# RAF Newton - Nottinghamshire - August 2011



## tank2020 (Aug 18, 2011)

Went for a little camping trip with the family, including the inlaws! And was given a days grace for good behaviour. I took the opportunity to have a mooch around.

The security at this place is a bit like a buxom lady, all up front and nowt behind, there appeared to be people controlling the gate at the front, but me and t2020 Jr wondered around the site completely in the open and obvious to all.

Alot of the buildings on site are occupied especially the old hangers, but some of the stranger buildings and bunkers are empty.

_Stolen from Wiki without a care -

RAF Newton (ICAO: EGXN) was a Royal Air Force station, 7 miles east of Nottingham, England. It was used briefly as a bomber base and then as a flying training school during World War II.

Built on the site of a pre-war civil airfield, Newton was assigned to No 1 Group in June 1940, when Nos 103 and 150 squadrons returned from France. These squadrons were re-equipped with Vickers Wellingtons in October 1940 but moved on to more suitable bomber airfields in July 1941.

Newton then became a training base, and for the next five years No. 16 (Polish) Service Flying Training School provided basic and advanced training for Polish airmen serving with the RAF, using RAF Tollerton as a satellite landing ground.

The station became the headquarters of No 12 Group, Fighter Command from 1946 until 1958, when Technical Training Command took over the station for electronic fitters courses.

Later the station became the home of the RAF School of Education, who moved from RAF Upwood in 1972, and the RAF Police Training School, who moved from RAF Debden in 1973 bringing their gate guardian - a Hawker Hunter F1, WT694 (now at Caernarfon Air World) - with them. Both of these units transferred to RAF Halton in the 1990s.

Also in its history, the station has been home to the Head Quarters Air Training Corps, which later moved to RAF Cranwell in 1995, the same year, the RAF Police Dog School based there since 1975 was amalgamated with the RAVC to form the Defence Animal Centre (DAC) at Melton Mowbray.

The station had also became the home of the newly-formed Nottingham University College Air Squadron in 1941, providing newly-trained pilots for the RAF. During the 1960s Newton was home to Air Experience Flights of Chipmunk aircraft which were used by local squadrons of the Air Training Corps. The East Midlands University Air Squadron continued flying at Newton, with Bulldog aircraft, until moving its flying activities to RAF Cranwell in 2001. In the latter years, civilian-operated Slingsby Fireflies were also based at Newton for basic military training on behalf of RAF Cranwell._






























































Didn't think I would find a hospital on site!





















Didn't expect to see this either!


























Didn't expect to see this either, especially behind iron blast doors, strange!




































Lots of surprises at this one. Thanks for looking - t2020


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## Em_Ux (Aug 19, 2011)

Looks like a really good explore.

You never really know what you're going to find while looking around.

Thanks for posting.


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## disturbed (Aug 19, 2011)

looks a good find great pics think ill be going there soon live pretty close to this one


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## The Kaiser (Aug 23, 2011)

Glad to see this place is still about, are the houses still there at the front?


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## Pincheck (Aug 23, 2011)

interesting stuff mate


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## Lost Explorer (Aug 23, 2011)

The Kaiser said:


> Glad to see this place is still about, are the houses still there at the front?



I drove by at weekend and they have all gone


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## tank2020 (Aug 23, 2011)

Lost Explorer said:


> I drove by at weekend and they have all gone



Yeah the front of the place is all generic out of the tin modern housing. The old office buildings and bunkers etc remain still.


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## Goldie87 (Aug 23, 2011)

Shame a load has gone now, spent many good days exploring here back in the day.


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## wirelessmast (Aug 23, 2011)

Great photos. 

Im intruiged by those cartridges. Ammunition is my speciality, but i cant work out what they are! Possibly some form of armourers test cases, but wouldnt expect to see so many of them. Ive certainly never seen anything like them to handle.

Do you have any photos that show the detail on the 'head' (that is, the closed end where the priming cap is) of one of the cartridges? I'd be very interested to see what the markings on them are


wireless


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## Goldie87 (Aug 23, 2011)

wirelessmast said:


> Im intruiged by those cartridges. Ammunition is my speciality, but i cant work out what they are!



Look like training rounds that have a paint tip to me?


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## wirelessmast (Aug 23, 2011)

Goldie87 said:


> Look like training rounds that have a paint tip to me?



I dont think so. There straight cased, doesnt fit any standard issue weapon (apart from pistols, its all bottlenecked cases). The ali/steel or whatever tip looks turned, im wondering if they were used as chamber/bore gauges? Of course, they could also be projector rounds, used to either cycle the action of something bigger, or project something larger. Ive certainly not come across anything like them in common use before, and dont recall seeing them at any collectors fairs or in any guides/documents.

I need to see the headstamp! Given that, i'd either know straight away, or be able to look them up or ask in the appropriate places!

The fact there so nice and shiney syggest there not very old at all

Looking again, it seems that the 'silver' section, if pushed back into the brass, would form the correct dimensions for 7.62x51 cartridges, without a projectile. Im begining to think these were for testing the gas parts/actions of rifles/machine guns (hence after being fired, the bit at the front is pushed out, whch would have pushed back against the bolt face of the weapon)

Its too far away from me, or i'd take a trip there just to be able to examine one!


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## tank2020 (Aug 24, 2011)

wirelessmast said:


> I dont think so. There straight cased, doesnt fit any standard issue weapon (apart from pistols, its all bottlenecked cases). The ali/steel or whatever tip looks turned, im wondering if they were used as chamber/bore gauges? Of course, they could also be projector rounds, used to either cycle the action of something bigger, or project something larger. Ive certainly not come across anything like them in common use before, and dont recall seeing them at any collectors fairs or in any guides/documents.
> 
> I need to see the headstamp! Given that, i'd either know straight away, or be able to look them up or ask in the appropriate places!
> 
> ...



It looked to me as if the police had been using the site, there were also smaller hand gun rounds with plastic ends. I will have a look through my pics to see if I have any detail.


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## tank2020 (Aug 24, 2011)

tank2020 said:


> It looked to me as if the police had been using the site, there were also smaller hand gun rounds with plastic ends. I will have a look through my pics to see if I have any detail.



Best I can Do!


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## wirelessmast (Aug 24, 2011)

Cheers. Damn thats tantalising! I cant quite make the markings out fully. Ive a rough idea, i'll get the books out tomorrow and see if i can at least ID the manufacturer

Oh for a nice sharp macro photo of that headstamp!


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## wirelessmast (Aug 24, 2011)

What im fairly certain about is that they have a 03 date mark, which is almost certainly 2003* so it can be said that they were left there sometime in or after that year (the lack of any serious corrosion suggests theyve not been there more than a couple of months.

* the headstamp is impressed usually when the case is made, however, filling and loading may take place quite some time later.


Ive given in on trying to ID them myself, and thrown it open to the International cartridge research community. Im sure one of them will tell me what they are in a short while


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## wirelessmast (Aug 25, 2011)

Goldie, i have to eat humble pie now and apologise for doubting you!

Indeed, these turn out to be 'simunition' cartridges. Which do indeed project a small paint marker. The ones shown were made by Industries Valcartier Inc, Canada, in 2003. The actual calibre im not certain yet, but most likey were used with a conversion kit fitted to normal police weapons. The pistol sized ones mentioned are most likely the same.

So it does look like plod go there regularly for a bit of a shoot

update - my contact at IAA confirms these as being 5.56mm, used with a special blow-back bolt conversion. What rifle the plod use it in i dont know. If the army have been using them, then it would be the standard service rifle L85A2.

It seems theres a good few new things in the world of ammo that have come about since my official involvement ended about a decade back


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