RAF Winkton
RAF Winkton USAAF Station AAF-414 | |
---|---|
Located Near Bransgore, Hampshire, United Kingdom | |
Coordinates | 50°46′37″N 001°46′2″W / 50.77694°N 1.76722°W |
Type | Military airfield |
Code | WT |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
Site history | |
Built | 1943 |
In use | 1943-1945 |
Battles/wars | European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | Ninth Air Force |
Occupants | 404th Fighter Group |
Royal Air Force Winkton or more simply RAF Winkton is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground previously in Hampshire but now, due to County boundary changes, in Dorset, England. The airfield is located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Christchurch; about 89 miles (143 km) southwest of London, and is named after the nearby hamlet of Winkton.
Although complete by September 1943 Winkton opened in March 1944 with Sommerfeld Mesh runways and pierced steel planking perimeter tracks, and was the prototype for the type of temporary Advanced Landing Ground type airfield that would be built in France after D-Day, when the need for advanced landing fields would become urgent as the Allied forces moved east across France and Germany. It was used by British, Dominion and the United States Army Air Forces. It was closed in July 1944, when the mesh runways were lifted for use on the Continent, and immediately returned to agriculture.
Today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields with no recognizable remains.
History
USAAF use
While under USAAF control, Winkton was known as USAAF Station AAF-414 for security reasons, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its Station-ID was "WT", Radio-Callsign "Drainsink"
404th Fighter Group
RAF Winkton saw the arrival of the USAAF 404th Fighter Group on 4 April 1944, the group arriving from Myrtle Beach AAF, South Carolina. The 404th had the following operational squadrons:
- 506th Fighter Squadron (4K)
- 507th Fighter Squadron (Y8)
- 508th Fighter Squadron (7J)
The 404th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 84th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command. It flew the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. On 6 July the 404th moved across the Channel to its Advanced Landing Ground at Chippelle (ALG A-5), France.
Current use
With the Americans moving to France, Winkton airfield was closed down and returned to agricultural use in July 1944. In January 1945, the airfield was officially closed. Today, the land is unrecognizable as a former airfield, and can only be located by comparing the road network on aerial photographs taken when the airfield was active to the current network.
In 2009, there exists a private grass runway owned by Mr.I.C.Reid, who hangars his Tiger Moth biplane there.
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Citations
Bibliography
- Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle ISBN 0-900913-80-0
- Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle ISBN 1-85409-272-3
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
External links
Media related to RAF Winkton at Wikimedia Commons