| Royal Air Force Station Weston Zoyland USAAF Station AAF-447 |
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|---|---|
| Located Near Bridgwater, Somerset, United Kingdom | |
Weston Zoyland airfield, 22 April 1944. Devoid of aircraft prior to the 442d Troop Carrier Group moving in during June. |
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| Type | Military airfield |
| Location code | ZW |
| Built | 1942 |
| In use | 1942-1947 |
| Controlled by | Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces |
| Garrison | RAF Transport Command Ninth Air Force |
| Occupants | No. 525 Squadron 442d Troop Carrier Group |
| Battles/wars | European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 Map showing the location of RAF Weston Zoyland within Somerset.
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RAF Station Weston Zoyland is a former World War II airfield in Somerset, England. The airfield is located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) east-southeast of Bridgwater; about 125 miles (201 km) west-southwest of London
Opened in 1944, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force. During the war it was used primarily as transport airfield. After the war it was used as a reserve RAF Fighter Command airfield until 1958.
Today the remains of the airfield are a mixture of farmland and a base for Civil Air Patrol activities.
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Weston Zoyland airfield originated in the mid-1920s as a landing ground, being in use by 1926 for drogue tugs using the anti-aircraft gunnery range off Watchet in the Bristol Channel. At first, it was no more than an extended cow pasture, subject only to seasonal use until the Second World War loomed, when the site was occupied on a permanent basis. During the pre-war years, buildings were erected piecemeal as required and the landing ground area gradually enlarged but, with the fall of France, Weston Zoyland was no longer a backwater airfield.[1]
To obtain the necessary amount of land for siting runways of sufficient length, the A372 to Othery was closed and diverted south on a former minor road.
In 1942, the Air Ministry decided to upgrade the airfield to bomber standard and, early in 1943, work began on laying concrete runways and the perimeter track to the Class A airfield standard, the main feature of which was a set of three converging runways each containing a concrete runway for takeoffs and landings, optimally placed at 60 degree angles to each other in a triangular pattern.[2]
The airfield runways were a main of 5.775 ft at 11/29, and ancillaries of 3,564 ft at 05/23 and 4,101 ft at 16/34. Two hardstands were of 150 ft diameter pans and there were 33 loops connecting to an enclosing perimeter track, of a standard width of 50 feet.[1]
The ground support station was constructed largely of Nissen huts of various sizes. The support station was where the group and ground station commanders and squadron headquarters and orderly rooms were located. Also on the ground station were where the mess facilities; chapel; hospital; mission briefing and debriefing; armory and bombsite storage; life support; parachute rigging; supply warehouses; station and airfield security; motor pool and the other ground support functions necessary to support the air operations of the group. These facilities were all connected by a network of single path support roads.
The technical site, connected to the ground station and airfield consisted of a mixture of hangars consisting of three T-2s (two of 13 bays one of 14 bays), one Bellman, one Bessonneau hangar and nine Blisters. It also included various organizational, component and field maintenance shops along with the crew chiefs and other personnel necessary to keep the aircraft airworthy and to quickly repair light and moderate battle damage. Aircraft severely damaged in combat were sent to repair depots for major structural repair. The Ammunition dump was located on the northwest side of the airfield, outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens.
Various domestic accommodation sites were constructed to the northwest the airfield, but within a mile or so of the technical support site, also using clusters of Maycrete or Nissen huts. The Huts were either connected, set up end-to-end or built singly and made of prefabricated corrugated iron with a door and two small windows at the front and back. They provided accommodation for 1,530 personnel, including communal and a sick quarters.
While this work was in progress. the airfield continued to be used by anti-aircraft co-operation units and the occasional Mustang squadron but in September, when the runways were ready, RAF Transport Command stepped in and formed No. 525 Squadron to operate Vickers Warwicks. No. 525 stayed for most of the winter, moving to RAF Lyneham in February 1944, where it eventually switched over to the C-47 Skytrain/DC-3 Dakota.
Although not previously allocated for US Ninth Air Force use, IX Troop Carrier Command wished to move the four C-47 groups of 50th Troop Carrier Wing from the Leicester-Grantham area to the southwest where they would be closer to the units of the 101st Airborne Division which they were to lift during the invasion. In consequence, the Air Ministry made available suitably sited airfields including Weston Zoyland. All RAF flying units had moved out. Meanwhile, in common with most other bases designated for troop carrier use, US engineers laid some 500 ft of Pierced Steel Planking (PSP) each side of the main runway heads and camp beds were set up in the hangars to accommodate the paratroops.
