RAF Ibsley
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RAF Ibsley is a former World War II-era RAF station and airfield in England. The field is located 2 miles N of Ringwood in Hampshire.
The airfield was opened in February 1941 and was used by the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. It was also known as USAAF Station 347, Station Code: IB.
After the war, the field was closed in 1947.
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[edit] Origns
Ibsley airfield was the first of the airfields built in the Avon valley of Hampshire and the only fighter station in the area to have asphalt-surfaced runways. It was originally surveyed before the war but passed over until approved as a satellite and forward base for RAF Middle Wallop during 1940.
[edit] RAF use
The need for a forward airfield for fighter use in the area led to its being occupied by Hawker Hurricane fighter squadrons in February 1941 although construction work of some kind continued for another eight months with three tarmac runways being laid down. Over the following three years 19 different RAF fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons were based at Ibsley for periods varying from a few days to several months in the course of conducting sweeps, bomber escorts, armed reconnaissance and shipping strikes and patrols. The aircraft involved were chiefly. Spitfires Hurricanes, and Hawker Typhoons, but North American Mustangs in RAF service and Westland Whirlwinds were present on some occasions.
[edit] USAAF use
The arrival of the first USAAF fighter units in the summer of 1942 found Ibsley allocated to the Eighth Air Force on 4 June for use by Lockheed P-38 Lightnings which it was felt might have difficulty operation from grass airfields.
[edit] 1st Fighter Group
The first USAAF unit to use Ibsley was the Eighth Air Force 1st Fighter Group, equipped with Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. The 1st FG arrived from RAF Goxhill on 24 August 1942. Tactical squadrons of the group and squadron fuselage codes were:
- 27th Fighter Squadron (HV)
- 71st Fighter Squadron (LM)
- 94th Fighter Squadron (UN)
The stay of the 1st FG was short, performing their first combat misison on 28 August amd flying a number of missions over France before being assigned to Twelfth Air Force for duty in the Mediterranean theater in support of the Operation Torch North African landings.
The 1st FG was transferred to Tafaraoui, Algeria on 23 October as part of the ground echelon landing with the assault forces at Arzeu beach on 8 November. With their departure, the airfield was not used again until mid-December by some RAF units.
On 12 July 1943 Ibsley was again opened by the USAAF as a base for tactical fighters when required. Meanwhile, construction work was performed to improve the runways. The north-south runway was extended, a small addition was made to the north-west/south-cast runway, and the perimeter track was enlarged with additional hardstands being constructed.
On 16 October 1943 RAF Ibsley was allocated to the Ninth Air Force.
[edit] 48th Fighter Group
With construction completed, on 29 March 1944 the Ninth Air Force 48th Fighter Group arrived at Ibsley from Waterboro AAF South Carolina. The 48th flew the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and had the following fighter squadrons and fuselage codes:
- 492d Fighter Squadron (F4)
- 493d Fighter Squadron (I7)
- 494th Fighter Squadron (6M)
The 48th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 70th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command.
The group began began operations on 20 April by making a fighter sweep over the coast of France then flew an intense period of escort and dive-bombing missions to help prepare for the invasion of Normandy.
On 21 April the number of P-47s at Ibsley doubled when the aircraft of the 371st Fighter Group moved in from nearby RAF Bisterne while work was carried out on its wire-mesh runways. At one point there were over I50 P-47s parked on Insley. The 371st remained until 14 May and even then its pilots would have preferred to remain at Ibsley with its hard surfaced runways.
The group bombed bridges and gun positions on 6 June and attacked rail lines and trains, motor transports, bridges, fuel dumps, and gun positions during the remainder of the Normandy campaign.
The 48th figher Group's only air battle while flying from Ibsley cause on 12 June when the 493rd FS tangled with some Messerschmitt Bf 109s and shot down four and shared another victory with a P-47 pilot from another group. During missions flown from Ibsley, the 48th lost a total of eight P-47s.
On 17 June a P-47 taking off on a mission crashed off the end of a runway and caught fire. Soon after fire tenders arrived the bomb-load exploded. killing the pilot and three firemen.
The 48th was one of the first P-47 groups to move to the Normandy bridgehead, the first aircraft landing at their assigned strip. Deux Jumeaux, France (ALG A-4) on 18 June although Ibsley continued to be used by the 48th FG until 4 July when the last personnel departed.
