The airfield, two miles north-west of Great Dunmow, was built in 1942-1943 by the US Army's 818th Engineer Battalion (Aviation), alongside British contractors. B-26 Marauders of the 386th Bomb Group moved in in September 1943, and in October the Group transferred from the Eighth to the Ninth Air Force.

General Dwight D Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, made an official visit to the airfield in April 1944. Three months later, the resident 386th Bomb Group began trials of the new A-26 Invader bomber from Gt Dunmow.

In October 1944, the airfield was handed over to the RAF, serving as a base for Short Stirling transporters under 38 Group. The Stirlings were replaced with Handley Page Halifaxes in 1945.

After the war, Great Dunmow was used as a vehicle store, before the airfield was abandoned in 1948. Also in 1948, the Anglo-American Goodwill Association erected a memorial on the southern edge of the site to the crews that once flew from the airfield.