RAF High Halden

High Halden ALG airfield, July 1945

RAF High Halden was a World War II airfield in England that consisted of land of six farms just over a mile north of High Halden village and approximately eight miles west-south-west of Ashford, in Kent. During the war the United States Army Air Force Ninth Air Force 358th Fighter Group was stationed there with Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Fighters. It was also known as USAAF Station 411.

Origns

The USAAF Ninth Air Force required several temporary Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) along the channel coast prior to the June 1944 Normandy invasion to provide tactical air support for the ground forces landing in France.

High Halden airfield was constructed by an RAF construction unit in the summer of 1943, the main runway of 4,440ft being aligned 04-22 and the secondary of 3,840ft at 11-29. These strips. and a partial perimeter track, were all surfaced with steel wire Sommerfeld Tracking.

The airfield was initially held in reserve but, when allocated for use by a Ninth Air Force fighter group, No. 5003 ACS moved in to carry out additional work. Marshalling areas of square mesh metal were laid at the runway ends and runway intersections were replaced with the same material. The perimeter track was extended and additional aircraft hardstands were fashioned Pierced Steel Planks, raising the total nuumber of hardstands to 72.

There were also two refuelling pads which doubled as aircraft standings and two Blister hangars, all on the south side of the landing ground. A large steel-frame, canvas-covered hangar was erected which was used as an armoury and workshop. Accommodation for personnel was in tents which were mostly north-west of the airfield.

USAAF Use

358th Fighter Group

Republic P-47D-28-RE Thunderbolt Serial 44-20244 of the 367th Fighter Squadron

An advance party of the 358th Fighter Group moved into High Halden airfield in on 13 April 1944 from RAF Raydon. Operational squadrons of the 358th were:

• 365th Fighter Squadron (CH)
• 366th Fighter Squadron (IA)
• 367th Fighter Squadron (CP)

The group was assigned to the XIX Tactical Air Command, 100th Fighter Wing.

After the comparative domestic comfort of the Eighth Air Force bomber base at Raydon, High Halden's tents were not well received. Three requisitioned houses afforded shelter for a lucky few and the house at Gate's Farm served as the group headquarters. American engineers extended the main runway with Pierced Steel Planking to approximately 5,400ft by taking it across the minor road that skirted the south side of the landing ground. In addition, there was much innovation during the 358th FG's stay, with extensions to hardstands, and numerous wooden shelters for ground crews made from the crates in which P-47 drop-tanks were received.

From High Halden the group dive-bombed marshalling yards and airfields to help prepare for the invasion of Normandy. Continued attacks on enemy communications and flew escort missions during May. Escorted troop carriers over the Cotentin Peninsula on 6 and 7 Jun, and attacked bridges, rail lines and trains, vehicles, and troop concentrations during the remainder of the month.

The intensity of the group's operations increased with the D-Day invasion. ground-attack missions predominating. Compared with many Ninth Air Force fighter groups, the 358th had relatively light losses during this period. There was little contact with enemy fighters and only four were claimed as shot down while flying from High Halden.

A few days after the group arrived at the airfield, there was an unexpected visitor in the form of a battle-damaged 303rd Bomb Group B-17 from RAF Molesworth which 'bellied in' on 24 April. In June, High Halden found itself in the V-1 flying bomb corridor, and there were more lethal arrivals when, on the 18th and again on the 23rd June, a V-1 exploded on the base. There is no record of the damage sustained.

The 358th began movement to the ALG at Cretteville France (ALG A-14) on 29 June, however the group continued to operate from High Halden until 16 July with the remainder of the ground support personnel leaving on the 18th.

Legacy

After moving to the Continent in July the group took part in operations that resulted in the Allied breakthrough at St Lo. Continued to fly escort, interdictory, and close-support missions during the allied drive across France and into Germany, earning four citations before the end of the war.

The 358th Fighter Group received its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for operations from 24 December 1944 to 2 January 1945 when the group not only supported Seventh Army by attacking rail lines and rolling stock, vehicles, buildings, and artillery, but also destroyed numerous fighter planes during a major assault by the German Air Force against Allied airfields.

The group received a second DUC for 19-20 March 1945, a period in which the 358th destroyed and damaged large numbers of motor transports and thus hampered the evacuation of German forces that were withdrawing from the area west of the Rhine.

A third DUC was received for performance between 8 and 25 April 1945 when the group attacked enemy airfields in the region of Munich and Ingolstadt, engaged the enemy in aerial combat, and supported advancing ground forces by attacking such targets as motor transports, tanks, locomotives, guns, and buildings.

The 358th received a fourth citation, the French Croix de Guerre with Palm, for assisting in the liberation of France.

The group returned to La Junta AAF, Colorado during July and was inactivated on 7 November 1945.

Post Invasion Use

On 9 August there was some excitement when the locals reported an aeroplane without propellers on the landing ground. This was a Gloster Meteor flown in by the CO of No. 616 Squadron who was checking the suitability of the runway for use as a forward base in combating V-1s, the early Meteors having very limited endurance. A few days later, four Meteors arrived and on 14 August flew their first patrol and were up again next day, hut thereafter the detachment apparently withdrew.

US engineers were now busy removing the PSP for use elsewhere and High Halden was de-requisitioned on 15 September, although it was not until January 1945 that an RAF works unit began clearing the site.

Probably the last military aircraft to make use of High Holden was a battle-damaged B-17 that made an emergency landing on 19 March 1945. By this time, much of High Halden airfield had been removed by construction engineers and only the main runway remained intact. The aircraft was repaired and flown out at a later date.

Today very few outward traces remain of the airfield, with the exception of some metal PSP that was used for fencing. A memorial has since been erected close to the northern end of the 04-22 runway.

See also

• List of RAF stations
• USAAF Ninth Air Force - World War II

References

• Freeman, Roger A., UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now, 1994
• Maurer Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, 1983
• ArmyAirForces.com 354th Fighter Group http://www.armyairforces.com/dbgroups.asp?Group=179
• USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present

External links

• Aerial Photo of RAF High Halden from Multimap.Com

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