RAF Ramsbury
Encyclopedia
RAF Station Ramsbury is a former World War II
airfield in Wiltshire
, England. The airfield is located approximately 5 miles (8 km) east-northeast of Marlborough; about 70 miles (112.7 km) west of London
. Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force
and United States Army Air Force. During the war it was used primarily as a transport airfield. After the war it was closed in 1946. Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields.
However before the arrival of the USAAF, the airfield was occupied by an RAF training unit, equipped with Airspeed Oxford
s, who taught the pilots the rudimentary skills needed to control multi-engined aircraft. The unit was Number 15 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (15 [P] AFU) and while at Ramsbury large numbers of British
, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand
and South African pilots passed through the school.
Ramsbury also had its own Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) contingent, who were employed as parachute packers, cooks, drivers, storekeepers and administrators.
The airfield was built to the Class A airfield
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. Three concrete runways were laid, the main of 6,000 ft being aligned 08/26, with the auxiliaries 3.300 ft aligned 02/20 and 3,170 ft at 14/32. The hardstands were 33 pan type of which five were eliminated when 20 loops and perimeter track extensions were added late in the construction program.
The ground support station was constructed largely of Nissen hut
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 outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens.
Various domestic accommodation sites were constructed dispersed away east of 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 2,365 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.
arrived from Westover Army Airfield, Massachusetts
on 18 August 1942. Operational squadrons of the group were:
The unit was temporarily assigned to the VIII Air Support Command
for training at Ramsbury, and the group conducted an extensive training program while flying cargo, passengers, and courier missions for several months, before leaving with paratroopers for Operation Torch
, the invasion of North Africa
on 9 November 1942, being deployed to Blida Airfield, Algeria
.
With the departure of the 64th TCG, the RAF used the airfield from November 1942 to October 1943 being used by No.15 (Pilot) Advanced Training Flying Unit, equipped with Airspeed Oxford
trainers.
provisional Troop Carrier Command. It was subsequently transferred to the Ninth Air Force
in November 1943 when a USAAF Station Complement Squadron appeared.
From November 1943 to January 1944, the airfield was used by the air echelons of the 434th and 435th Troop Carrier Groups from RAF Fulbeck
and RAF Langar
with C-47s and C-53s. The groups conducted exercises with the 101st Airborne Division
.
On 5 February 1944 the 437th Troop Carrier Group moved to Ramsbury from RAF Balderton
. Operational squadrons of the group were:
The 437th was a group of Ninth Air Force
's 53d Troop Carrier Wing
, IX Troop Carrier Command
.
The 437th TCS flew a combination of Douglas C-47s and C-53 Skytrains
. From Ramsbury the group began preparing for the Normandy invasion
with a mission to train with an element of the 82nd Airborne Division. For the Airspeed Horsa
and Waco CG-4A gliders that were delivered to Ramsbury, areas of Pierced Steel Planking
were put down for marshalling purposes at the end of the main runway.
On the 437th's first operation, in support of the Normandy landings
, 52 C-47s were despatched in moonlight with troop carrying Waco gliders. The gliders were released south of Cherbourg with the object of isolating the western end of the invasion bridgehead, but poor weather and anti-aircraft fire disrupted the formations causing the glider landings to be somewhat scattered.
A follow-up mission with 26 C-47s towing 18 Horsas and eight Wacos was run from Ramsbury later on the 6th and another on the 7th with 50 tugs and 50 gliders carrying reinforcements of troops, antiaircraft pieces, ammunition, rations, and other supplies for 82nd Airborne Division. For its work during this period the 437th was later awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation.
A detachment was sent to Montala airfield in Italy
on 19 July 1944 for the Invasion of Southern France
in August. It dropped paratroops over the assault area on 15 Augugt, flew a resupply mission on the following day, and in the weeks prior to the airborne forces' operation on August, supplies were hauled to Rome
but the C-47s of the 437th returned to Ramsbury on August 23d.
Meanwhile, the remainder of the 437th had been busy supporting the advancing ground forces in France, in desperate need of ammunition, and had been joined by the 93rd and 306th TCSs on August 7. these units staying until the 16th and 24th respectively. Ramsbury was frequently used by C-47s of other Troop Carrier Groups to collect supplies of ammunition for the US Army for delivery to France.
