RAF Kings Cliffe
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 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 field is located near Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire
Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire
Kings Cliffe is a village and civil parish in East Northamptonshire, England, between Corby and Peterborough.It once had its own railway station, which is now closed.-Population:...
, 12 miles west of Peterborough
Peterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
in Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
. Originally the airfield was grass-surfaced but hard-surfaced runways and a perimeter track were laid down early in 1943.
USAAF use
Kings Cliffe was assigned USAAF designation Station 367. It was the most northerly and furthest west of all Eighth Air Force fighter stations. It was in the 1st Air Division heavy bomber base area and more than fifty miles west of any other fighter bases. In spite of the reduced range of escort flights operating from such a westerly airfield, there does not appear to have been any attempt to move the Group to another site nearer the coast347th Fighter Squadron
While still under construction, Kingscliffe received its first American units in December 1942 when a few P-39 Airacobras of the 347th Fighter Squadron of the 350th Fighter Group based at RAF Duxford were briefly based there.56th Fighter Group
In January 1943 the 56th Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Force's Eighth Air ForceEighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
arrived at Kings Cliffe from Bridgeport AAF
Bridgeport
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut.Bridgeport may also refer to:-Places:In Canada:* Bridgeport, Nova ScotiaIn the United States:* Bridgeport, Alabama* Bridgeport, California, in Mono County...
Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
with the 347th FS returning to Duxford. The group was under the command of the 67th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command
VIII Fighter Command
The VIII Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, being stationed at RAF Honington, England. It was inactivated on 20 March 1946....
.
The group consisted of the following squadrons:
- 61st Fighter Squadron61st Fighter SquadronThe 61st Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the 56th Operations Group, at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona...
(HV) - 62d Fighter Squadron62d Fighter SquadronThe 62d Fighter Squadron is part of the 56th Operations Group at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting advanced fighter training.-Mission:...
(LM) - 63d Fighter Squadron63d Fighter SquadronThe 63d Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the 56th Operations Group, at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona...
(UN)
The 56th Fighter group spent its time at Kings Cliffe learning RAF fighter control procedures and training for combat with new P-47s and did not fly any operational missions. In April 1943, the group was transferred to the 65th Figher Wing and moved to RAF Horsham St Faith
RAF Horsham St Faith
RAF Horsham St Faith was a Royal Air Force station near Norwich, Norfolk, England from 1939 to 1963. It was then developed as Norwich International Airport.-RAF Bomber Command use:...
.
20th Fighter Group
On 26 August 1943, the 20th Figher Group arrived from March AAF CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The group was under the command of the 67th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command
VIII Fighter Command
The VIII Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, being stationed at RAF Honington, England. It was inactivated on 20 March 1946....
. Aircraft of the 20th were identified by a black/white stripes along their cowlings and tails.
The group consisted of the following squadrons:
- 55th Fighter Squadron55th Fighter SquadronThe 55th Fighter Squadron is part of the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions.-World War I:...
(KI) - 77th Fighter Squadron77th Fighter SquadronThe 77th Fighter Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force, and is one of the oldest fighter squadrons in the United States military....
(LC) - 79th Fighter Squadron79th Fighter SquadronThe 79th Fighter Squadron is part of the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions.-History:...
(MC)
At first. one squadron, the 55th. was billeted at RAF Wittering
RAF Wittering
RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire is the nearest town, the runways of RAF Wittering cross the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire....
because of the shortage of accommodation at Kings Cliffe, later moving to the base when additional barracks had been built. The 20th FG entered combat with P-38's late in December 1943 and for several months was engaged primarily in escorting heavy and medium bombers to targets on the Continent. The group frequently strafed targets of opportunity while on escort missions.
The group retained escort as its primary function until the end of the war, but in March 1944 began to fly fighter-bomber missions, which became almost as frequent as escort operations. The squadrons strafed and dive-bombed airfields, trains, vehicles, barges, tugs, bridges, flak positions, gun emplacements, barracks, radio stations, and other targets in France, Belgium, and Germany.
The 20th became known as the "Loco Group" because of its numerous and successful attacks on locomotives. Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its performance on 8 April 1944 when the group struck airfields in central 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...
and then, after breaking up an attack by enemy interceptors, proceeded to hit railroad equipment, oil facilities, power plants, factories, and other targets.
Aircraft from the 20th flew patrols over the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
during the invasion of Normandy
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...
in June 1944, and supported the invasion force later that month by escorting bombers that struck interdictory targets 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...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and Holland, and by attacking troops, transportation targets, and airfields.
The 20th FG converted to P-51
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...
s in July 1944 and continued to fly escort and fighter-bomber missions as the enemy retreated across France to the Siegfried Line
Siegfried Line
The original Siegfried line was a line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916–1917 in northern France during World War I...
. The group participated in the airborne attack on Holland in September 1944, and escorted bombers to Germany and struck rail lines, trains, vehicles, barges, power stations, and other targets in and beyond the Siegfried Line during the period October-December 1944.
The unit 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...
by escorting bombers to the battle area. Flew patrols to support the airborne attack across the Rhine
Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
in March 1945, and carried out escort and fighter-bomber missions as enemy resistance collapsed in April.
The 20th Fighter Group returned to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and was deactivated on 18 December 1945.
Legacy
On 29 July 1946 the 20th was reactivated Biggs Field, Texas then to Shaw AFB, South Carolina in October 1946 (in August 1947 it became part of the new 20th Fighter Wing), then Langley AFB, Virginia in November 1951, in June 1952 the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing returned to RAF Wethersfield
RAF Wethersfield
MDPGA Wethersfield is a Ministry of Defence facility in Essex, England; it is located north of the village of Wethersfield—about north-west of the town of Braintree...
then in 1970 to RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. The base was brought into use for flying in July 1918 by the Royal Flying Corps. During World War II it was used by many units of the RAF, mainly as a training...
as part of the United States Air Force in Europe. The unit remained in the UK until 1993 when it returned to Shaw Air Force Base
Shaw Air Force Base
Shaw Air Force Base is a United States Military facility located approximately west-northwest of Sumter, South Carolina. It is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command...
South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
as part of the drawdown of US forces in Europe after the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
Postwar use
After the war, the field was used by the RAF for armament storage until being sold and returned to agriculture in January 1959.Today Kings Cliffe airfield has largely returned to agriculture, however the outlines and concreted areas of the runways are readily identifiable. The perimeter track has been reduced to a single-track agricultural road with the hardstands removed for hardcore. The technical site and hangars have been razed, however an abandoned control tower still exists.