RAF Greenham Common
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| Royal Air Force Station Greenham Common USAAF Station 486
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| Located Near Greenham, Berkshire, England | |
 RAF Greenham Common control tower |
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| Type | Air Force Base |
| Coordinates | |
| Location code | GC |
| Built | 1941 |
| In use | 1940-1991 |
| Controlled by | Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces United States Air Force |
| Garrison | Royal Air Force Ninth Air Force Strategic Air Command United States Air Forces In Europe |
| Occupants | 354th Fighter Group 368th Fighter Group 438th Troop Carrier Group 501st Tactical Missile Wing |
| Battles/wars | European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 |
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RAF Greenham Common is a former World War II and NATO Cold War airfield located on the border between Greenham and Crookham, 2 miles south-east of Newbury in the English county of Berkshire and 45 miles west of London. During World War II it was used by the United States Army Air Force and the Royal Air Force, and during the Cold War by the United States Air Force for Strategic Air Command bombers and later for BGM-109G Cruise missiles.
The airfield was also known for the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp held outside its gates in the 1980s.
With the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the military use of RAF Greenham Common ended and the base was returned to civilian use in 1993.
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[edit] Pre-military history
Greenham Common was a piece of common land. It was used for troop movements during the English Civil War and in the nineteenth century.
[edit] World War II
Greenham Common airfield was one of several wartime airfields in the Salisbury Plain area and was originally intended for use as a RAF Bomber Command Operational Training Unit (OTU). The land for the airfield was acquired in May 1941 and the runways were built in early 1942 with one main and two secondary runways. Accommodations were built mostly off the eastern end of the airfield, seven sites developed for about 2,400 personnel.
The airfield was opened in June 1942 as a satellite for RAF Aldermaston, with operational control later being transferred to RAF Andover in late 1942. In the absence of American units during the first nine months of 1943, the airfield was made available to RAF trainer units. Airspeed Oxfords were often to be seen landing and taking off from its runways, until the airfield reverted to USAAF control in October.
[edit] USAAF use
In the autumn of 1943, Greenham Common airfield was turned over to the USAAF Ninth Air Force and was designated as USAAF Station 486, Station Code: GC. An American advance party soon arrived to ready the airfield for the incoming units.
The first arrival while the airfield was still under construction was the 51st Troop Carrier Wing Headquarters, arriving in September 1942. The 51st TCW was a non-flying organization, controlling the three troop carrier groups at RAF Keevil (62d TCG), RAF Aldermaston (60th TCG) and RAF Ramsbury (64th TCG) as part of Twelfth Air Force. The Wing Headquarters was located in requisitioned Bowdown House, a mansion on the northeast end of the airfield, and made use of the runways for its communication and courier flights.
The 51st TCW HQ followed its groups to North Africa as part of Operation Torch in November 1942.
[edit] 354th Fighter Group
As troop carrier groups began arriving in the UK in late 1943 and being deployed in the Greenham Area, Greenham Common was one of the airfields utilised by the Ninth Air Force for fighter groups arriving from the United States.
On 4 November the 354th Fighter Group arrived from Portland AAF, Oregon and they were informed they were to fly the North American P-51B Mustang. This was a change of equipment for the group, as they had trained with Bell P-39 Airacobras. The Mustang was a far more capable aircraft, with excellent performance that was required to escort the heavy bomb groups of the Eighth Air Force.
The 354th FG stayed at Greenham Common for only a few days, being transferred to RAF Boxted in Essex on 13 November. Headquarters of Ninth Air Force's 70th Fighter Wing of IX Tactical Air Command arrived from Paine AAF, Washington at Greenham Common on 29 November, staying just a few days before also moving on to RAF Boxted on 6 December.
[edit] 368th Fighter Group
A few weeks later on 13 January 1944, the 368th Fighter Group from arrived from Farmingdale, New York, flying Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. They had the following fighter squadrons and fuselage codes:
- 395th Fighter Squadron (A7)
- 396th Fighter Squadron (C2)
- 397th Fighter Squadron (D3)
The 368th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 71st Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command.
On 14 March after two months at the base, 48 of the group's aircraft took off on their first combat mission, flying a fighter sweep over the coast of France. The group headquarters had previously been alerted to prepare to move to another base, as IX Troop Carrier Command finally required Greenham Common for a troop carrier group. The 368th FG moved to RAF Chilbolton the next day.