During the airborne attack on Holland, 17–25 September 1944, two 437th flights, both comprising 35 C-47s towing a CG-4A each, brought up the rear of the IX Troop Carrier task force for the 101st Airborne Division
.
The enemy anti-aircraft defences, fully alerted. shot down five C-47s and ten gliders were also lost. A total of 24 C-47s in the first flight suffered flak damage and 22 in the second. Despite these losses and damage, the group was able to despatch a follow-up mission to Son next day with one flight of 40 and another of 30 aircraft, each towing a glider. This time fate was kinder as only one C-47 in each formation received flak damage and none were lost, although four gliders aborted and another ditched in the sea.
The 437th was stood down on the 19th but on the 20th it new 82 aircraft in a re-supply mission to Overassclt. A further re-supply mission was attempted on the 21st but only 12 of the 15 aircraft despatched were able to drop their parapacks to the 101st Airborne at Son.
t was then hack to hauling supplies to France and Belgium and evacuating wounded to England with a particularly hectic period during the Battle of the Bulge
.
In February 1945 the group moved to its Advanced Landing Ground
at Coulommiers/Voisins, France (ALG A-58) when several former Luftwaffe
airfields were restored to operational use for action during the air assault across the Rhine
.
Legacy
From its ALG at Coulommiers/Voisins, France 437th TCG aircraft towed two gliders over the east bank and released them near Wesel
on 24 March 1945.
The group flew numerous missions in March and April to carry gasoline, food, medicine, and other supplies to ground forces pushing across Germany
. When not participating in one of the major airborne operations, the organization continually transported ammunition, rations, clothing, and other supplies, and evacuated wounded personnel to rear-zone hospitals.
Evacuated prisoners of war and displaced persons to relocation centers after V-E Day.
The group returned to Baer Field, Indiana
in August 1945, and was inactivated at Marfa AAFld, Texas
on 15 November.
Ramsbury was retained by IX TCC as a reserve base until the end of hostilities, finally relinquishing it to the RAF in June 1945.
In 1946, Ramsbury was briefly used by RAF Flying Training Command 23 Group flying Oxfords from January to March. However, the airfield was closed and a care and maintenance party and no further military units took up station.
With more airfields on its books than it knew what to do with, the Air Ministry was not long in disposing of the facility.
Today outlines of the main runways can be discerned on aerial photography, with the perimeter track being reduced largely to a single lane agricultural road. None of the extensive amount of dispersal pads to the southwest of the airfield remain, and there is no evidence of any of the hangars or the technical site. A VERY short piece of the end of 32 runway can be seen where the concrete is still at full width, just at the intersection of what once was the perimter track.
A rather large poultry farm has been erected at the intersection of the 32 end of the NW/SE and 02 end of the NE/SW runways. Several runoff retention ponds are visible with many metal storage silos.
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 Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England. The airfield is located approximately 5 miles (8 km) east-northeast of Marlborough; about 70 miles (112.7 km) west 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 1942, 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 transport airfield. After the war it was closed in 1946. Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields.
Overview
Construction of Ramsbury airfield began in mid-1941 and the majority of the work was completed by August 1942. When originally built Ramsbury airfield was intended for use by RAF operational training units, but on 11 June 1942 it was one of the 13 bases allocated to the USAAF for use by transport and observation squadrons.However before the arrival of the USAAF, the airfield was occupied by an RAF training unit, equipped with Airspeed Oxford
Airspeed Oxford
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:...
s, who taught the pilots the rudimentary skills needed to control multi-engined aircraft. The unit was Number 15 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (15 [P] AFU) and while at Ramsbury large numbers of British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and South African pilots passed through the school.
Ramsbury also had its own Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) contingent, who were employed as parachute packers, cooks, drivers, storekeepers and administrators.
The airfield was 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. Three concrete runways were laid, the main of 6,000 ft being aligned 08/26, with the auxiliaries 3.300 ft aligned 02/20 and 3,170 ft at 14/32. The hardstands were 33 pan type of which five were eliminated when 20 loops and perimeter track extensions were added late in the construction program.
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 outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens.
Various domestic accommodation sites were constructed dispersed away east of 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 2,365 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
Ramsbury was known as USAAF Station AAF-469 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 "RY".64th Troop Carrier Group
The airfield itself was fairly complete when the first operational users of Ramsbury arrived. The USAAF Twelfth Air Force 64th Troop Carrier Group, equipped with Douglas C-47s and C-53sC-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
arrived from Westover Army Airfield, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
on 18 August 1942. Operational squadrons of the group were:
- 16th Troop Carrier Squadron16th Airlift SquadronThe 16th Airlift Squadron is one squadron of four active duty C-17A Globemaster III squadrons at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina....
