RAF Bisterne
Encyclopedia
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
airfield in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The airfield is located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Ringwood
Ringwood
Ringwood is a historic market town and civil parish in Hampshire, England, located on the River Avon, close to the New Forest and north of Bournemouth. It has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, and has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages....
; about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Opened in March 1944, Bisterne was a prototype for the type of temporary Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...
type airfield which would be built in France after D-Day, when the need advanced landing fields would become urgent as the Allied forces moved east across France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It was used by the United States Army Air Force as a fighter airfield. It was closed in the late summer of 1944.
Today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields with no recognizable remains.
Origins
Bisterne airfield was one of a group of World War II airfields established in the "New Forest" of Hampshire, first surveyed in 1942 and scheduled for construction in 1943. It was not anticipated that the airfield would be used until 1944 by which time the regrowth of grass would help to consolidate the runways. However, to accommodate USAAF Ninth Air Force fighter groups, additional aircraft hardstands, marshalling areas and perimeter track extension were required, the work being completed in January 1944.The USAAF Ninth Air Force required several temporary Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...
(ALG) along the channel coast prior to the June 1944 Normandy invasion
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
to provide tactical air support for the ground forces landing in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Bisterne was a prototype for the type of temporary airfield which would be built in France after D-Day, when the need advanced landing fields would become urgent as the Allied forces moved east across France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It was originally planned to support light bombers and thereby would need a bomb store near the site. However, in a review of airfield building plans, this original requirement was dropped so Bisterne was of similar specification to other ALGs in the district.
Work on the airfield began in the spring of 1943 and two hard earth runways were laid down. The taxiways were covered with wire mesh as were the aircraft dispersal points. Four Blister hangars were erected on the east side of the main strip and facilities for fuel and ammunition storage on the west. Tents were used for billeting and also for support facilities; an access road was built to the existing road infrastructure; a dump for supplies, ammunition, and gasoline drums, along with a drinkable water and minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting.
USAAF use
Bisterne was known as USAAF Station AAF-415 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. It's USAAF Station Code was "BS".371st Fighter Group
Al the end of February 1944, US Army engineers started the erection of a large number of tents along woodland fringes and in fields adjacent to the landing ground and on 7 March the 371st Fighter Group arrived, having disembarked at LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
the previous day. Equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, the 347th FG arrived from Richmond AAF
Richmond International Airport
- Accidents and incidents :*In 1996, Eastwind Airlines Flight 517 from Trenton experienced loss of rudder control while on approach to Richmond, however rudder control was regained shortly after and the aircraft landed normally. There was one minor injury....
Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. Tactical squadrons of the group and squadron fuselage codes were:
- 404th Fighter Squadron (9Q)
- 405th Fighter Squadron (8N)
- 406th Fighter Squadron (4W)
The 371st was a group of Ninth Air Force's 70th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command.
After a hectic period of theatre indoctrination and training, the 371st made a fighter sweep over France. A variety of missions were flown during the rest of April and May, escorts, sweeps and fighter-bombing specified targets, all with little opposition from the enemy.
The more serious problem during this period was the deteriorating state of the Bisterne runways. and the number of blown tires and bent propellers increased as the condition of the metal track became progressively bulged and rutted under the weight of the eight-ton Thunderbolts. Conditions became so bad that on 21 April, the serviceable P-47s were flown to RAF Ibsley
RAF Ibsley
RAF Station Ibsley is a former World War II airfield in Hampshire, England. The airfield is located near the village of Ibsley, approximately north of Ringwood; about southwest of London...
, three miles to the north which had hard-surfaced runways. The air echelon was finally able to resume operations from Bisterne on May 14.
The 371st had their first combat with the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
on 8 May near Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
resulting in two BF 109s being credited as shot down for the loss of one P-47. In another encounter on 20 June during an armed reconnaissance, four enemy aircraft were shot down without loss.
The 371st moved from Bisterne between June 17 and June 29, using both its British base and its assigned Normandy Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...
(ALG) at Beuzeville France (ALG A-6), until 3 July, with the rear party leaving England on 29 June.
During its sojourn at Bisterne. the 371st lost 10 P-47s on operations and three in flying accidents.
On the continent, the 371st FG used the following ALGs providing tactical air support in support of U.S. First Army:
- A-6 Beuzeville, France 3 July 1944
- A-65 Perthes, France 18 September 1944
- Y-7 Dole/Tavaux, France 1 October 1944
- Y-1 Tantonville, France 20 December 1944
- Y-74 Frankfurt/Eschborn, Germany 7 April 1945
- R-10 Furth/Industriehafen, Germany 5 May 1945
The 371st flew its last mission in early May 1945 then moving to Horsching, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
then Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for occupation duty in August. The group returned to the US during October and November 1945, inactivating on 10 November at Camp Shanks, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Post Invasion Military use
In view of its troubled history, and the surplus of UK airfields following the transfer of many RAF and USAAF units to the Continent during the summer of 1944, Bisterne airfield was not used by another flying unit. The facility was de-requisitioned in the late summer of 1944.Civil use
With the facility released from military control, it was cleared of metal tracking, hardcore and hangars. However, it proved impossible to separate the runway tracking from soil and turf so the bulldozers simply pushed it up into a long ridgeline. This was one of the few traces that remained of the airfield in 1946 and traces can still be seen today as thick ridgelines running in a north-south direction, roughly parallel to the edge of the former wartime N/S runway.Today, the land that was once RAF Bisterne is unrecognizable as a former airfield and had returned to farm and pastureland. It is only that by comparing the local farm roads in the area and those same roads in aerial photographs of the airfield when it was active that a precise location of the airfield can be determined.
In 2004 a small memorial was dedicated on the outskirts of a Ringwood farm yard barn at the end of a dusty gravel track as a lasting memorial to the men and machines who flew from the wartime Bisterne airfield.