Ramsbury
AirfieldIWM, Roger Freeman Collection
Planned as an RAF operational training station, Ramsbury was allocated while under construction to the Eighth Air Force as a transport base. Built during 1942, it had eventually three concrete runways, 28 pan and 24 loop hardstandings, and two T2 hangars. The 64th Troop Carrier Group, equipped with
C-47s and C-53s, occupied the station from August to November 1942, when it was loaned to the RAF for operational training. Transferred to the Ninth Air Force in October 1943, it was occupied briefly by the 434th and 435th Troop Carrier Groups from December 1943 until January 1944. The 437th Troop Carrier Group, equipped with C-47s, then became resident from February 1944 to February 1945, while the station was also used by other transport units to collect supplies. Although left vacant, the station was kept by IX Troop Carrier Command as a reserve airfield until handed over to the RAF in June 1945. Closed in 1946 but kept as a reserve airfield until the 1950s, the site quickly returned to agriculture after being released. The runways and most other concrete areas were removed during the 1960s, although several wartime buildings remain in use today.
Connections
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People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 437th Troop Carrier Group 84th Troop Carrier Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-822602
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Glider Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 437th Troop Carrier Group 84th Troop Carrier Squadron
- Service Numbers: 34707469
- Highest Rank: Sergeant (RAF)
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 437th Troop Carrier Group 85th Troop Carrier Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38284199
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator (MOS 756)
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 437th Troop Carrier Group 85th Troop Carrier Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-859926
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Electronics Officer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 437th Troop Carrier Group 84th Troop Carrier Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33285855
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: Horsa
- Unit: 437th Troop Carrier Group
- Aircraft Type: Horsa
- Unit: 437th Troop Carrier Group
- Aircraft Type: Horsa
- Unit: 437th Troop Carrier Group 86th Troop Carrier Squadron
- Aircraft Type: Oxford
- Nicknames: Windy Lynn
- Unit: 10th Service Group Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron (10th Service Group)
Revisions
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Ninth Then and Now (London, 1994)
Chris Ashworth, Action Stations 5: Military Airfields of the South-West (London, 1982)