Runways | |
---|---|
Direction | Length and surface |
01/19 | 1,234 metres (4,049 ft) Sommerfeld Tracking |
06/24 | 1,280 metres (4,199 ft) Sommerfeld Tracking |
13/31 | 1,585 metres (5,200 ft) Sommerfeld Tracking |
Royal Air Force Sawbridgeworth or more simply RAF Sawbridgeworth is a former Royal Air Force station located 5.2 miles (8.4 km) north of Harlow, Essex and 14.4 miles (23.2 km) east of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England.
The airfield was used during the First World War as a night landing ground for fighter aircraft of the Home Defence squadrons protecting London against attacks from German airships. During the inter-war period it was occasionally used for glider and civilian flying until 1937 when it became Mathams Wood Advanced Landing Ground (named after the nearby wooded area). In 1940 it was renamed RAF Sawbridgeworth after correspondence between the 2(AC) Squadron (and station) Commanding Officer Wing Commander A. J. W. Geddes and the Air Ministry in London. It ceased active operations in 1944 and, after a number of ground-based units operated from the site, was finally closed in mid-1946 and safeguarding relinquished by the RAF in May 1956.
A large field west of Shingle Hall farm was used as an emergency night landing ground for No. 39 (Home Defence) Squadron which was based at RAF North Weald in Essex and, although little used, was in operation from April 1916 until November 1918.
A short-lived civilian gliding club operated from the Shingle Hall site in 1928, and the British Hospitals Air Pageant visited what then became known locally as the Spellbrook Flying Ground on 17 May 1933 to give a flying display and passenger rides in their aircraft to the visiting public. Additionally, Army Co-operation squadrons of the RAF used another area of farmland near to Mathams Wood, a wooded area to the north of Blounts Farm, as a landing ground for 'resident' field training exercises in 1937.
After the retreat from France in 1940 by the British Expeditionary Force the commanding officer of 2 (Army Cooperation) Squadron investigated the possibility of the squadron settling at Mathams Wood ALG as no base, permanent or otherwise, had been allocated to the squadron. Thus 2 (AC) Squadron was the unit that established the location for the Second World War airfield that eventually became designated RAF Sawbridgeworth. Apart from operating the Westland Lysander on its normal reconnaissance duties for the Army the squadron was also responsible for the initial selection and training of pilots to be used by the Special Operations Executive to insert agents into Occupied France. The majority of operations from Sawbridgeworth were photo-reconnaissance missions and generally linked to Army requests for battlefield coverage, but once equipped with the faster North American Mustang Mk 1 & 1a, and when the German V-weapon programme intensified, more and more sorties were flown against these targets and various radar installations prior to the Allied invasion of Occupied France. (see Where the Lysanders were ..... for precise details).[ page needed ] As well as 2 (AC) Squadron, who were based here between June 1940 and April 1944, with their Station Offices at Shingle Hall, many other squadrons operated from the airfield during the Second World War, all these being shown below -
Squadron | Identification | Equipment | From | To | To |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. 63 Squadron | Unknown | North American Mustang IA | 12 November 1943 | 30 November 1943 | RAF North Weald |
No. 80 Squadron | W2 | Supermarine Spitfire VB | 24 April 1944 | 5 May 1944 | RAF Hornchurch |
No. 126 Squadron | 5J | Supermarine Spitfire VB Supermarine Spitfire VC Supermarine Spitfire IXB | 30 April 1944 30 April 1944 30 April 1944 | 30 April 1944 30 April 1944 22 May 1944 | RAF Culmhead |
No. 168 Squadron | Unknown | North American Mustang IA | 12 November 1943 | 30 November 1943 | RAF North Weald |
No. 170 Squadron | Unknown | North American Mustang IA | 12 November 1943 | 15 January 1944 | Disbanded |
No. 182 Squadron | XM | Hawker Typhoon IA/IB | 7 December 1942 20 January 1943 | 17 January 1943 30 January 1943 | RAF Snailwell RAF Martlesham Heath |
No. 268 Squadron | Unknown | North American Mustang IA | 1 March 1944 | 26 March 1944 | RAF Dundonald |
Although cropspraying by air of the farm and other local fields was carried out by aircraft temporarily based on part of the remaining concrete perimeter track from 1959 until 1983 this was the only aerial activity carried out postwar from the airfield. A number of pill boxes and personnel shelters are the only indication that there used to be anything here to do with the military. The control tower was demolished in 1953 and the Sommerfeld tracking reinforcement to the grass runways taken up to allow the land to be farmed again. Over a period of time the sole 'T2' and the 'Blister' hangars were removed, the last surviving Blister being blown down in the October 1987 gales (this was the hangar that Harry Roberts, a criminal who with two others murdered three police officers near Wormwood Scrubs prison in August 1966, was found hiding in after a 96-day manhunt - the longest in police history). Modern aerial shots of the airfield show the 'ghost' outlines of the reinforced grass runways, similar to what can be seen at nearby RAF Hunsdon and RAF Matching, albeit they had 'hard' surfacing. The most visible indication of the extent of the airfield is the concrete perimeter track that is still visible for about 85% of its original length.
In outlying areas to the main airfield site some of the airfield buildings still exist, such as the Sick Quarters Site that has become a small industrial estate. Other buildings have been absorbed into the land-owning farm to become agricultural buildings; whilst the Gymnasium from the Communal Site was moved into Sawbridgeworth town post-war, where it is now the town's Memorial Hall.
