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: 2044645
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot/Squadron Intel Officers
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-746201
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Photo Reconnaissance Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 25th Bomb Group 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 654th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 33331531
  • Highest Rank: Corporal (RAF)
  • Role/Job: Reconnaissance photographer
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-939046
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

A Mark XI Spitfire (serial number PA842) of the 14th Photographic Squadron, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group takes off past a Cessna UC-78 at Mount Farm Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group. Handwritten on slide case:"Spitfire PA842 Mount Farm Astrella"
  • Aircraft Type: Spitfire
  • Nicknames: Hot Toddy
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: Spitfire
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
A Mark XI Spitfire nicknamed "My Darling Dorothy" of the 14th Photographic Squadron, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group at Mount Farm. Image by Robert Astrella, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group. Handwritten on slide case:"14PS R. Astrella"
  • Aircraft Type: Spitfire
  • Nicknames: My Darling Dorothy
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: Spitfire
  • Unit: 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 14th Photographic Reconnaissance 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)