(FTC) was desperately seeking a suitable airfield to re-house its No. 1 Glider Training School (No. 1 GTS). Its then home was a small airfield at RAF Thame in Buckinghamshire and FTC felt it inadequate for glider training. Several airfields in the near vicinity made the short list, but RAF Croughton became the new home for the gliders. On 19 July 1942, No. 1 GTS began to move in and by 1 August 1942 they were settled into their new home. During this training Hawker Hectors, North American Harvards, and Miles Masters pulled General Aircraft Hotspur gliders, while Douglas Dakotas pulled the larger Airspeed Horsa gliders. With this new mission came a far stricter training regime and standards than that usually found at an RAF training station. The reason for this was the dual roles required of the glider pilots. They would receive twelve weeks of basic flying training, before moving to one of the GTS. Training at the GTS took another twelve weeks. From there they would move onto their operational units. In addition to flying the gliders, pilots had to be as highly trained and disciplined as infantry troops. This way they could make a positive contribution to the battle after landing in the assault areas. However, they would only remain in the assault area until their recovery. By the end of 1942 the RAF thought it had enough trained glider pilots, at least for foreseeable operational need. There was now a large number of trained glider pilots and this led to its own problems and another change in the station's mission. As the last class passed out of RAF Croughton on 24 March 1943, the glider school closed down. It continued to be a training base, but now it was a satellite for Kidlington in Oxfordshire where the No. 20 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit RAF (AFU) gave refresher or advanced training to pilots. Established in 1942, the AFUs provided refresher courses to pilots trained overseas under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. It also gave newly qualified pilots experience with flying in British weather and handling heavier aircraft. With the No. 20 AFU, this meant the Airspeed Oxford. Pilots training with these aircraft knew they were destined for either Bomber or Coastal Command. On 15 April 1943 No. 1538 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF (No.15 BATF) formed at RAF Croughton and added to the station's training mission.