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.

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People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: Belgian
  • Service Numbers: 10600594 and O-2044527
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 20735235
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant (RAF)
  • Role/Job: Photographic Laboratory Technician
Lieutenant-Colonel George Lawson decorates Major Cecil T. Haugen, of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group at Mount Farm, in March 1944. caption on image: "Lt. Col. George Lawson Decorating Maj. Cecil T. Haugen ... Later killed near Mount Farm, Eng. in a Spit XI."
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-661833
  • Highest Rank: Major
  • Role/Job: Pilot
Major George Lawson congratulates his colleague of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group , Lieutenant Clark Hawes, after his first mission. Hawes is sat in the cockpit of his F-5 Lightning.
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-2044642
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group
  • Service Numbers: 33073648
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant

Aircraft

An F-5 Lightning (serial number 43-29009) of the 13th Photographic Squadron, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Groupat Mount Farm. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group. Handwritten on slide case:"F-5 009 13PS Mount Farm Astrella"
  • Aircraft Type: F-5 Lightning
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
A B-26 Marauder of the 25th Bomb Group.
  • Aircraft Type: B-26 Marauder
  • Unit: 25th Bomb Group 654th Bomb Squadron
An F-6 Mustang aircraft (serial number 44-1569) of the 13th Photographic Squadron, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group at Mount Farm. Fitted with drop fuel tanks. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group. Handwritten on slide case "Mount Farm R. Astrella"
  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
An P-51 Mustang (serial number 411748) ofthe 13th Photographic Squadron, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group prepares for take off at Mount Farm. The P-51's were to protect the F-5 photo-reconnaissance aircraft. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group. Handwritten on slide case:"P51K 411748 Mount Farm R .Astrella"
  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
A P-51 Mustang (serial number 44-13885, "War Weary") parked at Mount Farm. Used as a hack plane. Image by Robert Astrella of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group . Written on slide casing: '4 CBW 'hack' Mount Farm.'
  • Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
  • Nicknames: Lil Shusky
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group

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)