This initial name referred to its location near the village of Bury and the larger market town of Ramsey.

75 Squadron flying BE.2 aircraft out of nearby RAF Elmswell, Suffolk, used the station as a night-landing ground and satellite field.

The major expansion of the Royal Air Force announced in 1934 resulted in many new airfields opening over the remainder of the decade.

During their time at Upwood, No 52 and 63 Squadrons became training units and took on both Fairey Battle and Avro Anson aircraft.

On 1 February 1941 a German spy, Josef Jakobs, was captured by farmers after he had parachuted into the area, breaking a leg in the process.

[1] He was discovered to have maps of the RAF Upwood area, a code device and almost £500 cash in his possession.

[1] Since its opening in 1937, Upwood had seen frequent periods where flying operations had to be curtailed or halted altogether due to the grass airfield being unserviceable.

When No 17 OTU was chosen for transition to Vickers Wellington bombers, it was decided to move the unit from Upwood as the field would never take the pounding from these heavier aircraft.

Lincolns from 148 Squadron deployed to RAF Shallufa in January 1952 to reinforce British units in the Suez Canal Zone.

The company used three Lancasters in making the film but the background shots are of the four Squadrons of Lincolns and the film uses much of the airfield and buildings in its production showing a good view of Upwood at that time On 31 December 1954 Upwood lost one of its four flying units when No.

This squadron brought something completely new to the base in the form of their English Electric Canberra jet bombers.

The next two years saw a series of unit disbandments and arrivals culminating in a slow winding down of flying operations at Upwood.

35 Squadron Upwood was transferred to RAF Strike Command who quickly set about transforming the airfield into a hub of various support activities.

Over the next several months the station became home to No 4 Ground Radio Servicing Section, Radio Technical Publications Squadron, the Aeromedical Training Centre, the Joint School of Photographic Interpretation and three squadrons of HQ No 33 Field Wing, RAF Regiment.

In March 1964, 22 Group of Technical Training Command arrived and set up their School of Management and Work Study.

With the end of RAF use of the station in 1981, the United States Air Force was given control of Upwood by the Ministry of Defence.

USAF airmen from RAF Alconbury had been living in the Upwood housing area since the mid-1970s, however when the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing took over as the host unit in December 1981, it started a whole new round of activity.

Also in 1986, a multimillion-dollar medical facility was opened to provide out-patient services to American military members and dependents in the area.

With the end of the Cold War in 1991, and the phasedown of RAF Alconbury beginning in 1994, the USAF activities at Upwood were curtailed.

RAF Upwood was returned to the British government control in September 1995 and with the number of airmen assigned to the area reduced, the need for housing became less and less.

The squadron operated a medical complex which housed out-patient and dental care facilities for active-duty, dependents of active duty, Department of Defense civilians, and retired military personnel stationed in the Tri-base area.

In 1999 the entire NCO married quarter estate including both pre war and post housing and the former NAAFI building were sold to Roger Byron-Collins' the Welbeck Estate Group and were renamed Fairmead Park and underwent a major upgrading.

Since 1982, the Nene Valley Gliding Club[5] has conducted its glider operations from a field that occupies the site of the old runways.

In 2004 Turbine Motor Works purchased a large amount of property on the former base including the four C-type hangars.

Together with the Nene Valley Gliding Club and the Air Cadet Squadron, this facility will ensure that the former RAF base will continue its aviation legacy well into the 21st century.

[4] For a number of years, the site was home to the Ramsey 1940s Weekend, an event dedicated to recreating the sights and sounds of the 1940s.

The weekend features living history re-enactors, period dancing, food, exhibitions and trade stands.

The American medical wing was disused as of early 2013, and was demolished over the period of September/October 2015 to make way for private housing.

In 2017, it was the setting for the pop video Angry Emoticon by Brendan Kavanagh, featuring Terry Miles.

[7] In season 4, episode 3 of the American television series Breaking Bad, "Open House", Marie Schrader dishonestly tells an elderly couple whose real-estate open house she is about to steal from that she lived in London for years.