RAF Belton Park & RAF Alma Park
Location:
Dates of Operation:
Belton House: close to the A607
Alma Park: close to the B6403 road (Ermine
Street)
1941 to 1946 – RAF Regiment HQ
& training bases
Two stately homes close
to Grantham, Belton House
and Alma House (later
demolished), have proud
connections to the Royal
Air Force Regiment;
a unit with its origins
in Iraq during the
1920s and the
formation of No 1
Squadrons / Units:
Armoured Car
Royal Air Force Regiment
Company.
At the
outbreak
of World
War II
the RAF
12
conducted its own airfield
defence and security but the
risk of invasion saw around
14,000 troops deployed to help
defend airfields.
In autumn 1941 the Air
Ministry requisitioned Alma
House and established an HQ
for this new RAF unit, with first
training sessions in the grounds
of RAF Alma Park. The RAF
Regiment was officially formed
by Royal Warrant on 1st
February 1942, but outgrew the
space at Alma Park and moved
to nearby Belton House, to be
known as RAF Belton Park and
widely accepted as being the
first RAF Regiment Depot.
The regiment soon relieved
the Army of airfield security
duties, adopting the two
thousand series for its
squadron numbers, ranging
from 2701 to 2850. It grew
to 80,000 men with 280