[edit] 438th Troop Carrier Group
Literally as the 368th FG was moving out, the 438th Troop Carrier Group was flying into Greenham Common from RAF Langar. Flying Douglas C-47 Skytrains, they had the following Troop Carrier squadrons and fuselage codes:
- 87th Troop Carrier Squadron (3X)
- 88th Troop Carrier Squadron (M2)
- 89th Troop Carrier Squadron (4U)
- 90th Troop Carrier Squadron (Q7)
The 368th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 53rd Troop Carrier Wing of IX Troop Carrier Command. The squadrons had 18 airplanes apiece, mostly C-47s but also a few C-53s. In addition to the airfield, the heathland immediately to the east, Greenham Common, was earmarked as an assembly point for CG-4A Waco Assault Gliders which were received from the US in packing crates. When assembled, the gliders were towed to the airfield runways for dispersal to other airfields.
Glider assembly averaged about 15 per day by the spring of 1944, increasing to 50 per day by September of that year. As at all troop carrier bases where the use of gliders was envisioned, some 800ft of Pierced Steel Planking (PSP) runway steel strips was laid at each of the main runway ends to allow the marshalling of gliders.
At Greenham Common the 438th TCG trained for and participated in airborne operations, flew resupply and reinforcement missions to combat zones, evacuated casualties, and hauled freight.
[edit] D-Day Operations
For its superior flying skills exhibited in extensive daylight and night training, the 438th TCG was selected to lead the IX Troop Carrier Command force in the American airborne landings in Normandy. Prior to the launch, both General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lt Gen Lewis H. Brereton, Ninth Air Force Commanding General, visited Greenham Common to watch preparations and speak with the troops of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment.
Eighty-one aircraft, divided into two serials of 36 and 45 aircraft and led by the 87th Troop Carrier Squadron (3X), took off from the main runway in 15 minutes, commencing at 23:48 hours on 5 June. Despite radio black-out, overloaded aircraft, low cloud cover and lack of marked drop zones, they carried 1,430 men of the US 101st Airborne Division's 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, who were dropped soon after midnight in the area northwest of Carentan. Glider-borne reinforcement missions followed, and for its determined and successful work the group received a Distinguished Unit Citation.
Losses amounted to one C-47 and a C-53, both lost to flak on 7 June.
[edit] Operation Dragoon
On 20 July the air echelons of the 87th, 88th and 89th Troop Carrier Squadrons departed for Canino airbase in Italy in preparation for the August invasion of Southern France, Operation Dragoon. In the invasion, the squadrons dropped paratroops and towed gliders that carried reinforcements. The group also hauled freight in Italy.
The 90th TCS stayed in the UK and operated from RAF Welford until the rest of the groups aircraft returned from Italy on 24 August.
In the absence of the 438th, the 316th Troop Carrier Group used Greenham Common as a forward base.
[edit] Operation Market-Garden
In September the 368th group helped to supply the Third Army in its push across France, and transported troops and supplies when the Allies launched the airborne operation in Holland.
As part of Operation Market Garden 90 aircraft from the 438th dropped 101st Airborne paratroopers near Eindhoven without loss on 17 September. The next day, 80 aircraft towed gliders again without loss of aircraft, although two gliders aborted and 11 C-47s suffered flak damage. However, when 40 C-47s towing 40 CG-4A Horsa Gliders left Greenham Common on 19 September, things did not go so well in adverse weather. Only half of the gliders were released in the landing zone area, and one C-47 was shot down and several gliders were lost.
A further glider mission by a similar number of aircraft fared no better and another C-47 was lost. Re-supply missions were flown on 20 September and on the 21st to Overasselt and on the 21st to Son.
During the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944 - Jan 1945), the group, again headed by the 87th Troop Carier Squadron, flew air supply missions to battle areas, including the first two flights into beleaguered Bastogne. In February 1945 the groups of the 53d TCW were moved to France, the 438th going to A-79 Advanced Landing Ground at Pronses.
On the continent, the 438th TCG used the following Advanced Landing Grounds:
- A-79 Pronses, France Feb 1945
- B-48 Amiens/Glisy, France May - 3 Aug 1945
The group evacuated Allied prisoners of war after V-E Day. It returned to Baer AAF Indiana on 16 September 1945.
[edit] Postwar RAF use
With the departure of the USAAF troop carrier squadrons, glider assembly continued on and off until April 1945; two of the airfield hangars were used for this work. In total, over 4,000 gliders were assembled at Crookham Common and flown out of Greenham.
