RAF North Witham
Encyclopedia
RAF Station North Witham is a former World War II
airfield in Lincolnshire
, England
. The airfield is located in Twyford Wood
, approximately 19 miles (30.6 km) east-southeast of Cotgrave
; about 104 miles (167.4 km) north-northwest of London
Opened in 1943, it was used by both the Royal Air Force
and United States Army Air Force. During the war it was used primarily as a transport airfield. After the war it was closed in late 1945.
Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields and as an industrial estate.
's rapid expansion during World War II in the Air Ministry No. 7 Group area. Construction commenced late in 1942 with J. Mowlem & Co Ltd as main contractors. The acreage used for the airfield proper necessitated the closing of a minor road to Swayfield village.
The airfield was built to the Class A airfield
standard set by the British Air Ministry, the main feature of which was a set 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 runways were the optimum 6,000 ft main and 4,200 ft secondaries, aligned 02/20, 06/24 and 12/30 respectively. The 50 hardstands were all 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
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; elife 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 component maintenance shops to keep aircraft airworthy (see 1st Tactical Air Depot below) and to repair aircraft severely damaged in combat. The Ammunition dump was located on the northeast side of the airfield, outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens.
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 personnel, including communal and a sick quarters.
During airborne operations, when large numbers of airborne parachutists were moved to the airfield, tents would be pitched on the interior grass regions of the airfield, or wherever space could be found to accommodate the airborne forces for the short time they would be bivouacked at the station prior to the operation.
North Witham opened officially on 15 December 1943, the first RAF personnel having arrived the day before.
The first American personnel arrived on 31 December 1943, having been accommodated at the nearby RAF Cottesmore
. Domestic accommodations had Nissen huts for 2,324 persons but in addition to this several hundred Gls had to be accommodated in tents.
, as the DC-3
, to the RAF as the Dakota and to the USAAF as the C-47
, of which IX Troop Carrier Command (TCC) had 1,410 at peak inventory.
As at other airfields where Tactical Air Depots were established. the major organisations were two Air Depot Groups (ADGs), each having a Depot Repair Squadron and a Depot Supply Squadron, a Quartermaster Truck Company. a Quartermaster Supply Platoon and an Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company.
There were also specialist units present serving both ADGs and the usual Military Police Company and Station Complement Squadron to guard and run the airfield, The two ADGs at North Witham were the 29th and 33rd (the 85th ADG was present until February 1944) and, apart from their direct control of units on the airfield, they were responsible for seven Service Groups divided into A and B teams, each based with and serving one of the 14 Troop Carrier Groups in the IX TCC.
When IX TCC was transferred from the Ninth Air Force to the First Allied Airborne Army control on 1 September 1944, the North Witham organisation's title was changed to IX Troop Carrier Service Wing (Provisional) although activities continued much as before. As North Witham had only two T-2 hangars, US army engineers erected six Butler combat hangars to give additional coveted shelter for engineering work. Additional workshops were also erected on the technical site.
In March 1944, the Command Pathfinder School of the U.S. IX Troop Carrier Command
, moved in from a nucleus formed at from RAF Cottesmore
to train air crews and pathfinder
paratrooper
s. The latter would act as scouts, provide with radio communication, including beacons, ahead of a main drop of parachute troops. At this stage, much of the living accommodation was under canvas.
IX Troop Carrier Command
groups selected three crews each for training, and trained on school C-47s fitted with "Gee" radar triangulation
navigational equipment and a limited number of SCR-717-C search radar sets. "Rebecca" (AN/APN-2) interrogators were also installed to query "Eureka" (ANIPPN-l) transponders, the ground set which was used to mark the landing or dropping zones during an airborne operation, the combination Rebecca/Eureka transponding radar system used as a homing beacon
. The pathfinder air crews worked with teams drawn from paratroop regiments, the task being to locate a given dropping point with a combination of Gee and SCR-717-C, drop the paratroops who would then set up Eureka sets and visual aids on the ground to guide in the main airborne force to within an optimum visual range for an accurate delivery.
It was IX TCC Pathfinder School C-47s that led the air invasion forces on 5 June 1944, when the pathfinders of US 82nd
and 101st
Airborne Divisions took off for Normandy
, leading the American airborne landings in Normandy
as part of Operation Overlord
.
