RAF Holmsley South
Encyclopedia
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. The airfield is located approximately 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
; about 90 miles (144.8 km) southwest of London
Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and United States Army Air Force. During the war it was used primarily as a bomber and later as a transport airfield. After the war it was closed in late 1946.
Today the remains of the airfield are part of a Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
project.
Overview
During the late 1930s, the suitability of the land near Holmsley, west of the A35 had been noted, but it was not until 1942 that construction of an airfield to the Class A airfieldClass A airfield
Class A airfields were military installations originally built for the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. Several were transferred to the U.S...
standard commenced, consisting of three converging runways each containing a concrete runway for takeoffs and landings, optimally placed at 60 degree angles to each other in a triangular pattern.
The airfield consisted of three runways of 5,910 ft (07/25), 4,200 ft (12/30), and 4,110 ft (18/36). 35 "Frying Pan" hardstands were constructed along with three "Loop" type connecting to an enclosing perimeter track, of a standard width of 50 feet.
The ground support station was constructed largely of Nissen hut
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...
s of various sizes. The support station was where the group and ground station commanders and squadron headquarters and orderly rooms were located. Also on the ground station were where the mess facilities; chapel; hospital; mission briefing and debriefing; armoury and bombsite storage; life support; parachute rigging; supply warehouses; station and airfield security; motor pool and the other ground support functions necessary to support the air operations of the group. These facilities were all connected by a network of single path support roads.
The technical site, connected to the ground station and airfield consisted of at least two T-2 type hangars and various organizational, component and field maintenance shops along with the crew chiefs and other personnel necessary to keep the aircraft airworthy and to quickly repair light and moderate battle damage. Aircraft severely damaged in combat were sent to repair depots for major structural repair. The Ammunition dump was located outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens for storing the aerial bombs and the other munitions required by the combat aircraft.
Various domestic accommodation sites were constructed dispersed away from the airfield, but within a mile or so of the technical support site, also using clusters of Maycrete or Nissen huts. The Huts were either connected, set up end-to-end or built singly and made of prefabricated corrugated iron with a door and two small windows at the front and back. They provided accommodation for 2,963 personnel, including communal and a sick quarters.
RAF use
As with nearby RAF BeaulieuRAF Beaulieu
RAF Station Beaulieu was a World War II airfield in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It was also known as Beaulieu airfield, Beaulieu aerodrome and USAAF Station AAF 408...
, as soon as the runways, perimeter track and basic control and refuelling facilities were available, RAF Coastal Command moved in. In the case of RAF Holmsley South, the first aircraft to operate from its runways were the B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
s of the USAAF's 93rd Bombardment Group, transferred from RAF Alconbury
RAF Alconbury
RAF Alconbury is an active Royal Air Force station in Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is adjacent to the Stukeleys [Great and Little] and located about northwest of Huntingdon; about north of London....
, which were enlisted to help with the necessity of reducing U-Boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
activity in the Bay of Biscay
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Brest south to the Spanish border, and the northern coast of Spain west to Cape Ortegal, and is named in English after the province of Biscay, in the Spanish...
prior to Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
, the North African landings.
At the same time in October 1942 No. 547 Squadron, RAF. was formed at the station to operate Vickers Wellington
Vickers Wellington
The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...
in the anti-shipping role. Nos. 58 and 502 Squadrons with Handley Page Halifax
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
es soon took over the airfield and the task, remaining until December 1943 when Holmsley was required for units involved in the Cross-Channel invasion
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
planned for the following spring. Canadian Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
squadrons replaced by Hawker Typhoon
Hawker Typhoon
The Hawker Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. While the Typhoon was designed to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, and a direct replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, several design problems were encountered, and the Typhoon never completely satisfied...
squadrons were the occupants before D-Day and, when they moved to the Continent, North American P-51 Mustangs
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
arrived.
USAAF use
Holmsley South was known as USAAF Station AAF-455 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 "HM".394th Bombardment Group
The urgent requirement of IX Bomber Command to extend the radius of action of part of its Martin B-26 MarauderB-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
force found the 394th Bomb Group relocating to Holmsley from RAF Boreham
RAF Boreham
With the facility released from military control, in 1946, the West Essex Car Club developed the 4.76 kilometre perimeter track for motor racing. Although not on the official Grand Prix calendar, Boreham Racing Circuit hosted competitive races between 1949 and 1952. Among the teams that raced at...
between 24 and 28 July 1944. Operational squadrons of the group were:
- 584th Bomb Squadron384th Air Refueling SquadronThe 384th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 22d Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. It operates the KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting aerial refueling missions.-History:...