The airfield continued to be used by Ninth Air Force until the RAF took control in June 1945. The RAF used the Greenham Common airfield as an RAF basic training centre until being closed in June 1946, with the facility being put into care and maintenance status.
The airfield was inactive for the next five years, and would probably have remained so but for the sudden escalation in tension between the Soviet Union and its World War II Western Allies in what later became known as the Cold War.
[edit] Cold War
In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, especially after the 1948 Berlin Blockade and the 1950 invasion of South Korea by Communist forces, it was decided to re-establish a strong American force in Europe. On 23 April 1951, RAF Greenham Common was made available to the United States Air Force by the British Ministry of Defence as a Strategic Air Command base, with joint operations with the Royal Air Force units.
The presence of American bombers in the United Kingdom lent credence to Sir Winston Churchill’s statement that their presence in the UK was the primary deterrent keeping the Soviets from overrunning Europe. However, the choice of Greenham Common was probably unwise, in view of the close proximity to Newbury and the inevitable complaints that arose about noise and disruption.
Between 1951 and 1953, major construction work was performed on the base, as postwar jet bombers required a much greater runway length for take off versus those of World War II, and SAC spent over £2m building a new 10,000ft runway that extended onto Greenham Common and across the A339. To give the desired 10,000 foot run, the A339 was diverted, and a new length of roadway was built to the south through Sandelford Common. In addition to the runway, massive new hardstandings were built, and extensive rebuilding also occurred for ramp areas and new structures.
Two 1,000ft overshoots were added to the runway in 1958. To the south-west of the runway, a new munitions area was built. Eight 1,000,000 gallon underground fuel tanks were also constructed at the base.
[edit] Strategic Air Command
In the post World War II years, the United States Strategic Air Command was based at three major airfields in eastern England: RAF Lakenheath, RAF Marham and RAF Sculthorpe. The increasing tension of the Cold War led to a re-evaluation of these deployments and a move further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Greenham Common, RAF Brize Norton, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford.
The airfield came under SAC's 7th Air Division, with the 3909th Combat Support Group as its administrative unit on the base, responsible for all non-flying activities as well as maintenance and logistical support of the flying units attached to RAF Greenham Common.
The initial bomber wing deployed was the 303d Bombardment Wing with B-47 Stratojets, arriving on 17 March 1954 from Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona. The 303d stayed just over a month, returning on 28 April 1954. This was the first of the short-term temporary duty deployments (TDY) from home bases in the US that continued intermittently over the next 10 years. Other known SAC deployments were:
- Greenham Common Task Force (Provisional) (1 November 1955 - UNK) (ERB-29Aa and RB-50G/Es) (Electronic Reconnaissance and Countermeasures) (TDY From 97th Bombardment Wing, Shilling AFB Kansas)
- 97th Air Refueling Squadron (5 May]] 1956 - 13 July 1956)(KC-97)
(TDY From 97th Bombardment Wing, Shilling AFB Kansas) - 310th Bombardment Wing (3 October 1956 - 9 January 1957) (B-47, KC-97)
(TDY Forbes AFB Kansas) - 40th Bombardment Wing (1 July 1957 - 1 October 1957) (B-47, KC-97)
(TDY Forbes AFB Kansas)
In April 1958 the 90-day detachments were replaced by a three-week Reflex Alert rotation, during which the bombers did not fly, reducing the noise considerably. The runways and dispersals were further strengthened for the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bomber, but none were based at Greenham.
From August 1960 the B-52 made periodic training visits, and a Convair B-58 Hustler arrived briefly in October 1963. Reflex operations by B-47 and KC-97s continued until1 April 1964.
Note: Many SAC Squadrons had aircraft at RAF Greenham Common on a transitory basis without any recorded deployment to the base.
The Strategic Air Command (SAC) departed Greenham common on June 30, 1964, much to the relief of the local residents; the thundering jet bombers of SAC came no more, and for several years it was used for USAF storage and as a relief base.
[edit] United States Air Forces in Europe
The political closure of US bases in France forced the reopening of RAF Greenham Common for air transport operations (Operation FRELOC) to handle materiel/personnel overflow beginning in early January 1967. In the autumn of 1967, Greenham Common was used for NATO Reforger exercises again as a result of the withdrawal of France from the NATO integrated military alliance.
On 1 November 1968 control of RAF Greenham Common was transferred from SAC to the United States Air Forces in Europe, with the 7551st Combat Support Group having administrative control of the base. However, the base was little used, primarily being utilised as a United States Military Postal Mail sorting facility, with aircraft flying mail in from the United States, being sorted at Greenham Common, then distributed to American bases in the UK and Europe. Mail from American forces in Europe was also sent to Greenham Common and sorted there, before being flown to the United States.
