Stirling Lines is a British Army garrison in Credenhill, Herefordshire; the headquarters of the 22 Special Air Service Regiment (22 SAS), Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) and 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment. The site was formerly a Royal Air Force (RAF) non-flying station for training schools, known as RAF Credenhill.[2][3]
| Stirling Lines | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Near Credenhill, Herefordshire, in England | |||||||
 A Dauphin II of No. 658 Squadron based at Stirling Lines | |||||||
  Stirling Lines Location in Herefordshire | |||||||
| Coordinates | 52°05′06″N 002°47′42″W / 52.08500°N 2.79500°W | ||||||
| Grid reference | SO454428 | ||||||
| Type | Army barracks | ||||||
| Area | 392 hectares (970 acres) | ||||||
| Site information | |||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||
| Operator | British Army | ||||||
| Controlled by | Special Air Service | ||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||
| Site history | |||||||
| Built | 1939 (as RAF Credenhill) | ||||||
| In use | 1939 – 1994 (RAF) 1999 – present (British Army) | ||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||
| Occupants | |||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: EGVH | ||||||
| Elevation | 240 metres (787 ft) AMSL | ||||||
| |||||||
| Source: UK Military AIP[1] | |||||||
History
editIn 1958, the Special Air Service (SAS) was temporarily based at Merebrook Camp in Malvern, Worcestershire, a former emergency military hospital that had remained largely unused since 1945.[4] In 1960, the SAS moved to a former Royal Artillery boys' training unit, Bradbury Lines in Hereford, which was renamed in 1984 to Stirling Lines in honour of the regiment's founder, Lieutenant Colonel David Stirling.[2] In 1994, the RAF ceased using RAF Credenhill; the Army then obtaining the site to redevelop as a new base for the SAS; works commenced in 1997.[2] The SAS commenced relocation of staff and equipment to Credenhill from Hereford with the redevelopment of the site. The move was completed in May 1999.[2] On 30 September 2000, the official opening ceremony was held for the new Stirling Lines with the clock tower re-erected on the new parade ground.[2][4] The Hereford site was sold to a property developer in March 2001.[5]
Based units
editThe following units are based at Stirling Lines:[6][7]
- 22 Special Air Service Regiment
- A Squadron
- B Squadron
- D Squadron
- G Squadron
- Special Reconnaissance Regiment
- 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment
- 264 (SAS) Signal Squadron
- 267 (SSR) Signal Squadron
- 268 (Support Squadron) Signal Squadron
- 63 (Reserves) Signal Squadron
- 658 Squadron AAC – Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin II
References
edit- ^ No 1 Aeronautical Information Documents Unit. "AD 3 EGVH - Hereford" (PDF). United Kingdom Military Aeronautical Information Publication. Royal Air Force. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e Goodwin, Nicola (6 May 2010). "SAS: Troopers tell their stories". BBC News. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ "RAF Hereford (Credenhill) - RAF Stations - H". Air of Authority - A History of RAF Organisation. M B Barrass. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ a b Bennett, Richard M. (2003). Elite forces : an encyclopedia of the world's most formidable secret armies. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 9781852279745.
- ^ "Former SAS site plan set to impact". Hereford Times. 9 October 2003. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- ^ Coughlin, Con (30 January 2013). "The SAS: a very special force". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ^ "Special forces regiment created". BBC News. 5 April 2005. Retrieved 19 November 2017.