Royal Air Force hospitals were British military hospitals formerly operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom. They contained dedicated medical care facilities, at strategic locations wherever the RAF was operating, at home and abroad, to cater for in-depth military medical needs of Royal Air Force personnel. The hospitals were staffed by commissioned officer medical professionals of the Royal Air Force Medical Branch, and would serve as a higher tier of medical expertise and treatment above the normal station sick quarters, or later, station medical centre (SMC). The Royal Air Force had many military hospitals within the United Kingdom, along with several RAF hospitals abroad. They were primarily identified by the long-hand official designation Royal Air Force Hospital Nnnnn (where 'Nnnnn' is the geographic location name). This would typically be shortened to RAF Hospital Nnnnn (typically on road signs, in an identical manner to all Royal Air Force stations, aerodromes, and other RAF sites), and would be abbreviated RAF(H) Nnnnn.

The Second World War (WW2) prompted an expansion of RAF hospital facilities and locations: at home in the UK, in Western Europe, and further afield in the Middle East and East Asia. However, at the end of WW2, and the withdrawal by the RAF from the Middle- and Far East, this accelerated many RAF hospital closures. In the early 1990s, the 'thawing' of the Cold War resulted the near-total drawdown of Royal Air Force in West Germany (latterly known collectively as Royal Air Force Germany or RAFG) and the closure (by the RAF) of all RAF airbases. The British Army faced similar reductions in West German locations (known as the British Army of the Rhine or BAOR).

History

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 (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Staffing at Royal Air Force 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 stations or bases. Halton and Cranwell had twenty and twelve medical officers (MO) respectively, whereas the large training bases at Cosford and St Athan only had eight each. The original Royal Air Force 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 nineteen fatalities. 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.

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. By the second half of the 1980s, significant reductions and closures had occurred; the RAF had five military hospitals (three in the United Kingdom, and two abroad; namely Ely, Halton, and Wroughton in the UK, with Akrotiri and Wegberg abroad). 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.

By 1996, all RAF hospitals in the UK and abroad had closed, apart from the hospital at RAF Akrotiri, but by that time, the hospital had been changed into a joint or tri-service asset, rather than strictly just for the Royal Air Force. All three forces in the United Kingdom concentrated their medical services within their bases, and in Ministry of Defence Hospital Units (MDHU), which meant that military medical staff were embedded within NHS public hospitals.

Royal Air Force hospital locations United Kingdom +Royal Air Force hospitals in the United KingdomlocationcoordinatesdatesbedsdetailsrefBridgnorth, England1939 – 1946(?)140 (1940)Situated at RAF Bridgnorth, and looked after basic recruits and the local population.Church Village, WalesSeptember 1942 – April 1946290 (1943)The hospital was located south of Pontypridd to avoid the areas being bombed in South Wales.Cleveleys, EnglandMarch 1943 – October 1945200 (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.Cosford, England1939 – December 1977500 (1940)(Motto: Via ad salutem – )Cranwell, EnglandApril 1918 – June 1940355 (1939)Replaced as a hospital by RAF Hospital Rauceby. Cranwell was reduced to a station sick quarters.Ely, England1939 – 1992185 (1985)The Princess of Wales HospitalEvesham, EnglandAugust 1941 – March 1946378 (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.Finchley, EnglandMay 1919 – June 1925Initially 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.Halton, England31 October 1927 – 31 March 1996180 (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)Haverfordwest, WalesFebruary 1945 – April 1946Short-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.Henlow, England1939 – 1948200 (1939)Hereford, EnglandJune 1940 – November 1947192 (1942)Cared for the service personnel at Hereford, Ludlow, Madley, Newland and Shobdon.Innsworth, EnglandJune 1940 – September 1948117 (1940)Kirkham, EnglandJune 1940 – June 1948270 (1940)Lochnaw, ScotlandJune 1942 – October 1945Originally 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.Locking, England1939 – 1949Based 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).Matlock, EnglandOctober 1939 – May 1945Based 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.Melksham, EnglandJuly 1940 – 1946218 (1943)Morecambe, EnglandFebruary 1940 – April 1944RAF station hospital. Several hotels and large buildings were requisitioned in the Second World War for basic training, driver training, and engine and airframe fitters.Nocton Hall, England1940 – 1983740 (?)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 – ) Northallerton, England1940 – 1947450 (1944)Operated by the RAF, but catered mostly for patients from the Royal Canadian Air Force (No. 6 Group RAF), whose bases were nearby.Padgate, EnglandMay 1939 – 1957110 (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.Rauceby, EnglandJune 1940 – January 1945250 (1940)Took over from RAF Cranwell Hospital in 1940.St Athan, Wales1940 – 1961The 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 madeTorquay, EnglandOctober 1939 – October 1942243 (1940)Used as a convalescent hospital. Was bombed in October 1942 with 19 deaths and multiple injuries.Uxbridge, EnglandJune 1925 – 1972This 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)Weeton, EnglandMay 1940 – December 1959198 (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.West Kirby, England1940 – 1957Wilmslow, EnglandJuly 1940 – December 1958Wroughton, England1941 – 1996280 (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 – )Yatesbury, EnglandFebruary 1949 – December 1947232 (1940)

Overseas