraft spares being delivered in error to [[RAF Shotwick]] in North Wales. The role of the station also switched from training bomber pilots to training fighter pilots. In April 1922 the school was disbanded and the station placed on care and maintenance, when the RAF contracted further after the end of the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/digbyhistory_1922.htm|title=RAF Digby - RCAF Digby: A history : 1922|publisher=RAF Lincolnshire info|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>

The closure was short-lived and in June 1924 [[No. 2 Flying Training School RAF]] arrived from [[RAF Duxford]]. The school flew Avro 504s, [[Bristol F.2 Fighter|Bristol Fighters]], and [[Sopwith Snipe]]s and specialised in training novice pilots to fly in fighter-type aircraft, rather than the usual practice of learning on basic trainers and later converting to fighters. The school was commanded by Wing Commander Sidney 'Crasher' Smith DSO AFC, so named because of his habit of landing his aircraft rather more robustly than they were designed for; including three aircraft in a single day. Smith returned to Digby five years later as a Group Captain, for a second stint as station commander. Smith's replacement as station commander was an officer due for greater things, [[Arthur Tedder, 1st Baron Tedder|Wing Commander Arthur Tedder]] later became Lord Tedder and Marshal of the Royal Air Force. In 1934 the station was commanded by [[Trafford Leigh-Mallory|Group Captain T Leigh-Mallory]], who was later to become Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory and one of the most notable commanders in Fighter Command during the [[Battle of Britain]].<ref name=rafinfo1934>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/digbyhistory_1934.htm|title=RAF Digby - RCAF Digby: A history: 1934–1936|publisher=RAF Lincolnshire info|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>

Between 1929 and 1936 the appearance of the station changed dramatically and most of the original wooden 1917/1918 hangars, barrack blocks and offices were demolished and replaced with substantial brick structures. The seven original hangars were replaced by two new ones, although a planned third hangar was first delayed and eventually never built. Most of the domestic barrack blocks, officers' mess, station headquarters, squadron offices and married quarters built at this time still stand and remain in use. The No. 12 Group RAF Lima Sector Operations bunker, now the station museum, was constructed at a cost in 1936 of £5,000.<ref name=rafinfo1934/>

The following year saw a major change to the station's function. On 7 September 1937 No. 2 Flying Training School relocated to [[RAF Brize Norton]], and Digby was handed to No. 12 Group Fighter Command as an operational fighter station intended to provide fighter cover for the cities of Lincoln, Nottingham and Leicester. Two months later there were already two squadrons of fighters at Digby, [[No. 73 Squadron RAF]] flying [[Gloster Gladiator]]s and [[No. 46 Squadron RAF]] equipped with [[Gloster Gauntlet]]s. In 1938 both squadrons were re-equipped with [[Hawker Hurricane]]s and joined by another Hurricane squadron [[No. 504 Squadron RAF]], an auxiliary squadron from Nottingham.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/digbyhistory_1938.htm|title=RAF Digby - RCAF Digby: A history: 1938|publisher=RAF Lincolnshire info|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>

===Second World War===
RAF Digby entered the war with some of its squadrons operating from nearby satellite fields under its control at [[RAF Coleby Grange]] and RAF Wellingore. The first squadron scrambled from Digby was No. 46 Squadron on 3 September; told there was an incoming German raid they found nothing and returned.<ref name=rafinfo1939>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/digbyhistory_1939.htm|title=RAF Digby - RCAF Digby: A history: 1939|publisher=RAF Lincolnshire info|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>

