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 355th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-663512
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 461st Service Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39247131
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
- Role/Job: P51 Crew Chief
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 355th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-813154
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 355th Fighter Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Fighter pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 356th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-511937
- Highest Rank: Brigadier General
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot/Group Commander
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 4th Fighter Group 336th Fighter Squadron 355th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Suga
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 355th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Short-Snorter - The Stars Look Down
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 355th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Dee Laura Philly-Dillies
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 357th Fighter Group 353rd Fighter Squadron 364th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
- Unit: 354th Fighter Group 353rd 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