RAF Thruxton USAAF No.407

RAF Thruxton was, like many early wartime airfields, built for Fighter Command with six fighter pens to hold one squadron of RAF fighters, and they were laid out on the eastern end of the airfield. The Watch Office was on the western end, the airfield site to the south, and dispersed accommodation to the S/E. There were runways and a quarter-size 'A' standard bomb store to the far west.

The airfield was handed over to the RAF in August 1941.

The first unit to move in was 225 Squadron Army Co-operation, equipped with Lysanders. They were used for air-sea rescue duties and flew hour after hour, looking for downed pilots in the Channel. The next unit to arrive was the BAT Flight with Airspeed Oxfords of 26/1526 Blind Approach Training Flight, stating: "Blind Approach is a normal process of flying by instruments along a predetermined line of approach to an aerodrome until a point of space is reached from which a landing can be completed by vision." A detachment of 42 OTU (Operational Training Unit) also arrived.

Next, in 1941, Whitley bombers of 298 Squadron converted to carry parachutists. They were commanded by Wing Commander Pickard, who was asked to participate in the making of the Crown film Target for To-night. Attention from the film made him a public figure in England. Later that year, he led 298 Squadron with Whitley bombers to carry paratroopers to their drop zone for the Bruneval raid from Thruxton. Around this time, 225 Squadron exchanged its Lysanders for Mustangs and then immediately moved to RAF Macmerry.

Operation "Jubilee," the Dieppe Raid, was an amphibious attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe. Thruxton's part was to host detachments of 226, 13, & 614 Squadrons. Bostons and Blenheims were used to lay smoke screens on both flanks of the attack. Smoke-laying aircraft were tested at Porton Down, a few miles to the west, so they may have been using their equipment.

In August 1942, 298 Squadron was formed with Whitley bombers converted for airborne forces, for parachuting and glider towing. They changed their Whitleys for Albemarles and then left for RAF Stoney Cross.

In September 1943, No. 123 Airfield arrived with 168, 170, & 268 Squadrons. They used Mustang aircraft, and their training was part of the build-up for D-Day. No. 123 stayed for the winter and left in the spring for RAF Sawbridgeworth.

On 1st March, with D-Day imminent, the Americans moved in with the 366th Fighter Group, which included three squadrons of P47 Thunderbolts. Over the next few weeks, they were heard thundering down the runways with two 1000lb bombs, a full load of fuel, and often a drop tank full of fuel. They then flew off to France to attack railways, bridges, army units, and anything that did and did not move. In this, they were extremely successful. On 20th June, they all moved out and flew off to A1, Advanced Landing Ground, Normandy.

Several small units came and went; RAF Netheravon used Thruxton as storage for gliders, and as the war ended, they started dismantling them here.

In 1946, Thruxton was closed and sold off. Wiltshire Flying School of High Post, Amesbury, leased the airfield, and later the perimeter track was converted to a racing circuit. The main site was converted to small factory units. The dispersed hutting sites were pulled down, except for one latrine which I found on Google Maps, and the land returned to farming and housing.

No.1 Airfield site.

• 24 x Aircraft dispersals.
• 6 x Fighter pens.
• 1 x Quarter size bomb store.
• 1 x T2 Hangar.
• 8 x Blister hangars.
• 1 x Robins hangar.
• 1 x Bessoneau hangar.
• 1 x Shooting in Butts.
• 2 x Aviation fuel supplies.

RAF Thruxton

Long Details / Storar.

• 74 - Airfield Indicator.

• 75 - Signal Square.

• 76 - Watch Office - PB - 1272/41.

• 77 - Rest Room for Flying Control - N - 9024/41.

• 78 - Crash Hut - N - 9024/41.

• 79 - M&E Plinth - 2034/41.

• 80 - Pyro Store - N - 12725/41.

• 81 - Hangar - Blister - 16312/41.

• 82 - Barrack Hut - N - 9024/41.

• 83 - Petrol Installation - 24,000gal - 15425/40.

• Number: 83
• Type: Petrol Installation
• Capacity: 24,000gal
• Reference: 15425/40

I have found many bulk fuel installations on other airfields before, but none like this one.

The standard circular road around the pump house is now hidden in bushes.

• 83 - Petrol Installation - 24,000gal - 15425/40
• Pump House Inside.

Insets clockwise:

• 1: Fuel pump.
• 2: Pump and fuel cocks.
• 3: Steel door.
• 4: & 6: external fuel cocks.
• 5: Fuel dial.
• 7: Internals.

• 76 - Watch Office - PB - 1272/41.
• 78 - Crash Hut - N - 9024/41. Looking from behind, the rear of the watch office and the central hut replace the Nissen huts.

March 1944, the Americans arrived, as they did all over the south of England, with their P-47 Thunderbolts of the 366th Fighter Group.

The Group moved to England over the New Year of 1944, setting up home first at RAF Membury and then at Thruxton. The pilots' first mission was a fighter sweep of the French coast in March 1944, and from then until D-Day, the group supported Allied preparations for the invasion of France.

They then moved over to France by the 20th June 1944 to ALG A1 Saint-Pierre-du-Mont, Calvados (Air Landing Ground).

35 - Hangar - T2 (St) - 3653/42.

The types of hangars that were used here included:

• one T2
• eight Blisters
• one Bessoneau
• one Robins hangar

This T2 was in reasonable condition, but a fire in November 2005 caused damage to the south-west corner.

A reclad Robin Type 'B' with its front doors removed, and now only a small door is fitted. The plan states that it may have been constructed by Redpath Bryson. The print is very bad on my plan.

This hangar may have been used as a repair shed for glider maintenance. Also, a Bessoneau hangar was added, probably for the same reason.

• Site No.1 Airfield.
• 27 - Water Tank Tower (Temporary) - 4500gal.
• Remains of the Braithwaite water tower.

Front:

• 54to55 - Main Workshops - Romney - 5540/42.

Rear:

• 63to64 - Main Stores - Romney - 5539/40

T2 hangar.

• 35 - Hangar - T2 - 3653/42.

Fire damaged side of the hangar.

T2 Side View.

35 - Hangar - T2 - 3653/42.

• Identifier: 34
• Type: Petrol Installation, Aviation
• Capacity: 24,000gal
• Reference: 15425/40

Inside looking at the pump mechanism

This may all have been removed as I could not find it in 2009?

• 36 - Squadron & Flight Office - TB - 1268/41.
• 14532-41 plan of a Flight Office from ARG.

• Emergency water supply about 20,000 gallons.
• 38 - Static Water Supply - PB - 4100/40.

Squadron & Flight Office

The other end of the squadron office.

I used to have a Moto-Lita steering wheel on my Morris 1000 convertible re-engined to 1500cc and wide wheels.

• Moto-Lita Ltd
• Unit 2 Fairview Road
• Weyhill, Andover
• Hampshire
• SP11 0ST, UK

47 - Gas Defence Centre - TB - 48/40.

48 - Main Substation - PB - 12548/40.

49 - Fire Fighting Equip. Bldg. - TB - 8/40.

AM record site plan 65/45 of the dispersed sites.

Site No. 5: One building remains (Google Maps).

• Block 226: Officers' Latrines (TB - 1267/41)

A lot of the barrack buildings were of timber. The communal buildings were mostly of temporary brick.