RAF Stafford

RAF Stafford
RAF Stafford
Stafford, Staffordshire in England
	RAF Stafford's gate guardian, a Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR3, in May 2005
	RAF Stafford Location within Staffordshire
Coordinates	52°49′26″N 2°05′58″W / 52.824°N 2.099322°W
Type	Military storage and distribution centre
Area	165 hectares
Site information
Owner	Ministry of Defence
Operator	Royal Air Force
Condition	Closed
Site history
Built	1938
In use	1938 – 2006
Fate	Transferred to British Army and became Beacon Barracks/MOD Stafford.
Garrison information
Occupants	No. 16 Maintenance Unit

Royal Air Force Stafford or more simply RAF Stafford was a non-flying Royal Air Force station in Stafford, Staffordshire, England.

History

The station was originally established as the home of

No. 16 Maintenance Unit in the 1930s.^[2] It became home to No 2 Mechanical Transport Squadron in 1958.^[3]

In April 2004 it was announced that units from RAF Stafford would be moved to RAF Wittering, effectively closing the station. RAF Stafford officially ceased to be an RAF station on 31 March 2006 to become Beacon Barracks.^[4] However, as of August 2023, the RAF's "gate guardian" aircraft, a Harrier GR3 (pictured), remains in place.^[5]