Welcome to the RAF Cardington website.

Hello. Welcome to the RAF Cardington website. Located two miles south of Bedford, Bedfordshire the station was opened in 1936 and finally closed in 2000. RAF Cardington was home to several Units during its existance but it is mostly remembered for its Recruitment Centres, Balloon Units, and Maintenance Unit producing gas cylinders. RAF Cardington was also used as a demob station for personnel returning from wartime service in 1945. During the Second World War approximately 8,000 personnel worked on the station at any given time and it is estimated that over 250,000 recruits passed through its gates. However there is much more to the story – Parachute Units, Polish and Dutch Units and many others have made an appearance over the years.

If you have any details/stories/photographs of the station please make contact I would love to hear from you. Thank you

Jane Harvey.

Updates January 2019

The new year has brought some lovely additions to this website with four new pages so please take a look.

Two pages have been added to the RAF Cardington 1936 – 1938 section. Sent in by Brendan Markland is an extract from the memoirs of his father Arthur Markland who was a young recruit at the station in 1938. Priceless to us! Thank you Brendan. The second additional page is an extract from the Air Force List for 1938 which lists the heads and branches operating at the station at the time. Perhaps you recognise a name?.
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The third new page is a group photograph dated July 1939 sent in from Elizabeth Paffey which includes her father Peter Kavanagh – on the back are signatures of all the men (except her father!). She has also sent in his Airman’s Record of Kit (two pages) which outlines the type of kit that could be issued to RAF recruits. These documents are rare to find and are a wonderful addition to this site – find out more in the RAF Cardington 1939-1945 section. Thank you so much for these Elizabeth!
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The fourth new page is found in the RAF Cardington 1939-1945 section and
shows details of Alfred William Lister and his future wife WAAF Mabel Elsie Twiddy who were both at the station in 1942. Their story can be found in the A
Lister and M Twiddy page. Thank you so much Wendy!
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In another area there is an update from Damian McKee who had originally made contact over 6 years ago with photos and information about his father Terence McKee. Damian has sent in photos of his father’s war medals and a very moving document sent to returning prisoners of war in Japan from King George VI. Find these in the No 2 School of Recruits page in the Units section.
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And finally please go to the Request for Information section as there are further entries. Maybe you can help?

Emblem of MU217 RAF Cardington

A sign of the times - a road sign which will probably be taken down soon.