October 1939 saw a number of arrivals at the station. On 10 October [[No. 611 Squadron RAF]] flying [[Supermarine Spitfire]]s and [[No. 229 Squadron RAF]] operating [[Bristol Blenheim]]s arrived at Digby. Initially, No. 611 Squadron flew affiliation exercises with the other two squadrons and with other new arrivals [[No. 44 Squadron RAF]] and [[No. 144 Squadron RAF]], who were both equipped with Hampden light bombers. At the end of October a [[Bristol Blenheim]] fighter and escort Squadron arrived, [[No. 29 Squadron RAF]]. With the squadron came the soon-to-be-famous officer [[Guy Gibson]], who would be awarded a [[Victoria Cross]] as the commander of the [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|Dambusters]]. It was Gibson's second tour at Digby as he had learned to fly at the station while attending No. 2 FTS in 1936. Gibson was still based at Digby in 1940 when he was married in [[Penarth]], South Wales.<ref>Morris 1994, p. 81</ref>

As 1939 came to a close [[King George VI]] made the first of three formal visits to RAF Digby. In addition to inspecting No. 46 Squadron, he presented decorations to fighter pilots from Digby and several neighbouring stations. The recipients included Guy Gibson who received his first DFC.<ref name=rafinfo1939/>
[[File:RAF Digby Ops Room.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Sector Operations Room Museum – displayed as it was in 1939]]

For six weeks in May and June 1940 the station was home to [[No. 222 Squadron RAF]] on a rotational rest and recuperation break from fighting the [[Battle of Britain]] from [[RAF Duxford]]. The squadron's most famous flight commander was the legless fighter ace [[Douglas Bader|Flight Lieutenant Douglas Bader]]. With the station's complement of pilots expanding nearby Wellingore Hall was requisitioned as a second officers' mess.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rogercoleenterprises.co.uk/high_flight/about/the_spitfire_and_raf_wellingore/ |title=The Spitfire & RAF Wellingore|publisher=Roger Cole Enterprises|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>

In late August 1940 a single German [[Junkers Ju 88]] bomber appeared suddenly out of the mist and dropped its load of bombs on the station, all of them missing the runways and buildings to explode harmlessly on open ground. In February 1941 the first of the Canadian fighter squadrons arrived at Digby. No. 1 (Canadian) Squadron and No. 2 (Canadian) Squadron immediately renumbered as [[401 Tactical Fighter Squadron|No. 401 Squadron RCAF]] and [[402 Squadron|No. 402 Squadron RCAF]] respectively; both squadrons were equipped with Hurricanes. The Canadian Digby wing was formed on 24 April 1941 when the station received three further squadrons, [[409 Tactical Fighter Squadron|No. 409 Squadron RCAF]] flying [[Boulton Paul Defiant]]s, [[No. 411 Squadron RCAF]] and [[412 Transport Squadron|No. 412 Squadron RCAF]] both flying [[Supermarine Spitfire]]s.<ref name=rafinfo1941>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/digbyhistory_ch3_1941.htm|title=RAF Digby - RCAF Digby: A history: 1941|publisher=RAF Lincolnshire info|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>

RAF Digby received several German bomber raids during 1941 and extensive damage was suffered. It was decided to relocate the 12 Group Sector Operations Centre away from further danger and it moved to a luxurious setting in the west wing of [[Blankney|Blankney Hall]] where it stayed for the remainder of the war. Several RAF squadrons arrived to serve alongside the Canadians during 1941; [[No. 92 Squadron RAF]] and [[No. 609 Squadron RAF]] both arrived from [[RAF Biggin Hill]] on rotational rest and recuperation leave. There were now so many airmen at RAF Digby that even the two officers' messes could not accommodate them all. Several squadrons commandeered the nearby [[Ashby de la Launde|Ashby Hall]] as their officers' mess and the hall remained in this role until the end of the war when it fell into disrepair and its estate was broken up.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/Ashby-de-la-Launde.htm|title=RAF Digby - Ashby de la Launde|publisher=RAF Lincolnshire info|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>