- 17th Troop Carrier Squadron517th Airlift SquadronThe 517th Airlift Squadron is part of the 3d Wing at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. It operates C-12 Huron and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft providing airlfit in the Pacific theater.-Mission:...
- 18th Troop Carrier Squadron18th Air Refueling SquadronThe 18th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 931st Air Refueling Group at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. It operates the KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting aerial refueling missions.-History:...
- 35th Troop Carrier Squadron
The unit was temporarily assigned to the VIII Air Support Command
VIII Air Support Command
The VIII Air Support Command is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with Eighth Air Force, stationed at Sunninghill, Berkshire, England. It was inactivated on 1 December 1943....
for training at Ramsbury, and the group conducted an extensive training program while flying cargo, passengers, and courier missions for several months, before leaving with paratroopers for Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
, the invasion of North Africa
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
on 9 November 1942, being deployed to Blida Airfield, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
With the departure of the 64th TCG, the RAF used the airfield from November 1942 to October 1943 being used by No.15 (Pilot) Advanced Training Flying Unit, equipped with Airspeed Oxford
Airspeed Oxford
The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford was a twin-engine aircraft used for training British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombing and gunnery during the Second World War.-Design and development:...
trainers.
434th/435th Troop Carrier Groups
Through the winter of 1942-43, Oxfords came and went, an activity that continued until the following October when the airfield, which was assigned to the Eighth Air ForceEighth 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....
provisional Troop Carrier Command. It was subsequently transferred to the 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....
in November 1943 when a USAAF Station Complement Squadron appeared.
From November 1943 to January 1944, the airfield was used by the air echelons of the 434th and 435th Troop Carrier Groups from RAF Fulbeck
RAF Fulbeck
RAF Station Fulbeck is a former World War II airfield in Lincolnshire, England. The airfield is located approximately east-northeast of Radcliffe on Trent; about north-northwest of London...
and RAF Langar
RAF Langar
RAF Station Langar is a former military airfield on the border of Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire near the village of Langar in England. The airfield is located approximately east-southeast of Radcliffe on Trent; about north-northwest of London...
with C-47s and C-53s. The groups conducted exercises with the 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division (United States)
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
.
437th Troop Carrier Group
RAF Balderton
thumb|Douglas C-47A of the 84th Troop Carrier Squadron.thumb|Douglas C-47A-80-DL Serial 43-15159 of the 94th Troop Carrier Squadron in Normady Invasion Markings.RAF Balderton was a World War II airfield in England...
. Operational squadrons of the group were:
- 83d Troop Carrier Squadron (T2)
- 84th Troop Carrier Squadron (Z8)
- 85th Troop Carrier Squadron (90)
- 86th Troop Carrier Squadron (5K)
The 437th was a group of 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....
's 53d Troop Carrier Wing
53d Troop Carrier Wing (World War II)
The 53d Troop Carrier Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the IX Troop Carrier Command, based at Camp Shanks, New York. It was inactivated on 12 August 1945....
, IX Troop Carrier Command
IX Troop Carrier Command
The IX Troop Carrier Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946...
.
The 437th TCS flew a combination of Douglas C-47s and C-53 Skytrains
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
. From Ramsbury the group began preparing for the 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...
with a mission to train with an element of the 82nd Airborne Division. For the Airspeed Horsa
Airspeed Horsa
The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British World War II troop-carrying glider built by Airspeed Limited and subcontractors and used for air assault by British and Allied armed forces...
and Waco CG-4A gliders that were delivered to Ramsbury, areas of Pierced Steel Planking
Marsden Matting
Marsden Matting is standardized, perforated steel matting material originally developed by the United States at the Waterways Experiment Station shortly before World War II, primarily for the rapid construction of temporary runways and landing strips...
were put down for marshalling purposes at the end of the main runway.
On the 437th's first operation, in support of the Normandy landings
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...
, 52 C-47s were despatched in moonlight with troop carrying Waco gliders. The gliders were released south of Cherbourg with the object of isolating the western end of the invasion bridgehead, but poor weather and anti-aircraft fire disrupted the formations causing the glider landings to be somewhat scattered.