Weston Zoyland was known as USAAF Station AAF-447 for security reasons during the war while under American control, and by which it was referred to instead of location. It's Station-ID was "ZW".
There was a long delay before the allocated unit, the 442d Troop Carrier Group arrived after D-Day from RAF Fulbeck. Its operational squadrons were:
The 442d was a group of Ninth Air Force's 50th Troop Carrier Wing, IX Troop Carrier Command.
The Douglas C-47/C-53 Skytrains of the group did not move in until 12/13 June although elements of the group had visited Weston Zoyland during the precceding weeks. With 50 C-47s on the airfield, there was a shortage of aircraft standings and, while many aircraft were parked on the turf, additional PSP standings were put down in case of wet weather.
Haulage of freight to the Continent and casualty evacuation occupied the 442nd until mid-July when the air echelons of three squadrons (303d, 304th, 305th) were sent to Follonica airfield in Italy from where they look part in the air drops for the invasion of southern France in August.
In their absence, the 306th TCS continued with air haulage to and from France, being temporarily based at RAF Ramsbury for two weeks prior to the return of the MTO detachment on 24 August.
For Operation "Market", the 442nd TCG air echelon moved to an advanced base at RAF Chilbolton to give better range and operated temporarily as part of 53rd TCW. The group suffered 13 crew casualties and lost 10 C-47s during the missions in support of the air operations over Holland, all of which were flown from Chilbolton.
It was then hack to supply carrying until the group was alerted that it would be going to its Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) Peray Airfield (ALG A-44) France. The main party moved out between 4/6 October, the 442nd being the last of the 50th TCW groups to leave its English base. Although some US personnel remained until late that month, this was Weston Zoyland's last connection with the Ninth Air Force.
Legacy
From France the group flew resupply missions, hauling freight, and evacuating casualties in support of the Allied effort to breach the Siegfried Line. Continued transport duties until V-E Day but also participated in the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945 by releasing gliders filled with troops. The group carried supplies to ground forces in Germany (April-May), and evacuated prisoners who had been liberated.
Remained in the theater as part of occupation force after the war as part of United States Air Forces in Europe. Inactivated at Munich airfield Germany on 30 September 1946.
The station had never been officially transferred from the RAF and the anti-aircraft support units were quick to return. Several Squadrons were based at Weston Zoyland, but the longest stay was by No. 16 Squadron RAF who flew Lysanders,[3] and later with the P-51 Mustang. Later Spitfires became a common sight being flown by No. 19 Squadron RAF and others.[1] Nos. 286 and 587 Squadrons with their mixture of Martinets. Hurricanes. Oxfords, Vengeances and Harvards remained in residence until near the end of hostilities.[1] 587 was formed at RAF Weston Zoyland, on 1 December 1943, from 1600 Flight, 1601 Flight and 1625 Flight for anti-aircraft co-operation duties over Wales and the south east of England. It operated a variety of aircraft in this role. Due to the ongoing training requirement the squadron was not disbanded at the end of the war and it moved to RAF Tangmere on 1 June 1946 to cover the south coast, but was disbanded shortly afterwards on the 15 June 1946.[4]
Four fighter squadrons came and departed during the months following the end of the war in Europe but by 1947 the station was reduced to care and maintenance.[1]
There was virtually no further flying at Weston Zoyland until the summer of 1952 when, to meet the Soviet threat. an increase in the RAF's strength and a demand for more aircrews found Meteors and Vampires operating in a training role.
Canberra squadrons were present during the mid 1950s when Weston Zoyland was used as a work-up station prior to overseas assignments. By 1958 the station was once more deserted of aircraft and, although retained by the Air Ministry for another ten years, it never reopened for military flying. Some of these Canberras flew out to Australia to take part in the British atomic tests at Montebello Islands.[1]
Upon its release from military use, in the 1960s, the A372 was restored to near its original route by utilizing a considerable length of the former main runway.[1] The former secondary runways are clearly evident in aerial photography, although most of the concrete has been removed. The former perimeter track has been reduced to a single-lane agricultural road with the pan and loop dispersal hardstands all being removed. Several derelict buildings still remain, including the control tower and a large cluster to the northwest of the perimeter, including the base of what appears to be the remains of two large J-Type hangars and a support site. No evidence of the Pierced Steel Planking extensions to the runways remain nor of an Ammunition dump.
In the late 60s, local people used the base's squash courts.
Although much of the airfield is no longer usable for aviation purposes, Westonzoyland Airfield is in use for Microlights which uses the northwest half of the 16/34 runway, and is a base for the Sky Watch Civil Air Patrol (SWCAP).
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.