RAF Winkton

Royal Air Force Station Winkton USAAF Station 414
Located Near Christchurch, Dorset, United Kingdom
Winkton Airfield - January 1947
Coordinates	50°46′37″N 001°46′2″W
Type	Military airfield
Code	WT
Site information
Controlled by	United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1943
In use	1943-1945
Battles/wars	European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 class=notpageimage| Map showing the location of RAF Winkton within Dorset.
Garrison information
Garrison	Ninth Air Force
Occupants	404th Fighter Group

RAF Winkton (also known as Winkton Advanced Landing Ground (ALG)) was a World War II airfield in England located 3 miles NNE of Christchurch, Dorset, just east of the village of Sopley and to the northeast of the intersection of Harpway Lane and Derritt Lane.

During World War II the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Force Ninth Air Force. It was also known as USAAF station 414.

Overview

Ninth Air Force required several temporary advanced landing grounds in the Avon Valley or south west Hampshire prior to the Normandy invasion to provide tactical air support for the ground forces landing in France.

Winkton was a prototype for the type of temporary airfield which would be built in France after D-Day, when the need advanced landing fields would become urgent as the Allied forces moved east across France and Germany. It was originally planned to support light bombers and thereby would need a bomb store near the site. However, in a review of airfield building plans, this original requirement was dropped so Woodchurch was of similar specification to other ALGs in the district.

The airfield was built by the RAF 5005 Airfield Construction Squadron during the winter of 1943/44 It was a temporary facility using wire mesh Sommerfeld Tracking, later being replaced with steel Marsden Matting for runways. The airfield was built to a standard layout or design with two runways at near right angles, aligned as close a possible to north-south and east-west axes. In Winkton's case the North-South Runway was longer (1600 yards, 1456 m) while the other was only 1400 yards(1274m) long. There were five hangars aligned along the southern side of the east/west runway.

Tents were used for billeting and also for support facilities; an access road was built to the existing road infrastructure; a dump for supplies, ammunition, and gasoline drums, along with a drinkable water and minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting.

USAAF Use

404th Fighter Group

RAF Winkton saw the arrival of the USAAF 404th Fighter Group on 4 April 1944, the group arriving from Myrtle Beach AAF, South Carolina. The 404th had the following operational squadrons:

• 506th Fighter Squadron (4K)
• 507th Fighter Squadron (Y8)
• 508th Fighter Squadron (7J)

The 404th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 84th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command. It flew the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The group began operations by bombing and strafing targets in France. The squadrons provided top cover for landings in Normandy on 6 and 7 June 1944. On 6 July the 404th moved across the Channel to its Advanced Landing Ground at Chippelle (ALG A-5), France.

On the continent, the 404th operated in close support of ground troops until the end of the war, supporting the Allied breakthrough at St Lo in July 1944, the drive through Holland in September 1944, Allied operations during the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944-Jan 1945), and the establishment of the Remagen bridgehead and the subsequent crossing of the Rhine in March 1945.

The group also flew interdictory and escort missions, strafing and bombing such targets as troop concentrations, railroads, highways, bridges, ammunition and fuel dumps, armored vehicles, docks, and tunnels, and covering the operations of B-17s, B-24s, and B-26s that bombed factories, airdromes, marshalling yards, and other targets.

Citations

The 404th Fighter Group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for three armed reconnaissance missions flown on 10 September 1944 when, despite bad weather and antiaircraft fire, the group attacked enemy factories, rolling stock, and communications centers to aid the advance of ground forces.

The 404th Fighter Group received a French Croix de guerre with Palm for assisting the US First Army at St Lo on 29, 30, and 31 July 1944 when the group, although suffering severe losses from flak, continuously provided cover for four armored divisions.

The group was also cited by the Belgian government for operations contributing to the liberation of its people.

After V-E Day, the group aided in disarming the German Air Force and in dismantling the enemy's aircraft industry. It returned to the United States in August and was inactivated on 9 November 1945 at Drew AAF Florida.

Legacy

The 404th Fighter Group was redesignated as the 137th Fighter Group and allocated to the Oklahoma Air National Guard on 24 May 1946. During the Cold War buildup of the early 1950s, it was activated to federal service and deployed to Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base France in May 1952 flying the Republic F-84G "Thunderjet". On 10 July 1952, the 137th was redesignated the 48th Fighter-Bomber Wing as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe. In 1959, the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing was redeployed to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk where for over 50 years it has served as USAFE's premier fighter wing, currently flying the McDonnell-Douglas F-15C/D Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagle.

Civil Use

With the Americans moving to France, Winkton airfield was returned to agricultural use in the fall of 1944. In January 1945, the airfield was officially closed. Today, the land is unrecognizable as a former airfield. It can only be located by comparing the road network on aerial photographs taken when the airfield was active to the current network.

See also

• List of RAF stations

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle ISBN 0900913800
• Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle ISBN 1854092723
• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.

External links

• Built Only For Battle - The story of Station 414 of the 9th Air Force, Winkton ALG in Hampshire, United Kingdom
• New Forest Airfields - NFA2:Winkton ALG