Editing Uxbridge (section)

===RAF Uxbridge, Battle of Britain Bunker and Hillingdon House===
[[File:Battle of Britain Bunker - June 2013.jpg|thumb|Replica Spitfire gate guardian beside the Battle of Britain Bunker]]
{{main|RAF Uxbridge|Battle of Britain Bunker|Hillingdon House}}
Uxbridge had a Royal Air Force station, known as RAF Uxbridge, until its closure on 31 March 2010. The station was built within the grounds of [[Hillingdon House]], a 19th-century mansion bought by the British government in 1915,<ref>Crozier 2007, p. 5</ref> and became the home of [[RAF Fighter Command]]'s [[No. 11 Group RAF|No. 11 Group]] Operations Room during the [[Battle of Britain]]. Fighter squadrons at airfields in the south-east of England were directed from the station, which was visited by Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] during the battle, and other foreign leaders throughout the rest of the war.<ref>Crozier 2007, p. 29.</ref>

Following the station's closure, the replica [[No. 33 Squadron RAF|No. 33 Squadron]] [[Supermarine Spitfire]] gate guardian was removed from the main entrance for restoration work and moved to the entrance of the Operations Room (now known as the [[Battle of Britain Bunker]]). The area around the bunker was retained as an enclave under the RAF Uxbridge name, under the care of [[RAF Northolt]]. An additional guardian, a [[Hawker Hurricane]] in the colours of [[No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron|No. 303 (Polish) Squadron]], was added to the area in November 2010.<ref name="RAFGateGuardian">{{cite web |url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/news/archive.cfm?storyid=254B4BBF-5056-A318-A813BB0F6CB4ADE8&rss=true |title=Refurbished Guardian |date=25 November 2010 |publisher=Royal Air Force |access-date=15 March 2011}}.</ref>