Beginning in 1973 the base became the home of the International Air Tattoo, a large scale international military airshow, since relocated to RAF Fairford, approximately 40 miles away.
The 20th Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Upper Heyford established "Operating Location A" at Greenham Common for its F-111 fighters in 1976, using the airfield occasionally for dispersal exercises.
In 1977 the USAF announced plans to reactivate the base to house KC-135 aerial refueling tankers, due to a lack of capacity at the KC-135's main UK base, RAF Mildenhall. This led to widespread local opposition, and in 1978 the British Defence Secretary vetoed the plan.
[edit] 501st Tactical Missile Wing
The Soviet deployment of the SS-20 missile from 1975 caused major concern in the NATO alliance. The longer range, greater accuracy, mobility and striking power of the new missile was perceived to alter the security of Western Europe. It was feared that the Soviet Union could launch a nuclear strike against Western Europe with a reduced threat of nuclear retaliation (i.e. compared to an attack on the continental United States). After discussions, NATO agreed to a two part strategy:
- To pursue arms control negotiations with the Soviet Union to reduce their and the American INF arsenals.
- To deploy in Europe from 1983 up to 464 Gryphon Ground Launched Cruise Missile or GLCMs, as well as 108 Pershing II ballistic missiles. (See also SLCM and ALCM).
The UK's share of this total was 160 missiles, 96 based at Greenham Common with four spares, and 64 at RAF Molesworth. When in June 1980 it was announced that RAF Greenham Common was to become the first site for cruise missiles, the outcry came more from Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament than the local populace.
Once more a massive new construction was undertaken as the GAMA (GLCM Alert and Maintenance Area) site was built in the southwest corner of the base. GAMA was a maximum security QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) area with 6 large above ground shelters in which fully operational cruise missiles were stored.
These shelters were specially designed and constructed to protect the GLCMs and crews against nuclear and conventional strikes. They were appx. 10m high, with a reinforced 2m thick concrete ceiling. Below was a massive titanium plate, 3m of sand and a reinforced concrete plate. The whole thing was completely covered with tons of clay. Each shelter was equipped with three hydraulic nuclear blast proof doors at both ends to assure a quick entry or exit. They could withstand the blast of any nuclear air explosion above the base or any full hit from a 2500lb conventional bomb.
Each shelter contained 2 LCC Launch Control Centers and 4 TEL transporter erector launchers. Each unit was mobile and supposed to leave the base in convoys to their secret preset dispersal sites. This would happen within minutes after the alert and the movement was via the local roads through the surrounding villages.
The first squadron of the 501st Tactical Missile Wing received its weapons in November 1983; they were flown onto the base by C-5As.
A series of meetings held during August and September 1986 culminated in a summit between United States President Ronald Reagan and the General Secretary of the CPSU Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavík, Iceland, on 11 October 1986. To the immense surprise of both men's advisers, the two agreed in principle to removing INF systems from Europe and to equal global limits of 100 INF missile warheads.
The United States and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987, which led to the removal of all nuclear missiles from the base. The last GLCMs at RAF Greenham Common were removed in March 1991, and the 501st TMW inactivated on 4 June 1991.
The base's last operational commander, Andrew Brookes, went on to become an aviation author.
[edit] Greenham Common Peace Camp
From 1981 "women's peace camps" were established in protest at the deployment of the cruise missiles. They came to be known as "The Greenham Women" or "peace women", and their 19-year protest drew worldwide media and public attention, often by cutting through the fences.
While the protesters were cutting fences at Greenham, RAF Welford (not far away) was being used to store equipment and allegedly also some of the missiles, as it had the ability to fly it in and out as well as possibly using road or rail links[citation needed].
[edit] USAF departure and closure
On September 11, 1992, the USAF returned Greenham Common airbase to the Ministry of Defence. On February 9, 1993 the Greenham Common airbase was declared surplus to requirements by the Secretary of State for Defence and the facility was closed and put up for sale.
With the departure of the cruise missiles and the subsequent closure of the base by the MOD in 1993, the peace camps remained at the site until September 2000 to ensure the base was closed and the land returned to the public. However, the protesters no longer attracted the attention of the media as they did during the 1980s when there were some 40 camps spread around the base perimeter.
