Mount Farm

Airfield
media-28841.jpeg UPL 28841 RAF Mount Farm

aaf accident report

Object Number - UPL 28841 - RAF Mount Farm

Originally a grass airfield satellite for the RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit at nearby RAF Benson, Mount Farm was built in 1940-1941. It had three concrete runways, 49 dispersals (24 concrete pan type plus 25 PSP squares), and eight blister hangars. The 13th Photographic Squadron of the Eighth Air Force moved in during February 1943, and its parent 7th Photographic Group was established at Mount Farm in July 1943. Handed back to the RAF in May 1945, the station was inactive and used temporarily by the Ministry of Supply for ex-War Department vehicle sales. The return to agriculture began in 1949 and the airfield was sold for farming in 1957. Part of the site was then bought for gravel extraction in 1961, and most of the concrete was lifted for hardcore. During 1960-62, the new village of Berinsfield was built on the western end of the site, where RAF and USAAF wartime buildings had been located.

Connections

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People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-874567
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Photographic Interpreter
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-659097
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-729809
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Pilot/Squadron Operations Officer
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-729812
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-78190
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

An F-5 Lightning (serial number 42-67132) of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group takes off from a snowy runway. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'P-38/F-5 Lightning.'
  • Aircraft Type: F-5 Lightning
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
The nose art of an F-5 Lightning nicknamed "Ginger Snap", of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group at Mount Farm. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group. Handwritten on slide case:"Ginger Snap R. Astrella"
  • Aircraft Type: F-5 Lightning
  • Nicknames: Ginger Snap
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
An F-5 Lightning of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group at Mount Farm. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group. Handwritten on slide case "NMF [Natural Metal Finish] F-5 Mount Farm 1944 268205 R Astrella"
  • Aircraft Type: F-5 Lightning
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
An F-5 Lightning nicknamed "International Geographic" - of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group taxying at Mount Farm. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group.Handwritten on slide case "International Geographic 268205 international geographic Mount Farm 1944 R.Astrella"
  • Aircraft Type: F-5 Lightning
  • Nicknames: International Geographic
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
A B-26 Marauder (K9-K, serial number 42-95892) of the 344th Bomb Group takes off at Mount Farm. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group . Written on slide casing: '344 BG, 7/44 Mount Farm.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-26 Marauder
  • Nicknames: The Mocus
  • Unit: 344th Bomb Group 494th Bomb Squadron

Revisions

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978)

Roger Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Manual (2nd edn, London, 2001)

Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Mount_Farm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berinsfield

Mount Farm: Gallery (318 items)