A follow-up mission with 26 C-47s towing 18 Horsas and eight Wacos was run from Ramsbury later on the 6th and another on the 7th with 50 tugs and 50 gliders carrying reinforcements of troops, antiaircraft pieces, ammunition, rations, and other supplies for 82nd Airborne Division. For its work during this period the 437th was later awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation.
A detachment was sent to Montala airfield in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
on 19 July 1944 for the Invasion of Southern France
Operation Dragoon
Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...
in August. It dropped paratroops over the assault area on 15 Augugt, flew a resupply mission on the following day, and in the weeks prior to the airborne forces' operation on August, supplies were hauled to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
but the C-47s of the 437th returned to Ramsbury on August 23d.
Meanwhile, the remainder of the 437th had been busy supporting the advancing ground forces in France, in desperate need of ammunition, and had been joined by the 93rd and 306th TCSs on August 7. these units staying until the 16th and 24th respectively. Ramsbury was frequently used by C-47s of other Troop Carrier Groups to collect supplies of ammunition for the US Army for delivery to France.
During the airborne attack on Holland, 17–25 September 1944, two 437th flights, both comprising 35 C-47s towing a CG-4A each, brought up the rear of the IX Troop Carrier task force for the 101st Airborne Division
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
.
The enemy anti-aircraft defences, fully alerted. shot down five C-47s and ten gliders were also lost. A total of 24 C-47s in the first flight suffered flak damage and 22 in the second. Despite these losses and damage, the group was able to despatch a follow-up mission to Son next day with one flight of 40 and another of 30 aircraft, each towing a glider. This time fate was kinder as only one C-47 in each formation received flak damage and none were lost, although four gliders aborted and another ditched in the sea.
The 437th was stood down on the 19th but on the 20th it new 82 aircraft in a re-supply mission to Overassclt. A further re-supply mission was attempted on the 21st but only 12 of the 15 aircraft despatched were able to drop their parapacks to the 101st Airborne at Son.
t was then hack to hauling supplies to France and Belgium and evacuating wounded to England with a particularly hectic period during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
.
In February 1945 the group moved to its Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...
at Coulommiers/Voisins, France (ALG A-58) when several former Luftwaffe
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....
airfields were restored to operational use for action during the air assault across the Rhine
Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
.
Legacy
From its ALG at Coulommiers/Voisins, France 437th TCG aircraft towed two gliders over the east bank and released them 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:...
on 24 March 1945.
The group flew numerous missions in March and April to carry gasoline, food, medicine, and other supplies to ground forces pushing across Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. When not participating in one of the major airborne operations, the organization continually transported ammunition, rations, clothing, and other supplies, and evacuated wounded personnel to rear-zone hospitals.
Evacuated prisoners of war and displaced persons to relocation centers after V-E Day.
The group returned to Baer Field, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
in August 1945, and was inactivated at Marfa AAFld, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
on 15 November.
Ramsbury was retained by IX TCC as a reserve base until the end of hostilities, finally relinquishing it to the RAF in June 1945.
RAF Transport/Flying Training Command use
RAF Transport Command moved in the glider pick-up unit in August to carry out training along the lines pioneered by IX TCC using Dakotas and Hadrians (C-47s and CG-4As). Interest was short-lived and the unit was disbanded at Ramsbury in November.In 1946, Ramsbury was briefly used by RAF Flying Training Command 23 Group flying Oxfords from January to March. However, the airfield was closed and a care and maintenance party and no further military units took up station.
With more airfields on its books than it knew what to do with, the Air Ministry was not long in disposing of the facility.
Civil use
With the end of military control Ramsbury was returned agricultural use. By the mid-1960s, much of the concrete had been removed.Today outlines of the main runways can be discerned on aerial photography, with the perimeter track being reduced largely to a single lane agricultural road. None of the extensive amount of dispersal pads to the southwest of the airfield remain, and there is no evidence of any of the hangars or the technical site. A VERY short piece of the end of 32 runway can be seen where the concrete is still at full width, just at the intersection of what once was the perimter track.
A rather large poultry farm has been erected at the intersection of the 32 end of the NW/SE and 02 end of the NE/SW runways. Several runoff retention ponds are visible with many metal storage silos.
See also
- List of RAF stations
- 82nd Airborne Division
- 101st Airborne Division101st Airborne DivisionThe 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...