Type Military airfield In use 1943-1945 Year built 1943 | Code WT Occupants 404th Fighter Group Garrison Ninth Air Force | |
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Battles/wars European Theatre of World War II
Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 Controlled by United States Army Air Forces | ||
RAF Winkton is a former World War II airfield in Hampshire, England. The airfield is located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Christchurch; about 89 miles (143 km) southwest of London
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Opened in 1944, Winkton 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 British, Dominion 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.
USAAF use
While under USAAF control, Winkton was known as USAAF Station AAF-414 for security reasons, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its Station-ID was "WT".
404th Fighter Group
RAF Winkton saw the arrival of the USAAF 404th Fighter Group on 4 April 1944, the group arriving from Myrtle Beach AAF, South Carolina. The 404th had the following operational squadrons:
The 404th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 84th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command. It flew the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. On 6 July the 404th moved across the Channel to its Advanced Landing Ground at Chippelle (ALG A-5), France.
Current use
With the Americans moving to France, Winkton airfield was returned to agricultural use in the fall of 1944. In January 1945, the airfield was officially closed. Today, the land is unrecognizable as a former airfield. It can only be located by comparing the road network on aerial photographs taken when the airfield was active to the current network.
In 2009, there exists a private grass runway owned by Mr.I.C.Reid, who hangars his Moth biplane there.