RAF West Kirby was a Royal Air Force basic training camp near West Kirby, Wirral Peninsula, England. The camp at Larton in Cheshire was actually located 3 miles from West Kirby village from which it took its name. It was set up at the beginning of the Second World War as a basic training camp to train new recruits into the Royal Air Force. It was very first base of most personnel there during the 1940s to 1960 most of whom were newly called up in the rank of AC2 (the very lowest rank in the RAF) for their 2 years National Service in the British armed forces known as a "square bashing camp" in the vernacular.