Chalgrove Airfield

Chalgrove Airfield

RAF Chalgrove

USAAF Station AAF-465
Chalgrove Airfield; ; RAF Chalgrove; USAAF Station AAF-465
	Chalgrove Airfield - 22 April 1944, about six weeks before D-Day.
	IATA: none; ICAO: EGLJ;
Summary
Airport type	Private
Owner	Leased from the Ministry of Defence
Operator	Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Ltd
Serves	Oxford
Location	Chalgrove, Oxfordshire
Elevation AMSL	240 ft / 73 m
Coordinates	51°40′28″N 001°05′07″W / 51.67444°N 1.08528°W
Map
	EGLJ Location in Oxfordshire
Runways
	Sources: UK AIP at NATS

Chalgrove Airfield (ICAO: EGLJ) is a former Second World War airfield in Oxfordshire, England. The airfield is located approximately 3 mi (4.8 km) north-northeast of Benson; about 42 mi (68 km) north-northwest of London.

Opened in 1943, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used primarily as a combat reconnaissance airfield. After the war it was closed in late 1946.

Today, the airfield is primarily used by the Martin-Baker company for testing Ejection seats.

It was announced on 6 September 2016 that Chalgrove Airfield had been the subject of a Ministerial Transfer from the MoD to the Homes and Communities Agency, with a view to building houses on part of the airfield as part of the South Oxfordshire District Council's Local Plan 2032. This is subject to review and consultation.

History

United States Army Air Forces use

Chalgrove was allocated to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) by the Air Ministry on 1 November 1942. It was known as USAAF Station AAF-465 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location.

USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Chalgrove were:^[2]

30th Service Group (VIII Air Force Service Command)^[3]

493d and 494th Service Squadrons; HHS, 30th Service Group

21st Weather Squadron
324th Station Complement Squadron
40th Mobile Communications Squadron
49th Mobile Reclamation and Repair Squadron
1078th Quartermaster Company
1106th Signal Company
1201st Military Police Company
1464th Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company
2251st Quartermaster Truck Company
2060th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon

10th Reconnaissance Group

The first residents of the airfield was the 10th Reconnaissance Group which arrived from Key Field, Mississippi in January 1944. The group consisted of the following operational squadrons:

15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron
30th Photographic Reconnaissance
31st Photographic Reconnaissance PLEASE DELETE THE 31ST PHOTO RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON FROM THIS ENTRY. THIS SQUADRON WAS LOST WITH THE SINKING OF THE SS PAUL HAMILTON ON 20 APRIL 1944 IN THE MEDITERRANEAN OFF OF ALGERS.
33d Photographic Reconnaissance
34th Photographic Reconnaissance
423d/155th Photographic Reconnaissance

The 30th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron (PRS) arrived in January and early February. The 31st (DELETE), 33rd and 34th PRS became operational at Chalgrove in April.

The primary aircraft flown by the group consisted of photographic versions of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning (F-5) and North American P-51 Mustang (F-6). In addition the unit also flew the Stinson L-1 Vigilant and L-5 Sentinel along with the Piper L-4 Grasshopper light observation aircraft.

In May 1944 the 30th PRS moved to RAF Middle Wallop and it was replaced by the 423rd Night Fighter Squadron with Douglas A-20 Havoc (F-3A) from RAF Charmy Down which was used for night photo reconnaissance. In June the 423d was renamed the 155th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron.

After the invasion the 15th TPRS moved into France first, to the Advanced Landing Ground at Rennes - St-Jacques, France (ALG A-27) on 10 July. The other squadrons of the 10th moved over the next few weeks, the last being the 155th which moved to France in mid-August.

25th Bombardment Group (Reconnaissance)

In August 1944 the 653d Bombardment Squadron of the 25th Bombardment Group based at RAF Watton moved to Chalgrove. The 653d was an Eighth Air Force unit equipped with special weather reconnaissance Mosquito PRXVI's which operated over the waters adjacent to the British Isles and occasionally to the Azores to obtain meteorological data. The squadron also flew over mainland Europe for weather information needed in planning operations. In November 1945 the squadron was inactivated.

7th Reconnaissance Group

In March 1945 the 13th, 14th and 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadrons from the VII Air Service Command 7th Reconnaissance Group moved to Chalgrove from RAF Mount Farm flying P-51 Mustangs (F-6). Fuselage codes were "ES" for the 13th PRS and "G2" for the 22nd. The unit also flew the Stinson L-5 Sentinel light observation aircraft.

The group was inactivated at the 4th Strategic Air Depot (Hitcham) on 21 November 1945.

Royal Air Force use

With the inactivation of the 25th Bomb Group, the USAAF returned the airfield to the RAF on 1 December 1945.

Current use

With the end of military control, Chalgrove Airfield was leased by the MoD to Martin-Baker in July 1946 for development and testing of ejection seats. Today the airfield is surrounded by very high fences and access is restricted. Although most of the hardstands have been removed over the years, all of the runways and perimeter track exist and are still in use by Martin-Baker. Two of the wartime T-2 hangars are in use as part of the airfield and the Monument Industrial Estate site just to the southeast of the airfield contains some old USAAF buildings that were once part of the airfield.

Chalgrove Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P683) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee (Martin-Baker (Engineering) Limited). The aerodrome is not licensed for night use.^[4] Runways 06/24 and 18/36 became unlicensed in 2012.^[5]

In 2016 the Ministry of Defence put the airfield up for sale.^[6]

In popular culture

Chalgrove appeared in an episode of the British TV series The Professionals, the Cessna 172 being used by an escaper supposedly crashing into an airfield building. An episode of the cult series The Prisoner also used Chalgrove, including sequences involving a Martin Baker Gloster Meteor.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

Citations

^ Chalgrove - EGLJ
^ "Chalgrove". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
^ "30th Service Group". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
^ Civil Aviation Authority Aerodrome Ordinary Licences Archived 28 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
^ Pooley's Flight Guide, 2012, p 178 (as amended)
^ "Defence chiefs sell off air fields and even their GOLF COURSES as they scramble to raise £225million". Daily Mail. 7 September 2016.

Bibliography

Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK airfields of the Ninth: then and now, London : Battle of Britain Prints International, ISBN 0-900913-80-0
Maurer, Maurer (1983) Air Force combat units of World War II, Washington, D.C. : Office of Air Force History, ISBN 0-912799-02-1
Truman, Robert (2006) RAF Chalgrove airfield, Control Towers.co.uk, www web site [accessed 30 July 2007]

External links

[aip-1] Chalgrove - EGLJ

[2] "Chalgrove". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 2 March 2015.

[1-3] "30th Service Group". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 2 March 2015.

[4] Civil Aviation Authority Aerodrome Ordinary Licences Archived 28 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine

[5] Pooley's Flight Guide, 2012, p 178 (as amended)

[6] "Defence chiefs sell off air fields and even their GOLF COURSES as they scramble to raise £225million". Daily Mail. 7 September 2016.

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