American-born pilot and poet [[John Gillespie Magee Jr.|John Gillespie Magee]] flying for the Canadian air force was killed at the age of 19 on 11 December 1941 while stationed at RAF Digby with [[412 Transport Squadron|No. 412 (Fighter) Squadron RCAF]].<ref name="BB">{{cite book |title= Battle of Britain – Pilot and Aircrew Manual – Ceremony 2007 |author= Government of Canada |year= 2007 |publisher= Government of Canada |location= Ottawa}}</ref> Magee took off in a Spitfire from the satellite field at RAF Wellingore and, while descending through cloud over Roxholm village just south of Digby, was involved in a mid-air collision with an Airspeed Oxford climbing out of RAF Cranwell. Magee is buried at the [[war graves]] section of [[Scopwick]] churchyard along with 49 other aviators from local airfields and five German aircrew.<ref name="wood">{{cite web |url=http://www.woodiescciclub.com/high-flight.htm |title=High Flight Poem – John Gillespie Magee Jr |access-date=2 March 2008 |archive-date=8 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208223722/http://woodiescciclub.com/high-flight.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> On his grave are inscribed the first and last lines from his poem High Flight:<ref name="wood"/>

: "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth –
: Put out my hand and touched the Face of God."

UK bomb-disposal teams were having continuing problems rendering safe with German {{Convert|2|kg|abbr=on}} [[Butterfly bomb]]s because no examples had been safely dismantled to learn the best process. This was because butterfly bombs were specifically designed to [[detonate]] if they were disturbed in any way. Whilst dealing with eight butterfly bombs which had fallen on [[RAF Harlaxton]] and failed to explode, Flight Sergeant Hanford of RAF Bomb Disposal (based at RAF Digby) noticed that the arming rods on the bombs had not fully unscrewed themselves i.e. the [[fuze]]s were not fully armed. Hanford carefully screwed the arming rods back into the fuze pockets by hand, thereby enabling the bomb disposal scientists to safely dismantle the fuze mechanisms, learn how they worked and develop counter-measures. Highly useful information in the form of diagrams and detailed explanations were then distributed to bomb disposal technicians for instructional purposes. Hanford was later awarded the [[British Empire Medal]] for this feat of extreme bravery.<ref>[http://www.rafbdhistory.co.uk/new_page_6.htm RAF bomb disposal history] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304162916/http://www.rafbdhistory.co.uk/new_page_6.htm |date=4 March 2012 }}</ref>

Airfield guarding duties during the war were covered initially by a variety of Army units and later by several squadrons the RAF Regiment. In February 1941, Digby was guarded by B Company of the [[Royal Welch Fusiliers]]. From the middle of 1941 until 1942 Digby was guarded by D Company of the 70th Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers.<ref name=rafinfo1941/>

===RCAF Digby===
On 16 September 1942 control of Digby formally passed to Canada and the station was renamed Royal Canadian Air Force Station Digby under the command of Group Captain McNab RCAF. In February 1943 the first [[de Havilland Mosquito]]s arrived at Digby and were allocated to No. 410 Squadron.<ref name=rafinfo1942>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/digbyhistory_ch3_1942_1944.htm|title=RAF Digby - RCAF Digby: A history: 1942 - 1944|publisher=RAF Lincolnshire info|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>

During early 1944 Digby was a hive of activity with all of the resident squadrons and several visiting squadrons, including several Czech and Belgian squadrons, taken up with training for [[Operation Overlord|D-day invasion]] support. When the invasion took place all of the squadrons relocated to captured airfields in France and Digby became an almost deserted 'ghost town'. All that remained were [[No. 116 Squadron RAF]] flying a small number of [[Airspeed Oxford]]s in an anti-aircraft training role and two squadrons flying elderly Blenheims for radar calibration off the east coast.<ref name=rafinfo1942/>

In May 1945 control of the station was handed back by the Canadians and it again became RAF Digby, although the new [[Heraldic badges of the Royal Air Force|station badge]] showed the autumn gold maple leaf to permanently acknowledge its history as a Canadian facility for three years. By the time the war in Europe ended on 8 May 1945, RAF Digby had been the wartime home to 30 RAF squadrons, 13 Canadian squadrons, 4 Polish squadrons, 2 Belgian squadrons and 1 Czech squadron. Those airmen had flown Hurricane, Spitfire, Defiant, Blenheim, Beaufighter, Mosquito, Mustang, Wellington, Oxford and Anson aircraft. The station had also hosted the full range of visiting RAF heavy bombers and their crews, as well as no fewer than 30 USAAF B-17Gs on a foggy night in November 1944.<ref name=rafinfo1942/>