[edit] Return to civilian use
On 24 March 1997 the land was purchased by the Greenham Common Trust for £7 million and returned to a variety of civilian uses. A business park, named New Greenham Park, is sited on one portion of the former airbase and as of 2002 housed over 150 businesses. Greenham Common Trust manages its investment in the business park to produce a sustainable income that is distributed to local charities, environmental and community projects, including the artist studios, gallery and performance space housed in New Greenham Arts.
Considerable efforts have been made to restore large areas of the Common to something approaching its former natural state. A major part of this has been the removal of the runway (except for one central section) and hardstandings which were used as fill for construction of the Newbury bypass.
The cruise missile storage silos have been fenced off and designated an Ancient Monument.
The Common is looked after by the Greenham and Crookham Conservation Volunteers. These volunteers try to protect this 278.61 hectare (688.45 acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest[1] and try to preserve the outstanding beauty of the common.
[edit] Alleged nuclear accident
On February 28, 1958 a B-47E of the 310th Bomb Wing developed problems shortly after takeoff and jettisoned its two 1,700 gallon external fuel tanks. They missed their designated safe impact area and one hit a hangar whilst the other struck the ground 65 feet behind a parked B-47E. The parked B-47E, which was fuelled with a pilot on board and carrying a 1.1 megaton (4.6 PJ) B28 thermonuclear free fall bomb, was engulfed by flames. The conflagration took sixteen hours and over a million gallons of water to extinguish, partly because of the magnesium alloys used in the aircraft. Although two men were killed and eight injured, the US and UK governments kept the accident secret – as late as 1985, the British Government claimed that a taxiing aircraft had struck a parked one and that no fire was involved.
Two scientists, F.H. Cripps and A. Stimson, who both worked for the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, alleged in a secret 1961 report, released by the CND in 1996, that the fire detonated the high explosives in the nuclear weapon, that plutonium and uranium oxides were spread over a wide area – foliage up to 8 miles (13 km) away was contaminated with uranium-235 – and that they had discovered high concentrations of radioactive contamination around the air base.[2]
However, a radiological survey commissioned in 1997 by Newbury District Council and Basingstoke and Deane found no evidence of a nuclear accident at Greenham Common. The 7-month long survey was carried out by the Geosciences Advisory Unit of Southampton University and combined a helicopter-mounted gamma ray detector survey with a ground-based survey. The team analysed nearly 600 samples taken from soil, lake sediment, borehole water, house dust, runway tarmac and concrete, looking for uranium and plutonium isotopes. No evidence of an accident involving nuclear weapons damage was found at the former airforce base, although the ground survey did detect some low-level uranium contamination around the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston thought to be derived from that facility, and the helicopter survey found some anomalies around Harwell Laboratory. [3]
[edit] See also
- List of RAF stations
- USAAF Eighth Air Force - World War II
- USAAF Ninth Air Force - World War II
- Strategic Air Command
- United States Air Forces in Europe
- United States Air Force in the United Kingdom
- Strategic Air Command in the United Kingdom
[edit] References
- Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
- Fletcher, Harry R. (1989) Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799536
- Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle ISBN 0900913800
- Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
- Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
- Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
- [1] Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of American Aircraft
- [2] www.armyairforces.com 367th Fighter Group, 354th, 368th, 438th Groups
- [3] USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to Present
- [4] Strategic-Air-Command.com
- ^ Greenham and Crookham Commons. English Nature. Retrieved on 2006-09-25.
- ^ The Distribution of Uranium 235 and Plutonium 239 around the United States Airforce base at Greenham Common, July 1961 by F H Cripps & A Stimson, AWRE,Aldermaston
- ^ Greenham Common given 'all-clear'-leaving childhood leukaemia clusters a mystery, Southampton University in-house newsletter New Reporter Vol 14, No 12, 10 March 1997
[edit] External links
- The BGM-109G Gryphon
- The short life of the Glick-em
- http://www.greenham.greatnow.com
- Greenham and Crookham Conservation Volunteers
- http://www.greenham-common.org.uk/
- Greenham Common given 'all-clear'-leaving childhood leukaemia clusters a mystery
- West Berkshire Council: Greenham and Crookham Common: A Timeline
- Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp
- Terp, Holger: Introduction to Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp Songbook
- http://www.greenham-common-trust.co.uk
- Further history on RAF Greenham Common, images and more links
- 2002 Tour of RAF Greenham Common
- Aerial Photo From Multimap.Com
- Google Maps Satellite View
- Photographs of RAF Greenham Common from the Geograph British Isles project
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