Lashenden
AirfieldIWM, English Heritage Collection
Close to but completely separate from RAF Headcorn, Lashenden was built for the RAF during 1942-43 as an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG), initially as a light bomber base and then as a training base for mobile fighter squadrons. Enlarged and improved for the Ninth Air Force during 1943-44, the station eventually had two BRC runways, 80 Sommerfeld Track hardstandings, and a Butler combat hangar plus supplementary blister hangars. Taken over by the 100th Fighter Wing in April 1944, the station was occupied by the 354th Fighter Group, equipped with P-51s, for only two months from April to June 1944. The airfield was then unused from July 1944 and closed in September 1944. Dismantling of the runways and buildings began in October 1944, and the site officially returned to agriculture from January 1945. However, during the 1960s part of the site was used again for private flying, and has since been developed into the multi-role Lashenden (Headcorn) Aerodrome. This is confusingly sometimes called simply Headcorn Aerodrome, although completely separate from the wartime ALG at Headcorn. The current Aerodrome has been home since 1970 to the Lashenden Air Warfare Museum.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 356th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-886128
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 353rd Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-730422
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot/Squadron Commander
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 362nd Fighter Group 378th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18214976 / O-714902
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Fighter pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 362nd Fighter Group 336th Fighter Squadron 379th Fighter Squadron No 133 'Eagle' Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-885246
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 356th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-730457
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Short-Fuse Sallee, Dunquerque
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 356th Fighter Squadron 369th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Peggy (starboard, Gil Talbot's GQ-I), Live Bait (port side, Gross)
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 479th Fighter Group 496th Fighter Training Group 355th Fighter Squadron 436th Fighter Squadron 554th Fighter Training Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Sonava Buggar El-Lobo
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 359th Fighter Group 356th Fighter Squadron 368th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: My Toni
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 355th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Prodigal Son, Feb-Apr 1944
- Unit: 356th Fighter Squadron 354th Fighter Group 4th Fighter Group 334th Fighter Squadron 355th Fighter Squadron
Revisions
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Ninth Then and Now (London, 1994)
Chris Ashworth, Action Stations 5: Military Airfields of the South-West (London, 1982)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lashenden_(Headcorn)_Airfield
http://www.maconcerts.co.uk/venue-pdfs/History%20of%20Lashenden.pdf