RAF Chipping Ongar
Encyclopedia
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
airfield in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The airfield is located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Chipping Ongar
Chipping Ongar
Chipping Ongar is a small market town, and a civil parish called Ongar, in the Epping Forest district of the county of Essex, England. It is located East of Epping, South-East of Harlow and North-West of Brentwood.-Geography:...
; about 20 miles (32.2 km) northeast of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Opened in 1943, it was used by both the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and United States Army Air Force. During the war it was used primarily as a bomber airfield. After the war it was closed in 1959 after many years of being a reserve airfield
Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields.
Origins
Chipping Ongar airfield was one of 15 airfields in EssexEssex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
that was allocated to the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
by the Air Ministry in 1942. It was earmarked for heavy bomber use and built to the Class A airfield
Class A airfield
Class A airfields were military installations originally built for the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. Several were transferred to the U.S...
standard set by the Air Ministry, the main feature of which was a set of three converging runways each containing a concrete runway for takeoffs and landings, optimally placed at 60 degree angles to each other in a triangular pattern.
The airfield was mostly in the parish of Willingale and it was by this name that it was locally known. It was built by the U S Army 831st Engineer (Aviation) Battalion, which began work in late August 1942 and was still ongoing a year later. Runways consisted of a main of 6,000 feet being aligned 03/21, with two 4,200 feet secondary runways being aligned 09/27 and 15/3. An encircling perimeter track with 51 hardstands, 48 loops, two large loops and one pan type were also built.
The ground support station was constructed largely of Nissen hut
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...
s of various sizes. The support station was where the group and ground station commanders and squadron headquarters and orderly rooms were located. Also on the ground station were where the mess facilities; chapel; hospital; mission briefing and debriefing; armory and bombsite storage; life support; parachute rigging; supply warehouses; station and airfield security; motor pool and the other ground support functions necessary to support the air operations of the group. These facilities were all connected by a network of single path support roads.
The technical site, connected to the ground station and airfield consisted of at least two T-2 type hangars and various organizational, component and field maintenance shops along with the crew chiefs and other personnel necessary to keep the aircraft airworthy and to quickly repair light and moderate battle damage. Aircraft severely damaged in combat were sent to repair depots for major structural repair. The Ammunition dump was located on the west side of the airfield, outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens for storing the aerial bombs and the other munitions required by the combat aircraft.
Various domestic accommodation sites were constructed dispersed away from the airfield, but within a mile or so of the technical support site, also using clusters of Maycrete or Nissen huts. The Huts were either connected, set up end-to-end or built singly and made of prefabricated corrugated iron with a door and two small windows at the front and back. They provided accommodation for 2,770 personnel, including communal and a sick quarters.
During airborne operations, when large numbers of airborne parachutists were moved to the airfield, tents would be pitched on the interior grass regions of the airfield, or wherever space could be found to accommodate the airborne forces for the short time they would be bivouacked at the station prior to the operation.
USAAF use
The airfield was opened in the early spring of 1943 and was used by the United States Army Air Force EighthEighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
and Ninth
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
Air Forces.
Chipping Ongar was known as USAAF Station AAF-162 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. It's USAAF Station Code was "JC".
387th Bombardment Group (Medium)
Parts of the airfield were still under construction when the 387th Bombardment Group (Medium) arrived from Goodman AAFFort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties. It currently holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, United States Army Cadet...
Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
on 25 June 1943. The group was assigned to the 3d Bomb Wing and flew Martin B-26B/C Marauders
B-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
. The 387th was the fourth Marauder group to arrive in the UK. Operational squadrons of the 387th were:
- 556th Bombardment Squadron (FW)
- 557th Bombardment Squadron (KS)
- 558th Bombardment Squadron (KX)
- 559th Bombardment Squadron559th Bombardment SquadronThe 559th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 387th Bombardment Group. It was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey on 12 November 1945.-History:...
(TQ)
The 387th Bomb Group began combat on 15 August 1943 by joining with three other B-26 groups attacking coastal defences on the French Coast near Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
, and was mounted in thick fog. While taking off, one of the B-26 Bombers crashed at the end of the main runway, killing all of the crew except the tail gunner. The group concentrated its attacks on airfields during the first months of operations. In common with other Marauder units of the 3d Bomb Wing, the 387th was transferred to Ninth Air Force
Ninth Air Force
The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina....
on 16 October 1943.