At 21:30 hours on 5 June 1944 the first of seven serials (six of three aircraft and one of two) with about 300 pathfinders were dispatched from North Witham for the French Cotentin Peninsula
, in 20 C-47
aircraft. They began to drop at 00:15 on June 6, to prepare the drop zones for the follow-on airborne parachute divisions. They were the first US troops on the ground on D-Day
. However, their aircraft were scattered by low clouds and anti-aircraft fire. Many never found their assigned landing zones. Some of the landing zones were too heavily defended, some were flooded. One of the pathfinder C-47s for the 101st Airborne was forced to ditch en route to Normandy.
In August 1944, twelve Pathfinder C-47s were detached to operate from Marcigliano airfield, north of Rome
, for Operation "Dragoon"
. Just prior to Operation "Market", the Pathfinder School, re-designated the IX Troop Carrier Pathfinder Group (Provisional), moved from North Witham to RAF Chalgrove between 10/14 September due to an expansion of the C-47/C-53 Air depot.
Training of Polish airborne troops
followed but by December, the war had moved on and the Air Depot Group began to move to France
.
USAAF C-47 maintenance repair activities continued at North Witham until May 1945, albeit on a reducing scale.
.
Under RAF control, the airfield became a bomb dump under 100 Maintenance Unit. There had been bomb dumps in fields and roadsides all round the country especially in a county like Lincolnshire, full of RAF Bomber Command
air stations. These were decommissioned as quickly as possible and the bombs brought to more secure places to await the slower process of decommissioning the bombs themselves. 100 MU had been at nearby RAF South Witham since March 1942 and as operational demand died off, the unit expanded from Morkery Wood onto the runways of North Witham.
planted most of the airfield with oak
(Quercus robur) and conifers
. Part of it is now a reserve for butterflies and the concrete
is slowly being broken up and removed. Ghostly outlines of large numbers of loop dispersal hardstands can be seen in aerial photography
, with the perimeter track being reduced to a single lane road. The runway pattern can clearly be seen, some still remaining at full width, other parts being now at half width or less. All of the remaining runway sections are in a very deteriorated condition.
However, the southern end of the airfield is something of an industrial estate with large numbers of grain silos and highway trailers being parked. In addition, there appears to be a very large graveyard of ex MOD equipment, where C-47s and CG-4 Waco Gliders once were parked prior to the invasion of Continental Europe
.
The airfield's proximity to a junction
of the A1 road means that development is pressing against the wood from the north-west. Nonetheless the derelict control tower
remains and on a warm summer
's day, on the runway, in the quiet of the trees, it is a very atmospheric place.
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 Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, 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 in Twyford Wood
Twyford Wood
Twyford Wood, formerly known as Twyford Forest, is a commercial wood around in Lincolnshire owned by the Forestry Commission, England, an agency of the British Government and managed by its subsidiary, Forest Enterprise .-History:...
, approximately 19 miles (30.6 km) east-southeast of Cotgrave
Cotgrave
-History:Cotgrave is a town in the borough of Rushcliffe, in Nottinghamshire, England, lying south east of Nottingham. With a relatively small population and an ancient heart that has largely escaped development Cotgrave has a village atmosphere...
; about 104 miles (167.4 km) north-northwest 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 1943, 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 transport airfield. After the war it was closed in late 1945.
Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields and as an industrial estate.
Overview
North Witham was designed as a bomber airfield as part of the RAFRoyal 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...
's rapid expansion during World War II in the Air Ministry No. 7 Group area. Construction commenced late in 1942 with J. Mowlem & Co Ltd as main contractors. The acreage used for the airfield proper necessitated the closing of a minor road to Swayfield village.
The airfield was built to the Class A airfield
Class 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 set by the British Air Ministry, the main feature of which was a set 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 runways were the optimum 6,000 ft main and 4,200 ft secondaries, aligned 02/20, 06/24 and 12/30 respectively. The 50 hardstands were all 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; elife 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 component maintenance shops to keep aircraft airworthy (see 1st Tactical Air Depot below) and to repair aircraft severely damaged in combat. The Ammunition dump was located on the northeast side of the airfield, outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens.
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 personnel, including communal and a sick quarters.
During airborne operations, when large numbers of airborne parachutists were moved to the airfield, tents would be pitched on the interior grass regions of the airfield, or wherever space could be found to accommodate the airborne forces for the short time they would be bivouacked at the station prior to the operation.
North Witham opened officially on 15 December 1943, the first RAF personnel having arrived the day before.
USAAF use
North Witham was known as USAAF Station AAF-479 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 "NW".The first American personnel arrived on 31 December 1943, having been accommodated at the nearby RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cottesmore was a Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. The station housed all the operational Harrier GR9 squadrons in the Royal Air Force, and No 122 Expeditionary Air Wing...
