Raydon

Airfield
The lounge of the Officers Club at Raydon air base. When the 353rd Fighter Group were stationed there, it was known as "The Auger Inn". media-377050.jpg FRE 352 The lounge of the Officers Club at Raydon air base. When the 353rd Fighter Group were stationed there, it was known as "The Auger Inn". Roger Freeman Collection

IWM, Roger Freeman Collection

Object Number - FRE 352 - The lounge of the Officers Club at Raydon air base. When the 353rd Fighter Group were stationed there, it was known as "The Auger Inn".

Although never used as such, Raydon was built during 1942-43 as an Eighth Air Force bomber base, with three concrete runways, 50 loop and one pan hardstandings, and two dispersed T2 hangars. Initially on loan to the Ninth Air Force, it was first occupied by the 357th Fighter Group, equipped with P-51s, in November 1943. An exchange of aircraft types and bases was arranged, so in January 1944 the 357th transferred to the Eighth Air Force at Leiston, and the 358th Fighter Group, equipped with P-47s, transferred to the Ninth Air Force at Raydon. The 358th Fighter Group moved to High Halden in April 1944, when Raydon was handed back to the Eighth Air Force as the home of the 353rd Fighter Group, equipped with P-47s, which remained until October 1945. Handed over to the RAF in December 1945, the station closed in 1958 and mostly sold during 1960-62 for return to agriculture. The western T2 hangar remains in private ownership as a farm store. The eastern T2 hangar and other wartime buildings near it were retained by the Home Office for emergency vehicle storage until the 1980s, and remain in use as Notley Industrial Park.



Film footage of American airmen at Raydon is available through the East Anglian Film Archive: http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/933

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

English Heritage's Record Description

A World War Two military airfield, opened in 1943 and closed in 1958. The airfield was equipped with three concrete runways and two aircraft hangars (Type T2), one on each of the east and west sides. There were bomb stores and an ammunition dump on the north side of the airfield, the technical site was on the east side. Barracks sites were dispersed in fields further to the east. During World War Two, although constructed as a bomber airfield, the airfield was used by 357th and 358th Fighter Groups of the United States Army Air Force as Station 157. After the war flying ceased, part of the airfield was sold in 1954 and the rest of the airfield followed in 1958. The runways were mostly broken up in the 1960s. Thereafter most of the site has been used for agriculture though the technical site area was a Home Office motor transport park for emergency vehicles in the 1970s.

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 351st Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-793476
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 352nd Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-686712
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 350th Fighter Squadron 352nd Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 12046115 / O-793481
  • Highest Rank: Major
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 350th Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 19116242 / T-002133 / O-1995857
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 350th Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 12087429 / O-696678
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Mary Jayne
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 352nd Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Angel Of Mercy
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 351st Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Agony Wagon
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 361st Fighter Group 350th Fighter Squadron 375th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Lonesome Polecat IV Carolene
  • Unit: 353rd Fighter Group 351st Fighter Squadron

Revisions

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

Historic England, National Monument Record number TM 03 NE 28

Date
Changes
Sources

Associated media provided by Pete Mangold, son of T/Sgt. Carl Mangold

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Source: http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/933
Formerly linked to a duplicate record for Raydon by AAM website user Simon Green.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Freeman (3 books) + Bowyer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Raydon
+ http://wikimapia.org/18291131/Notley-Industrial-Park

Raydon: Gallery (122 items)