Staplehurst
Airfield
IWM, English Heritage Collection
Object Number - RAF_106G_UK_1377_V_5048 - Aerial photograph of Staplehurst airfield looking south, the technical site is along the bottom of the main runway, 4 April 1946. Photograph taken by...
Built during 1943 as an Advanced Landing Ground (ALG), Staplehurst was used briefly by RAF fighter squadrons during August to October 1943 and then allocated to the Ninth Air Force. Developed and improved during the winter of 1943-44, the station eventually had two Sommerfeld Track runways with BRC intersections, 70 Sommerfeld Track and BRC hardstandings, one Butler combat hangar and four blister hangars. It was occupied by the 363rd Fighter Group, equipped with P-51s, from April to July 1944, but was then unused until the airfield closed in September 1944. Dismantled during the winter of 1944-45, the site was released by the Air Ministry in January 1945 and quickly returned to agriculture.
Connections
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People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 363rd Fighter Group 380th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17012723 / O-431134
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Squadron Commander
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 363rd Fighter Group 364th Fighter Group 1st Scouting Force 380th Fighter Squadron 385th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-820309
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 363rd Fighter Group 405th Fighter Group 382nd Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-701798
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 363rd Fighter Group 381st Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-748782
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 363rd Fighter Group 380th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-748787
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Unit: 363rd Fighter Group 381st Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Unit: 363rd Fighter Group 4th Fighter Group 336th Fighter Squadron 380th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Sweet N Hot
- Unit: 309th Service Group 352nd Fighter Group 363rd Fighter Group 382nd Fighter Squadron 463rd Service Squadron 487th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Unit: 363rd Fighter Group 4th Fighter Group 334th Fighter Squadron 381st Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Unit: 363rd Fighter Group 381st 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)