. Domestic accommodations had Nissen huts for 2,324 persons but in addition to this several hundred Gls had to be accommodated in tents.
1st Tactical Air Depot
North Witham was allocated to the USAAF Troop Carrier Command in August 1943, although the airfield was not fully completed until late in the year when it had become the preferred site for the 1st Tactical Air Depot. Its immediate task was to distribute transport aircraft and the means of maintaining them to operational groups of the USAAF. At this time that meant handling the type known by its maker, DouglasDouglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...
, as the DC-3
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
, to the RAF as the Dakota and to the USAAF as the C-47
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
, of which IX Troop Carrier Command (TCC) had 1,410 at peak inventory.
As at other airfields where Tactical Air Depots were established. the major organisations were two Air Depot Groups (ADGs), each having a Depot Repair Squadron and a Depot Supply Squadron, a Quartermaster Truck Company. a Quartermaster Supply Platoon and an Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company.
There were also specialist units present serving both ADGs and the usual Military Police Company and Station Complement Squadron to guard and run the airfield, The two ADGs at North Witham were the 29th and 33rd (the 85th ADG was present until February 1944) and, apart from their direct control of units on the airfield, they were responsible for seven Service Groups divided into A and B teams, each based with and serving one of the 14 Troop Carrier Groups in the IX TCC.
When IX TCC was transferred from the Ninth Air Force to the First Allied Airborne Army control on 1 September 1944, the North Witham organisation's title was changed to IX Troop Carrier Service Wing (Provisional) although activities continued much as before. As North Witham had only two T-2 hangars, US army engineers erected six Butler combat hangars to give additional coveted shelter for engineering work. Additional workshops were also erected on the technical site.
IX Troop Carrier Pathfinder Group (Provisional)
IX Troop Carrier Command
The IX Troop Carrier Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946...
, moved in from a nucleus formed at from RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cottesmore
RAF Cottesmore was a Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. The station housed all the operational Harrier GR9 squadrons in the Royal Air Force, and No 122 Expeditionary Air Wing...
to train air crews and pathfinder
Pathfinders (military)
A pathfinder is a paratrooper who is inserted or dropped into place in order to set up and operate drop zones, pickup zones, and helicopter landing sites for airborne operations, air resupply operations, or other air operations in support of the ground unit commander...
paratrooper
Paratrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
s. The latter would act as scouts, provide with radio communication, including beacons, ahead of a main drop of parachute troops. At this stage, much of the living accommodation was under canvas.
IX Troop Carrier Command
IX Troop Carrier Command
The IX Troop Carrier Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946...
groups selected three crews each for training, and trained on school C-47s fitted with "Gee" radar triangulation
Triangulation
In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by measuring angles to it from known points at either end of a fixed baseline, rather than measuring distances to the point directly...
navigational equipment and a limited number of SCR-717-C search radar sets. "Rebecca" (AN/APN-2) interrogators were also installed to query "Eureka" (ANIPPN-l) transponders, the ground set which was used to mark the landing or dropping zones during an airborne operation, the combination Rebecca/Eureka transponding radar system used as a homing beacon
Homing beacon
A homing beacon is a radio or acoustic device that allows the user to track a ship, aircraft, an animal, or another individual. Depending on the beacon, the range can be as short as a hundred metres, or, in science fiction, allow for tracking a ship through hyperspace....
. The pathfinder air crews worked with teams drawn from paratroop regiments, the task being to locate a given dropping point with a combination of Gee and SCR-717-C, drop the paratroops who would then set up Eureka sets and visual aids on the ground to guide in the main airborne force to within an optimum visual range for an accurate delivery.
It was IX TCC Pathfinder School C-47s that led the air invasion forces on 5 June 1944, when the pathfinders of US 82nd
U.S. 82nd Airborne Division
The 82nd Airborne Division is an active airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute landing operations. Based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is the primary fighting arm of the XVIII Airborne Corps....
and 101st
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
Airborne Divisions took off for Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, leading the American airborne landings in Normandy
American airborne landings in Normandy
The American airborne landings in Normandy were the first United States combat operations during Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy by the Western Allies on June 6, 1944. Around 13,100 paratroopers of the U.S. 82nd Airborne and 101st Airborne Divisions made night parachute drops early on...
as part of Operation Overlord
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...
.