On the continent, the 48th FG used the following Advanced Landing Grounds:
- A-4 Deux Jumeuax, France 18 June 1944
- A-42D Villacoublay, France 29 August 1944
- A-74 Cambrai/Niergnies, France 15 September 1944
- A-92 St. Trond, Belgum 30 September 1944
- Y-54 Kelz, Germany 26 March 1945
- Y-96 Kassel/Waldau, Germany 17 April 1945
- R-10 Illesheim, Germany 29 April 1945
The 48th Fighter Group moved to Laon Air Base, France on 5 July, returning to the US during August-September 1945, and was inactivated on 7 November at Seymour Johnson AAF, North Carolina.
With the departure of the 48th, about 20 Stinson L-5 Sentinels and two UC-Expiditers of the 14th Liaison Squadron had arrived from Cheshire in a prepeatory move before going on to France. Their stay was brief, most of the ground personnel left for Southampton with the rear party of the 45th Fighter Group, the L-5s being flown to Normandy on 11 July. This unit's duties would be general courier duty for the US Third Army.
[edit] 367th Fighter Group
Arriving on the heels of the departing 48th FG, the 367th Fighter Group arrived at Ibsley on 6 July 1944 from RAF Stoney Cross. The 367th flew Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. Tactical squadrons of the group and squadron fuselage codes were:
- 392d Fighter Squadron (H5)
- 393d Fighter Squadron (8L)
- 394th Fighter Squadron (4N)
The 367th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 70th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command.
From Ibsly the 367th bombed and strafed convoys, troops, flak towers, power stations, and other objectives behind the French invasion beaches. The 367th began departing for their Advanced landing Grounds on the continent on 27 July, but the size of the unit meant that initially the whole group could not be based on one of the small strips available. The 392d and 393d and 394th Fighter Squadrons went to Carentan (A-10), Cretteville (A-14) and Reuxeville (A-6) respectively.
The 367th lost six aircraft flying a total of 20 missions from Ibsley.
On the continent, the 367th FG used the following Advanced Landing Grounds:
- A-10 Carentan, France 27 Jul 1944
- A-14 Cretteville, France 27 Jul 44
- A-6 Reuxeville, France 28 Jul 44
- A-71 Clastres, France 14 Aug 1944
- A-44 Peray, France 4 Sep 1944
- A-6B Juvirncourt, France 28 Oct 1944
- A-64 St. Dizler, France 1 Feb 1945
- A-94 Conflans, France 14 Mar 1945
- Y-74 Frankfurt/Eschorn, Germany 10 Apr - Jul 1945
The 367th flew its last mission on V-E Day, 7 May 1945 The group returned to the US diring Jul-Aug 1945, inactivating on 7 November at Seymour Johnson AAF, North Carolina.
[edit] Post invasion use
With the Americans moved onto the continent, the RAF again took control of Ibsley airfield. It was used by RAF Training Command with the No. 7 Flying Instructors School. In March 1945 the airfield came under RAF Transport Command control flying Douglas Dakotas and Waco Hadrian gliders. Other non non-flying units came and went during the spring and summer of 1945. In the late autumn, Ibsley was put on care and maintenance status, with the hangars being used for storage. A small RAF stafff remained until late 1946, but by the spring of 1947 the airfield was returned to civilian hands.
[edit] Postwar use
With the closure of the airfield, the land (complete with runways, perimeter track, etc.) was handed back to the land owner, Lord Normanton, and his tenant, Mr W. Samson. Like some other Ministry of Defence sites of the era, Ibsley was to become a motor racing circuit being managed by the Ringwood Motor Cycle and Light Car Club. After an extended period of construction (mostly done by volunteer labor), the first racing event at Ibsley was held on 17 May 1951.
The various types of motor racing continued until 1955 and the land was turned into agricultural use for sevral years. In the early 1960s, Ibsley was sold to the Amey Roadstone Company, which removed the existing concrete and whatever was left of the airfield hardstands for hardcore aggregate. In addition, the entire site was turned into a quarry to exploit the rich aggregate found beneath the surface.
Today, the former RAF Ibsley consists mostly of a series of gravel pits and large landscaped lakes. One lake being overlooked by the derelict, windowless control tower. A small memorial is located near the control tower.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Freeman, Roger A., UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now, 1994
- www.controltowers.co.uk RAF Ibsley
- www.armyairforces.com 1st, 48th and 367th Fighter Groups
- Maurer Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, 1983
