RAF Beaulieu
| Royal Air Force Beaulieu USAAF Station AAF-408
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|---|---|
| Located Near Beaulieu, Hampshire, England | |
 Beaulieu airfield on 4 March 1944, just after the 365th Fighter Group arrived. |
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| Type | Military airfield |
| Coordinates | 50°48′27″N 001°30′17″W / 50.8075°N 1.50472°W |
| Location code | BU ? |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942-1959 |
| Controlled by | Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces |
| Garrison | RAF Bomber Command Ninth Air Force |
| Occupants | No 224 Squadron RAF No 311 Squadron RAF No 53 Squadron RAF 365th Fighter Group 323d Bombardment Group |
| Battles/wars | European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 
 RAF Beaulieu, shown within Hampshire
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RAF Station Beaulieu was a World War II airfield in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It was also known as Beaulieu airfield, Beaulieu aerodrome and USAAF Station AAF 408. It is located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the village of Beaulieu and 5 miles (8.0 km) east-northeast of Lymington.
Opened on Saturday 8 August 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and then later United States Army Air Force. During the war it was used as a bomber and fighter airfield. After the war, it was used for experimental work before it was closed in 1959.
Today the remains of the airfield are on heathland managed by the Forestry Commission. Areas of the old airfield are now designated as a flying area for model aircraft.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
An airfield at Beaulieu had been used as a landing ground as early as 1910 and was taken over by the military for flying training during the First World War. In the inter-war years, it was not considered suitable for enlargement to meet the requirements of the RAF during its expansion in the late 1930s. Nevertheless. with the fall of France in 1940 and the need for more airfields in the southern counties, the site was again reviewed but passed over in favour of a much more suitable area about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west of the original aerodrome.
The new airfield opened as a Class A bomber airfield main feature of which was a set of three intersecting concrete runways placed at 60 degree angles to each other in a triangular pattern. Its runways included a main of 5,900 feet (1,800 m) (10/28), 4,100 feet (1,200 m) (04/22), and 4,098 feet (1,249 m) (16/34). 50 "frying pan" hardstandings were constructed connecting to an enclosing perimeter track, of a standard width of 50 feet (15 m).
The station was constructed largely of Nissen huts of various sizes. This was where the group and ground station commanders, squadron headquarters and orderly rooms were located. Also on the ground station were where the mess facilities; chapel; hospital; mission briefing and debriefing; armoury and bomb dump; life support; parachute store; supply hut; station and airfield security; motor transport and the other ground support functions necessary to support the air operations of the group. These facilities were all connected by a network of single path support roads.
The technical site, connected to the ground station and northwest side of the airfield consisted of various organisational, component and field maintenance shops along with two T-2 type aircraft hangars, one at the site, the other on the south side of the airfield at a cluster of dispersal pads connected to the perimeter track. This is where the ground crew and other personnel necessary to keep the aircraft airworthy were located, whose mission was to repair the aircraft. Aircraft severely damaged in combat were dismantled and transported to depots for major structural repair. The ammunition dump was located outside of the perimeter track, surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens for storage of bombs and ammunitions.
A number domestic accommodation sites were dispersed away from the airfield, within a mile or so of the technical support site, also using clusters of Maycrete or Nissen huts. These huts were either connected, set up end-to-end or built singly and made of prefabricated corrugated iron with a door and two small windows at the front and back. They provided accommodation for 2,197 servicemen, including communal facilities and a sick quarters.
[edit] RAF Bomber Command use
The pressing wartime need for additional airfields led to the re-evaluation of the site and the eventual development of airfield in 1942. As as soon as the runways and perimeter track were completed, an RAF Consolidated Liberator squadron, No. 224. moved in, such was the critical situation with U-Boats in the Bay of Biscay.
Seven weeks after No 224 Squadron arrived, it was joined in its anti-submarine work by Handley Page Halifaxes of Bomber Command on loan to Coastal. Then, when the Halifax was withdrawn in March 1943, more Liberators arrived.
No 224 Squadron departed in April 1943, its place being taken by No 311 Squadron a Czech-manned unit, which was joined by No 53 Squadron in September 1943. Coastal Command left Beaulieu early in 1944 as the airfield was required for squadrons of the Second Tactical Air Force supporting the forthcoming invasion of the Continent.
RAF Hawker Typhoon squadrons then operated from the airfield although plans were already in hand to turn Beaulieu over to the USAAF.
[edit] USAAF use
Beaulieu was known as USAAF Station AAF 408 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its USAAF Station Code/Pundit Code was "BU".
[edit] 365th Fighter Group
From 1 March 1944 Beaulieu airfield was made available for USAAF Ninth Air Force use. With the imminent arrival of more bomber groups in Essex the 365th Fighter Group was transferred from RAF Gosfield on th 5 and 6 March 1944.
The 365th was a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt group, with the following operational squadrons:
- 386th Fighter Squadron (D5)
- 387th Fighter Squadron (B4)
- 388th Fighter Squadron (C4)
The 365th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 84th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command.