The group made tactical strikes on V-weapon sites in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the winter of 1943-1944. Hit airfields at Leeuwarden
Leeuwarden Air Base
Leeuwarden Air Base is a military airbase used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force - Dutch: Koninklijke Luchtmacht , . The airbase is one of the two F-16 Fighting Falcon bases of the RNLAF...
and Venlo
Venlo
Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, next to the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg.In 2001, the municipalities of Belfeld and Tegelen were merged into the municipality of Venlo. Tegelen was originally part of the Duchy of Jülich centuries ago,...
during Big Week
Big Week
Between February 20–25, 1944, as part of the European strategic bombing campaign, the United States Strategic Air Forces launched Operation Argument, a series of missions against the Third Reich that became known as Big Week. The planners intended to lure the Luftwaffe into a decisive battle by...
, 20-25 February 1944, the intensive campaign against the German Air Force
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
and aircraft industry. Helped to prepare for the invasion of Normandy
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
by attacking coastal batteries and bridges in France during May 1944. Bombed along the invasion coast on 6 June 1944
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
and supported ground forces throughout the month by raiding railroads, bridges, road junctions, defended areas, and fuel dumps.
The 387th Bomb Group moved to RAF Stoney Cross
RAF Stoney Cross
RAF Station Stoney Cross is a former World War II airfield in the New Forest, Hampshire, England. The airfield is located approximately northwest of Lyndhurst and west of Southampton....
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
on 21 July 1944 when Ninth Air Force moved the 98th Bomb Wing's four Marauder groups into the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
area at the earliest opportunity to place them closer to the French Normandy Invasion
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
beaches.
During eight months of operations from Chipping Ongar airfield, the 387th flew 204 missions and lost 10 aircraft. After the group vacated the station, only a small USAAF station compliment unit remained. A few transport and light communications aircraft were occasionally observed on the airfield, but there was comparatively little flying.
During September 1944, the airfield was used temporarily by IX Troop Carrier Command as advanced C-47 base during Operation Market-Garden.
61st Troop Carrier Group
Troop carrier squadrons of the 61st Troop Carrier Group used the airfield on 24 March 1945, carrying British paratroops as part of Operation VarsityOperation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
, the airborne crossing of the Rhine River, who dropped near Wesel
Wesel
Wesel is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.-Division of the town:Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighoven, Ginderich, Feldmark,Fusternberg, Büderich, Flüren and Blumenkamp.-History:...
. Of the 80 aircraft dispatched, one pathfinder C-47 was lost.
RAF use
With the departure of the Americans, the airfield was never used again for military flying. Chipping Ongar was returned to RAF Bomber Command on 18 April 1945 being transferred to the Technical Training Command on 11 June becoming a satellite of RAF Hornchurch. However the airfield remained unoccupied until it was handed over to the War Office on 25 April 1946 reverting subsequently again to Technical Training Command as an inactive service station parented by RAF North Weald. On 26 October 1948 it was transferred again, this time to Reserve Command, still under the control of North Weald before finally being relinquished on 28 February 1959.Civil use
With the end of military control, Chipping Ongar airfield was reverted back to agricultural use.One of the large T-2 Hangars was dismantled and re-erected at North Weald airfield
North Weald Airfield
North Weald Airfield is an operational airfield, near the village of North Weald Bassett in Epping Forest, Essex, England. It was an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain, when it was known as the RAF Station RAF North Weald. It is the home of North Weald Airfield Museum...
. It is believed to be the one nearest the M11 motorway
M11 motorway
The M11 motorway in England is a major road running approximately north from the North Circular Road in South Woodford in north-east London to the A14, north-west of Cambridge.-Route:...
, and now used as a freight forwarding warehouse.
One pile of rubble on the former airfield is worthy of mention as it is the remains of East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
dwellings destroyed during the 1940/41 Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
and brought to Chipping Ongar to be used as hardcore for the airfield foundations. Some was left over and still remains, partly disguised by young fir trees.
In the mid-1960s the runways and other concreted areas were broken up for use as hardcore, much of which was used for the Brentwood bypass section of the A12. A section of the perimeter track and some loop dispersal hardstands are is still intact, connected to a small private landing strip converted from a straight section of the wartime perimeter, aligned 04/22, and one small section of a secondary full-width runway (09/27) on the southeast side . On the northeastern side, the Operations block, Norden Bombsight Store
Norden bombsight
The Norden bombsight was a tachometric bombsight used by the United States Army Air Forces and the United States Navy during World War II, and the United States Air Force in the Korean and the Vietnam Wars to aid the crew of bomber aircraft in dropping bombs accurately...
, and the base of the pilots' briefing room are grouped together, and are in quite good condition 51°43′53"N 000°18′09"E.