Warmwell

Airfield
Aerial photograph of Warmwell airfield looking east, the technical site is to the left, two Belman hangars are on the right, 25 July 1940. Photograph taken on sortie number RAF/225D/UK848. English Heritage (RAF Photography). eh-496.jpg RAF_225D_UK848_V_2685 Aerial photograph of Warmwell airfield looking east, the technical site is to the left, two Belman hangars are on the right, 25 July 1940. Photograph taken on sortie number RAF/225D/UK848. English Heritage (RAF Photography). Historic England

IWM, English Heritage Collection

Object Number - RAF_225D_UK848_V_2685 - Aerial photograph of Warmwell airfield looking east, the technical site is to the left, two Belman hangars are on the right, 25 July 1940. Photograph...

Originally named Woodsford, the station opened as a grass airfield Armament Practice Camp in 1937. Subject to a change of name in 1938, to avoid confusion with the Avro factory airfield of Woodford, RAF Warmwell was used as a training, fighter and ASR base until 1944. Although allocated to the Eighth Air Force in 1942 as a potential fighter base, it was never occupied by Eighth Air Force units. The airfield consisted of three grass strips, with six double pen, 12 single pen and 18 small pan hardstandings around the perimeter. There were two Bellman and eight blister hangars. Allocated to the Ninth Air Force in 1943, it was occupied by the 474th Fighter Group, equipped with P-38s, from March to August 1944, operating alongside the RAF’s resident Walrus amphibians. Primarily an RAF fighter training base from August 1944 to October 1945, the station closed in November 1945 and was sold in 1950. The site now includes the village of Crossways, developed on the wartime domestic site. The airfield became a quarry in 1973 and is now mostly covered with pits and lakes as a result of gravel extraction. The Control Tower survives as a private home, converted with a conventional tiled roof.

Connections

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English Heritage's Record Description

The site of a former World War Two military airfield now destroyed by quarrying and housing. The airfield was opened pre-war in 1937. It was constructed as a Practice Camp airfield for armament training purposes because of the site's proximity to existing bombing and gunnery ranges at Chesil Beach. It was initially known as RAF Woodsford but the name was changed to Warmwell to avoid confusion with a place name in Cheshire. It comprised grass landing surfaces and a hutted camp without the usual full range of pre-war expansion period airfields. However during World War Two between 1940-1944 the airfield became an important operational fighter station. As such was it was repeatedly bombed by the Luftwaffe in 1940-1941 during the Battle of Britain and "The Blitz". During the Battle it formed part of 10 Group and was the base for 152 Squadron. The airfield was later used by a number of units, prominent among them being 609 Squadron. In 1944 the airfield was handed to the 9th United States Army Air Force 474th Fighter Group, it was designated as USAAF Station 454 by the Americans. The airfield closed in 1945 and was sold off in 1950. A possible anti-aircraft gun site associated with the airfield has been recorded as UID 1427883.

People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 474th Fighter Group 430th Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 16136694 / O-773507
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 474th Fighter Group 428th Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-773529
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 474th Fighter Group 429th Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-763451
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 474th Fighter Group 428th Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 14100731 / O-803999
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Fighter pilot
Colonel Hubert Zemke of the 479th Fighter Group on the wing of a P-38 Lightning.
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Unit: 474th Fighter Group 428th Fighter Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-756022
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot

Aircraft

A P-38 Lightning (serial number 42-67402) of the 474th Fighter Group.
  • Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
  • Unit: 474th Fighter Group
P-38 Lightnings of the 474th Fighter Group in front of the control tower at Warmwell. Handwritten caption on reverse: '430th FS, 464th FG.'
  • Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
  • Unit: 474th Fighter Group 430th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
  • Nicknames: Hardtime
  • Unit: 474th Fighter Group 430th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
  • Unit: 474th Fighter Group 429th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
  • Nicknames: Connie & Butch Inc. Aboob
  • Unit: 364th Fighter Group 474th Fighter Group 383rd Fighter Squadron 428th Fighter Squadron

Revisions

Date
ContributorEmily
Changes
Sources

Historic England National Monument Record: SY 78 NE 25

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, Airfields of the Ninth Then and Now (London, 1994)

Chris Ashworth, Action Stations 5: Military Airfields of the South-West (London, 1982)

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

Warmwell: Gallery (9 items)