At 21:30 hours on 5 June 1944 the first of seven serials (six of three aircraft and one of two) with about 300 pathfinders were dispatched from North Witham for the French Cotentin Peninsula
Cotentin Peninsula
The Cotentin Peninsula, also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy, forming part of the north-western coast of France. It juts out north-westwards into the English Channel, towards Great Britain...
, in 20 C-47
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
aircraft. They began to drop at 00:15 on June 6, to prepare the drop zones for the follow-on airborne parachute divisions. They were the first US troops on the ground on D-Day
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...
. However, their aircraft were scattered by low clouds and anti-aircraft fire. Many never found their assigned landing zones. Some of the landing zones were too heavily defended, some were flooded. One of the pathfinder C-47s for the 101st Airborne was forced to ditch en route to Normandy.
In August 1944, twelve Pathfinder C-47s were detached to operate from Marcigliano airfield, north of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, for Operation "Dragoon"
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
. Just prior to Operation "Market", the Pathfinder School, re-designated the IX Troop Carrier Pathfinder Group (Provisional), moved from North Witham to RAF Chalgrove between 10/14 September due to an expansion of the C-47/C-53 Air depot.
Training of Polish airborne troops
Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade
The 1st Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute brigade under command of Maj.Gen. Stanisław Sosabowski, created in Scotland in September 1941, with the exclusive mission to drop into occupied Poland in order to help liberate the country. The British government, however, pressured the Polish...
followed but by December, the war had moved on and the Air Depot Group began to move to 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...
.
USAAF C-47 maintenance repair activities continued at North Witham until May 1945, albeit on a reducing scale.
RAF Maintenance Command use
On 1 June 1945 the station was handed over to No. 40 Group, RAF Maintenance CommandRAF Maintenance Command
RAF Maintenance Command was the Royal Air Force command which was responsible for controlling maintenance for all the United Kingdom-based units from formation on 1 April 1938 until being renamed RAF Support Command on 31 August 1973.- History :...
.
Under RAF control, the airfield became a bomb dump under 100 Maintenance Unit. There had been bomb dumps in fields and roadsides all round the country especially in a county like Lincolnshire, full of RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
air stations. These were decommissioned as quickly as possible and the bombs brought to more secure places to await the slower process of decommissioning the bombs themselves. 100 MU had been at nearby RAF South Witham since March 1942 and as operational demand died off, the unit expanded from Morkery Wood onto the runways of North Witham.
Civil use
The site was originally partially wooded and some of this remained to the northeast of the runways throughout the military period but after closure, 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....
planted most of the airfield with oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
(Quercus robur) and conifers
Pinophyta
The conifers, division Pinophyta, also known as division Coniferophyta or Coniferae, are one of 13 or 14 division level taxa within the Kingdom Plantae. Pinophytes are gymnosperms. They are cone-bearing seed plants with vascular tissue; all extant conifers are woody plants, the great majority being...
. Part of it is now a reserve for butterflies and the concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
is slowly being broken up and removed. Ghostly outlines of large numbers of loop dispersal hardstands can be seen in aerial photography
Aerial photography
Aerial photography is the taking of photographs of the ground from an elevated position. The term usually refers to images in which the camera is not supported by a ground-based structure. Cameras may be hand held or mounted, and photographs may be taken by a photographer, triggered remotely or...
, with the perimeter track being reduced to a single lane road. The runway pattern can clearly be seen, some still remaining at full width, other parts being now at half width or less. All of the remaining runway sections are in a very deteriorated condition.
However, the southern end of the airfield is something of an industrial estate with large numbers of grain silos and highway trailers being parked. In addition, there appears to be a very large graveyard of ex MOD equipment, where C-47s and CG-4 Waco Gliders once were parked prior to the invasion of Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
.
The airfield's proximity to a junction
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
of the A1 road means that development is pressing against the wood from the north-west. Nonetheless the derelict control tower
Control tower
A control tower, or more specifically an Air Traffic Control Tower , is the name of the airport building from which the air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft on and around the airport. Control towers are also used to control the traffic for other forms of transportation such...
remains and on a warm summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
's day, on the runway, in the quiet of the trees, it is a very atmospheric place.
See also
- List of RAF stations
- 82d Airborne Division
- (US 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment) also flew from RAF FolkinghamRAF FolkinghamRAF Folkingham is a former World War II Royal Air Force flying station in Lincolnshire, England. The airfield is located south west of Folkingham and due east of Lenton village, approximately due south of county town Lincoln and north of London...
.- 101st Airborne Division101st Airborne DivisionThe 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
- 101st Airborne Division