At the instigation of the Hertfordshire Airfield Memorials Group, who are keen to record aviation history throughout the county, a memorial to the wartime use of the airfield was erected and dedicated on 14 May 2006 at the original Shingle Hall entrance to the airfield.
Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove, also known as simply JHC FS Aldergrove, is a British military base located 4.4 miles (7.1 km) south of Antrim, Northern Ireland and 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Belfast, and adjoins Belfast International Airport. It is sometimes referred to simply as Aldergrove which is the name of a nearby hamlet.
Royal Air Force Catterick or RAF Catterick is a former Royal Air Force airfield located near Catterick, North Yorkshire in England. It is located alongside the A6055 road on the outskirts of Catterick Village.
Royal Air Force Bircham Newton or more simply RAF Bircham Newton is a former Royal Air Force station located 2.1 miles (3.4 km) south east of Docking, Norfolk and 13.4 miles (21.6 km) north east of King's Lynn, Norfolk, England.
Royal Air Force Bottisham or more simply RAF Bottisham is a former Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8 km) east of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.
Army Aviation Centre (AAC) Middle Wallop is a British Army airfield located near the Hampshire village of Middle Wallop, used for Army Air Corps training. The base hosts 2 (Training) Regiment AAC and 7 (Training) Regiment AAC under the umbrella of the Army Aviation Centre. 2 (Training) Regiment performs ground training; 7 (Training) Regiment trains aircrew on AAC aircraft after they complete basic training at RAF Shawbury.
Royal Air Force Beaulieu or more simply RAF Beaulieu is a former Royal Air Force station in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It was also known as Beaulieu airfield, Beaulieu aerodrome and USAAF Station AAF 408. It is located on Hatchet Moor 1 mile (2 km) west of the village of East Boldre, about 2 miles (3 km) west-southwest of the village of Beaulieu and 4 miles (6 km) north-east of Lymington.
Royal Air Force Fairwood Common, or more simply RAF Fairwood Common, is a former Royal Air Force Sector Station located on Fairwood Common, on the Gower Peninsula, to the west of Swansea. It is now the location of Swansea Airport.
Hunsdon Airfield is an airfield near Hunsdon, Hertfordshire and 2.8 miles (4.5 km) north of Harlow, Essex, England. As of 2021, it is used by a local microlight club.
Royal Air Force Hawkinge or more simply RAF Hawkinge is a former Royal Air Force station located 13.23 miles (21.29 km) east of Ashford, 2.2 miles (3.5 km) north of Folkestone, Kent and 7.1 miles (11.4 km) west of Dover, Kent, England. The airfield was used by both the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force during its lifetime and was involved during the Battle of Britain, as well as other important aerial battles during the Second World War and the early stages of aerial usage in war in the First World War.
Royal Air Force Brenzett or more simply RAF Brenzett was a Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground close to the village of Brenzett near Romney Marsh in Kent during the Second World War. It was used as an airfield in 1944 for the Mustang Wing which comprised three squadrons including two Polish squadrons in exile and operated patrols against V-1 flying bombs.
Royal Air Force Langham or more simply RAF Langham is a former Royal Air Force station, located at Langham, 27.2 miles (43.8 km) northwest of Norwich in the English county of Norfolk. It operated between 1940 and 1961. The airfield was the most northerly of the wartime RAF airfields in Norfolk and its position, just 3.3 miles (5.3 km) from the North Sea at Blakeney, made it a suitable site for RAF Coastal Command aircraft.
Royal Air Force Towyn, or more simply RAF Towyn, is a former Royal Air Force airfield located 10.3 miles (16.6 km) west of Machynlleth, Powys and 12.2 miles (19.6 km) north of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales.
Royal Air Force Graveley or more simply RAF Graveley is a former Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8 km) south of Huntingdon. The station was originally intended to operate under No. 3 Group RAF, alongside RAF Tempsford and RAF Gransden Lodge.
Royal Air Force Firbeck or more simply RAF Firbeck is a former Royal Air Force station located west of Firbeck, South Yorkshire, England.
RAF Appledram is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground 2.3 miles (3.7 km) southwest of Chichester, West Sussex and 12.2 miles (19.6 km) east of Portsmouth, Hampshire.
Royal Air Force Wellingore or more simply RAF Wellingore is a former Royal Air Force fighter relief landing ground located 1.9 miles (3.1 km) south of Navenby, Lincolnshire and 10 miles (16 km) south of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.
Royal Air Force Macmerry or more simply RAF Macmerry is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located 4.5 miles (7.2 km) west of Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland and 11.4 miles (18.3 km) east of Edinburgh. It was situated immediately to the north east of Macmerry on the north side of the A1 road. It has also been called RNAS Macmerry and unofficially RAF Tranent and RAF Penston during its life.
Royal Air Force Church Fenton or RAF Church Fenton is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located 4.3 miles (6.9 km) south-east of Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England and 6.3 miles (10.1 km) north-west of Selby, North Yorkshire, near the village of Church Fenton.
Royal Air Force Charmy Down or more simply RAF Charmy Down is a former Royal Air Force station in Somerset, England, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north-northeast of Bath and 96 miles (154 km) west of London.
RAF Bognor is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Bognor, West Sussex, England.