RAF Syerston played a key role in the defence of the nation during the dark days of the Battle of Britain. Built as part of the Bomber Command expansion in the late 1930s, the first aircraft were Wellington Bombers. The base became part of the Famous Number 5 Group when in 1942 several squadrons of Lancaster Bombers arrived. In 1943 Bill Reid of 61 Squadron won a Victoria Cross on a mission flown from Syerston.
On 17 November 1943 the operational squadrons departed, and the station was used for bomber crew training, led by Captain Robert White. It became known as the Lancaster Finishing School in January 1944. From November 1943 to July 1944 there was also a Bombing and Gunnery Defence Training Flight in attendance with several Wellingtons, Spitfires and Hurricanes, all employed in brushing up the skills of air gunners on air-to-air exercise to defend the realm.
ESL , the Industrial Cleaning Equipment Company, has played a key role in the development of the site including the preparation for demolition of the aged Hangars. ‘We have used ESL for our project at RAF Syerston a WWII hangar requiring asbestos removal before demolition. We wanted the best system available and a company committed to providing a great service with no fuss.ESL have a great product in their Torbo machines and back this up with a complete service solution.
I would highly recommend ESL for your blasting needs’ says Ben Warner, CCP (Asbestos), Senior Consultant, John F Hunt Environmental.
At ESL we take the safety of our employees very seriously and ensure that they attend the relevant training for the job in hand i.e. asbestos awareness training for this particular job
The developed airfield is now active seven days a week with the Air Traffic Zone (ATZ) active between the hours of sunrise to sunset. CGS operates the Vigilant T Mk1 and Viking T Mk 1, along with a Robin DR 400 for aerotow. RAF Syerston also has several helicopter landing sites which are often used in support of OACTU exercises.
ESL’s wide range of world-leading industrial cleaning equipment and machinery is available for sale or hire.