Wethersfield

Airfield
Aerial photograph of Wethersfield airfield looking south the bomb dump is at the bottom of the airfield, the main runway runs horizontally, 16 January 1947. Photograph taken by No. 82 Squadron, sortie number RAF/CPE/UK/1922. English Heritage (RAF Photography). eh-531.jpg RAF_CPE_UK_1922_RP_3098 Aerial photograph of Wethersfield airfield looking south the bomb dump is at the bottom of the airfield, the main runway runs horizontally, 16 January 1947. Photograph taken by No. 82 Squadron, sortie number RAF/CPE/UK/1922. English Heritage (RAF Photography). Historic England

IWM, English Heritage Collection

Object Number - RAF_CPE_UK_1922_RP_3098 - Aerial photograph of Wethersfield airfield looking south the bomb dump is at the bottom of the airfield, the main runway runs horizontally, 16...

Planned in 1942 as an Eighth Air Force bomber base, Wethersfield was then supposed to be loaned to the RAF in 1943, but was re-allocated to the Ninth Air Force by the time it was complete. Built during 1943-44, it had three concrete runways, 49 loop plus one pan hardstandings, and two dispersed T2 hangars. The 416th Bomb Group, equipped with A-20s, occupied the station from February to September 1944, when it was handed over to the RAF. It was used briefly in March 1945 by the 316th Troop Carrier Group, equipped with C-47s, for Operation Varsity, the crossing of the river Rhine. Placed on Care and Maintenance in 1946, the station was dormant until the early 1950s, when the main runway was lengthened and the airfield improved. It was an operational USAFE base from 1952 to 1970, and then a reserve airfield until 1993, when it became the HQ and training centre of the MOD Police (MDGPA Wethersfield). Since 1982, the airfield has also been the home of No. 614 Volunteer Gliding Squadron.

Connections

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People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 670th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 20520043
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Aviation Ordnance Officer
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 671st Bomb Squadron 2911th Bomb Squadron (Provisional)
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 671st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 33464270
  • Highest Rank: Technician Third Grade
  • Role/Job: Aerial Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 670th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-25973
  • Highest Rank: Major
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 671st Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-749745
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier/Navigator

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: A-20 Havoc
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 671st Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: A-20 Havoc
  • Nicknames: Irish
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 669th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: A-20 Havoc
  • Nicknames: Snooks
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 668th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: A-20 Havoc
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 668th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: A-20 Havoc
  • Unit: 416th Bomb Group 669th Bomb Squadron

Revisions

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Manual (London, 2001)

Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Ninth Then and Now (London, 1994)

Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDPGA_Wethersfield

http://www.614vgs.co.uk/

Wethersfield: Gallery (63 items)