===Post-war===
Following the end of World War II Digby increasingly took on a non-flying role for [[RAF Technical Training Command]]. In 1948 the Secretarial Branch Training School relocated from [[RAF Hereford]] and the Equipment Officers' School was established at Digby. Between 1948 and 1950 Digby also became home to the No.1 Initial Officer Training unit, the Aircrew Education Unit, the Aircrew Transit Unit and the Instructional Leadership Course. In 1951 No. 2 Aircrew Grading School for both potential pilots and ancillary aircrew was established at Digby using a wide range of elderly aircraft.<ref name=rafinfo1948>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf-lincolnshire.info/digby/digbyhistory_ch4_1948_1953.htm|title=RAF Digby - RCAF Digby: A history: 1948 - 1953|publisher=RAF Lincolnshire info|access-date=5 April 2019}}</ref>

The station badge was awarded in July 1952 and depicts a [[Crane (bird)|white crane]] superimposed over a maple leaf.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rafht.co.uk/index.php/2016/06/17/digby/|title=Digby|website=RAF Heraldry Trust|language=en-US|access-date=25 March 2018}}</ref> The station's motto ''Icarus Renatus'' means ''Icarus Reborn'' and relates to the short period when the station was under 'care and maintenance' and then re-activated.<ref name="A dictionary of mottoes">{{cite book|title=A dictionary of mottoes|last1=Pine|first1=L.G.|date=1983|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|isbn=0-7100-9339-X|edition=1|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmott00tion/page/104 104]|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmott00tion/page/104}}</ref>
[[File:RAF Digby Spitfire.jpg|thumb|Fibreglass replica Spitfire Mk IX mounted outside Station HQ]]
Flying ceased at Digby when all units and training schools were disbanded or relocated during January 1953 and the station was placed on care and maintenance until October 1954 when building works commenced in preparation for the establishment of the proposed signals units. No. 399 Signals Unit arrived in January 1955 and declared itself fully operational on 15 February, located in No. 2 hangar (now the station gymnasium). The second, No. 591 Signals Unit arrived in July 1955 and set up operations in hangar No. 1 (North).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hancock|first1=T.N.|title=Bomber county : a history of the Royal Air Force in Lincolnshire.|date=1978|publisher=Lincolnshire Library Service|location=Lincoln|isbn=0-86111-100-1|page=107}}</ref>

In September 1959 the Wireless Operators' School and the Aerial Erectors' School were established at Digby to begin training their respective students. The station continued to expand its scope of operations steadily from the 1970s and into the new millennium. British Army elements arrived in 1994 and were later joined by the Royal Navy. The addition of US detachments signalled the start of yet another era in the history of Digby. On 1 September 1998 399 Signals Unit merged with the newly arrived Special Signals Support Unit from Loughborough to form the Joint Service Signal Unit (Digby).<ref>{{PastScape|mnumber=1393727|mname=RAF Digby|accessdate=5 April 2019}}</ref>

No. 54 Signals Unit was established in 2014 and provides processing, exploitation, and dissemination of all UK air-derived electronic surveillance data. The unit forms part of No. 1 Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance Wing which has its headquarters at [[RAF Waddington]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Morris|first=Ady|date=December 2014|title=Establishment of 54 Signals Unit - RAF Digby|url=https://www.rafa.org.uk/Resources/.../20141127-RAFALO-Update-December.doc|journal=RAFALO Update|pages=1}}</ref><ref name="TIO">{{Cite journal|date=March–April 2017|title=Formation of 1 ISR Wing|url=http://www.theinsightonline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Insight-issue-1-2017.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230114527/http://www.theinsightonline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Insight-issue-1-2017.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 December 2017|journal=Insight Magazine|pages=8–9}}</ref>