(K5) - 585th Bomb Squadron (4T)
- 586th Bomb Squadron586th Flight Test SquadronThe 586th Flight Test Squadron is part of the 46th Test Wing based at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. -Overview:The 586th Flight Test Squadron plans, analyzes, coordinates and conducts flight tests of advanced weapons and avionics systems primarily on the White Sands Missile Range .It...
(H9) - 587th Bomb Squadron (5W)
There was no break in operations at this critical period when the Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô is a commune in north-western France, the capital of the Manche department in Normandy.-History:Originally called Briovère , the town is built on and around ramparts. Originally it was a Gaul fortified settlement...
offensive was underway. The 394th received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its work during the period August 7 to 9, when it made a series of attacks against heavily-defended targets, destroying four rail bridges and devastating an ammunition dump.
It was during a bridge attack on 9 August that the Lead B-26. piloted by Captain Darrell Lindsey, was hit by flak and the right engine set alight. Although knowing that the fuel tanks were likely to catch fire and explode, Lindsey did not waver from leading the bomb run or order his crew to bail out until after bombs had been released. The bombardier offered to lower the nosewheel so that Lindsey might escape through the nose hatch but, knowing the likelihood of his losing control if this was done, Lindsey ordered the bombardier to jump. Lindsey did not escape before the aircraft crashed.
The award of a posthumous Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
was the only occasion that this highest US award for bravery went to a Ninth Air Force bomber crewman living in the ETO. All told, six 394th B-26s were lost in operations from Holmsley South. The group's aircraft began to move to the airfield at Tour-en-Bessin
Tour-en-Bessin
Tour-en-Bessin is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-World War II:After the liberation of the area by Allied Forces in 1944, engineers of the Ninth Air Force IX Engineering Command began construction of a combat Advanced Landing Ground outside...
in France (A-13) on 21 August and the last personnel left Holmesley South on the 31st.
On the continent the group hit strong points at Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
and then began to operate against targets in Germany. Took part in the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, December 1944-January 1945, by hitting communications to deprive the enemy of supplies and reinforcements. Bombed transportation, storage facilities, and other objectives until the war ended; also dropped propaganda leaflets.
By VE-Day
Victory in Europe Day
Victory in Europe Day commemorates 8 May 1945 , the date when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The formal surrender of the occupying German forces in the Channel Islands was not...
, the 394th was based at Venlo
Venlo
Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, next to the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg.In 2001, the municipalities of Belfeld and Tegelen were merged into the municipality of Venlo. Tegelen was originally part of the Duchy of Jülich centuries ago,...
(Y-55) in the southeastern Netherlands. The group remained in the theater to serve with United States Air Forces in Europe
United States Air Forces in Europe
The United States Air Forces in Europe is the United States Air Force component of U.S. European Command, a Department of Defense unified command, and is one of two Air Force Major Commands outside of the continental United States, the other being the Pacific Air Forces...
as part of the army of occupation at Kitzingen
Kitzingen
Kitzingen is a town in the German state of Bavaria, capital of the district Kitzingen. It is part of Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants.Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County is the largest wine producer in Bavaria...
, Germany. It was transferred, without personnel and equipment, to the United States on 15 February 1946 and was inactivated on 31 March 1946.
Postwar RAF Transport Command use
Reverting to the RAF, Holmsley South was taken over by Transport Command, first by No. 167 Squadron with its Vickers WarwickVickers Warwick
The Vickers Warwick was a multi-purpose British aircraft used during the Second World War. Built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands, Surrey, the Warwick was used by the Royal Air Force as a transport, air-sea rescue and maritime reconnaissance platform, and by the civilian British Overseas...
and then the Liberators, Halifaxes and Avro York
Avro York
The Avro York was a British transport aircraft that was derived from the Second World War Lancaster heavy bomber, and used in both military and airliner roles between 1943 and 1964.-Design and development:...
s of No. 246 Squadron. Between April and October 1945. No. 246 had three Douglas C-54 Skymasters
C-54 Skymaster
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster was a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces and British forces in World War II and the Korean War. Besides transport of cargo, it also carried presidents, British heads of government, and military staff...
on its strength but by the end of the year its main type was the York. By October 1946, all flying had ceased and the airfield was reduced to caretaker status.
Civil use
With the facility released from military control in 1946, Holmsley South has since stood derelict and, while a few odd parts of the runways and a few dispersal points remain, the vast majority of the concreted areas have been removed along with the buildings around the airfield leaving a large open area. Some other areas have been planted with conifers by the Forestry CommissionForestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
. Several public camping sites and a caravan park have been created on the former hardstanding groupings along the northeast side of the main perimeter track, as well as both sides of the former 07 runway on the southwest of the airfield.