The group was stood down three days after arrival so that it could undertake a two-week intensive course in ground attack and fighter-bombing. After training, the 365th flew dive-bombing missions to attack such targets as bridges, aerodromes, rail facilities, gun positions, and V-weapon sites prior to the invasion of the Continent.
On D-Day, its duties were attacking gun emplacements and communications facilities behind the bridgehead. Two P-47s were lost. On the following day, when 12 separate squadron-sized missions were flown, five aircraft failed to return.
On 9 June 1944 an unusual accident occurred. Two P-47s were being delivered to Beaulieu by ferry pilots, and they landed on different runways at the same time, colliding at the runway intersection. Unfortunately one of the pilots were killed.
The 365th was one of the most successful P-47 groups of the Ninth Air Force when it came to air combat, and a total of 29 enemy aircraft were credited as shot down during the four months the group operated from Beaulieu. On 25 June, the 365th had one of its best days when eight enemy fighter-bombers were destroyed. On 2 July, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Corey Junior, the Air Executive, became the Ninth Air Force's third Thunderbolt ace. As with other P-47 groups, losses were modest until June when ground attack became a regular task. All told, 24 P-47s were missing-in-action during their stay at Beaulieu.
The 365th Group began its move to Europe on 21 June 1944, the first squadron taking up residence at Azeville, France (A-71) on 26 June, the last moving out of Beaulieu on 28 June and the rear party on 2 July providing tactical air support in support of U.S. First Army.
[edit] 323d Bombardment Group
Between 1 and 21 July the Martin B-26 Marauders of the 323rd Bombardment Group arrived From RAF Earls Colne, a move designed to extend their range over western France. The group was assigned to the 3d Bombardment Wing with a Horizontal white tail band for its group marking. Operational squadrons of the 323d were:
- 453d Bombardment Squadron (VT)
- 454th Bombardment Squadron (RJ)
- 455th Bombardment Squadron (YU)
- 456th Bombardment Squadron (WT)
Within a few days. over 60 B-26s were in residence and operations were well under way. During the following five weeks. 28 missions were flown from Beaulieu without loss, although one B-26 crash-landed near the airfield after running out of fuel.
Between the 16 and 26 of August the 323rd moved to Lessay airfield in France (A-20), the main movement of aircraft taking place on the 26th August 1944.
[edit] Postwar military use
Following the move of the Americans to France, Beaulieu was then used as a staging or refuelling post for aircraft passing to and from Continental bases. Control was returned to the RAF in late September. At the time, Beaulieu was under consideration for enlargement as a heavy bomber airfield, although this came to nothing.
In December 1944 the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AFEE) moved to the airfield where it remained for nearly six years using a variety of aircraft. The AFEE was involved in experimental work with glider towing and parachute drops which used the old East Boldre Airfield site on the far side of the Lymington-Beaulieu road as a drop zone.
In September 1950 the AFEE moved out to RAF Boscombe Down and the airfield was without any flying units. Beaulieu was placed under Care and Maintenance status and was then declared inactive. On 1 April 1953 control passed once again to the United States Air Force and the facility was upgraded, but in the event no further flying units arrived.
Finally, on 8 September 1955 Beaulieu airfield was handed back to the Air Ministry, in whose care it remained until November 1959 when they relinquished control of the land.
[edit] Civil use
With the facility released from military control, it once again became part of the New Forest Crown lands managed by the Forestry Commission. Half a century on from its use as a military airfield, the vast majority of the concreted areas of the airfield have been removed and returned to heathland, although the former locations of the runways along with the perimeter track are all clearly identifiable in aerial photography.
A small section of the eastern end of the 27/09 main runway near the Lymington road is still concreted and used as a runway, pit and pilot control area for model aircraft. The connecting length of the eastern perimeter road is used as a cycle track. No buildings around the airfield area exist although the old water tower still stands to the north west of the airfield on Roundhill campsite, a Forestry Commission site which uses part of the old access roads of the airfield. Small parts of the former airfield are now covered with conifers.
[edit] Model Flying
By means of permit to fly (currently £5 per annum), model aircraft are flown on a regular basis at this site. Provided acceptable weather, model pilots will be found every day at the site, Sunday mornings being particularly popular. There are separate flying areas set aside for radio controlled flight and free flight. Flyers are required to adhere to the Beaulieu Model Flying Committee rules and to those of the Forestry Commission.
[edit] Directions
From Lymington, proceed northeast on the B3054 about 5 miles to the access road to the airfield campground on the left.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
- Dorr, Robert F., and Thomas D. Jones. "Hell Hawks: The Untold Story of American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht." St Paul: Zenith Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7603-2918.
- Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle ISBN 0900913800
- Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle ISBN 1854092723
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
- USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present
- British Automobile Association (AA), (1978), Complete Atlas of Britain, ISBN 0-86145-005-1
[edit] External links
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