| Royal Air Force Station Woodchurch USAAF Station AAF-419 |
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| Located Near Woodchurch, Kent, United Kingdom | |
Woodchurch airfield nearing completion of construction, 13 March 1943. Both runways appear completed, however the technical and administrative areas are not yet ready for use. |
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| Type | Military airfield |
| Location code | WC |
| Built | 1943 |
| In use | 1943-1944 |
| Controlled by | Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces |
| Garrison | RAF Fighter Command Ninth Air Force |
| Occupants | Nos. 231 and 400 Squadrons 373d Fighter Group |
| Battles/wars | European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 RAF Woodchurch, shown within Kent
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RAF Station Woodchurch is a former World War II airfield in Kent, England. The airfield is located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Ashford; about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of London
Opened in 1943, Woodchurch was a prototype for the type of temporary Advanced Landing Ground type 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 used by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces. It was closed in September 1944.
Today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields with no recognizable remains.
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The USAAF Ninth Air Force required several temporary Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) along the channel coast prior to the June 1944 Normandy invasion to provide tactical air support for the ground forces landing in France.
Woodchurch 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 creation of the two runways required the closing of minor country roads and the laying of approximately 4,100 ft (1,200 m) of metal wire Sommerfeld Track for the east/west runway (11-29) and 5,000 ft (1,500 m) for the main north/south (01-19). Construction started in January 1943 with a three month schedule.
While most of the metal for runways appears to have been down by March it was several more weeks before all the specified works had been carried out to construct an operational airfield. 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.
A trial occupation began in late July 1943 with the arrival of Nos. 231 and 400 Squadrons with Mustangs. These units used Woodchurch airfield for operational sorties until mid-October when, as with RAF fighter squadrons on other Kent ALGs, they withdrew to airfields with hardened runways or better drainage.
RAF No. 5003 Airfield Construction Squadron arrived at Woodchurch during the winter of 1943-44 with a mission to upgrade the airfield to receive a full USAAF fighter group by April. The perimeter track was extended and additional aircraft hardstands constructed. Runway intersections were reinforced, marshalling areas and some additional hardstands were built. Aircraft cover was provided by five Blister hangars.
While under USAAF control, Woodchurch was known as USAAF Station AAF-419 for security reasons, and by which it was referred to instead of location. It's Station-ID was "WC".
In the first week of April 1944, the 373d Fighter Group arrived from Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia. Operational fighter squadrons and fuselage codes were:
The 373d Fighter Group was part of the 303d Fighter Wing, XIX Tactical Air Command.
By early May some 70 P-47s were present. At this time US engineers extended runway 11-29 by 900 ft (270 m) using Pierced Steel Planking to the east across a minor road between New Street Farm and Stubbs Cross. The road was only closed when aircraft were taking off or landing.
The group entered combat on 8 May with a fighter sweep over Normandy. The usual mixture of escorts and fighter-homber work followed while the pilots of this organisation gained experience.
As with other Ninth Air Force P-47 units, once the invasion had taken place, support of the armies by ground-attack became their prime mission. There was some contact with enemy aircraft and on 7 June six were credited as destroyed in a dogfight over Normandy. All told, 373rd pilots shot down 30 enemy aircraft while operating from Woodchurch. Losses amounted to 15 P-47s missing in action.
Movement to France took place in late July and most of the personnel and aircraft had left for Tour-en-Bessin (ALG A-13) by the 31st.
Woodchurch did not miss out as a haven for disabled bombers. On June 29, a 458th Bomb Group Liberator landed without its nosewheel down, causing irreparable damage to the aircraft and urgent work for the runway repair crew, and another ailing B-24 put down safely on 19 July.
Legacy
After the 373d moved to the Continent, the group struck railroads, hangars, boxcars, warehouses, and other objectives to prevent enemy reinforcements from reaching the front at St Lo, where the Allies broke through on 25 July 1944. The group attacked such targets as troops, gun emplacements, and armored vehicles to aid ground troops in the Falaise-Argentan area in August 1944.
During the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945, the group concentrated on the destruction of bridges, marshalling yards, and highways. Flew armed reconnaissance missions to support ground operations in the Rhine Valley in March 1945, hitting airfields, motor transports, and other objectives.
The 373d Fighter Group received a DUC for a mission, 20 March 1945, that greatly facilitated the crossing of the Rhine by Allied ground forces. Without losing any planes, the group repeatedly dived through barrages of antiaircraft fire to bomb vital airfields east of the river. It also attacked rail lines and highways leading to the Rhine, hitting rolling stock, motor transports, and other objectives.
The 373d Fighter Group continued tactical air operations until 4 May 1945, eventually being stationed at Furth Airfield (ALG R-10), Germany. The group returned to Sioux Falls AAF South Dakota during July and August 1945, being inactivated on 7 November.
After the Americans moved to France, the airfield was derequisitioned in September, the RAF works unit. No. 5024 ACS, appeared in the following weeks to remove the Sommerfeld Track, the Americans having already lifted the re-usable Pierced Steel Planking for use on the continent.
The area was fully returned to agriculture by the following year. Today, there is no physical evidence of the airfield, as the land has been redeveloped into either agricultural fields or meadows. The only way which the location of RAF Woodchurch can be determined is by comparing the road network on aerial photos of the airfield when it was active to the road network today.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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