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The RAF have had various aircraft over the years named after the Biblical figure who was “a mighty hunter before the Lord [and]… began to be mighty in the earth”. The first was the Hawker Nimrod, a single-seat biplane fighter aircraft, built in the early 1930s by Hawker Aircraft. It was retired by the start of the Second World War. The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod was a maritime patrol aircraft developed and operated for anti-submarine warfare operations and maritime surveillance and anti-surface warfare, which served from the early 1970s until March 2010. A third, the BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4, was cancelled before any were ever ordered. This road and others in the vicinity are named after aviators and aircraft in a nod to the nearby RAF Northholt. In fact the airfield predates the establishment of the Royal Air Force by almost three years, having opened as an aerodrome in May 1915, making it the oldest RAF base. Originally established for the Royal Flying Corps, it has the longest history of continuous use of any RAF airfield. The station played a key role during the Battle of Britain, when fighters from several of its units, including No 303 Polish Fighter Squadron, engaged enemy aircraft as part of the defence of London.
