RAF Spanhoe
Encyclopedia
RAF Station Spanhoe is a former World War II
airfield in Northamptonshire
, England
. The airfield is located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Uppingham
; about 80 miles (128.7 km) north-northwest of London
Opened in 1943, 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 late 1945.
Today, much of the airfield has been returned to agriculture, however one runway remains and the airfield is currently active and houses various privately owned light aircraft.
to local people as much of the site lay within that parish.
The airfield was built to the late Class A airfield
standard with 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 Runway lengths were a 6,000 ft. main aligned O8/26 and two 4,200 ft secondaries aligned 02/20 and 14/32 connecting to an enclosing perimeter track, of a standard width of 50 feet. All 51 hardstands were loops and would come to support two C-47s each by the late summer of 1944.
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 about a quarter of a mile apart 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 southeast side of the airfield, outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens.
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 2,400 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.
On 7 February 1944, the headquarters of the 315th Troop Carrier Group took up residence, a somewhat reduced organization as most of the air echelon had been sent on detachment to Twelfth Air Force in North Africa
during May 1943. For a month only some 65 (1 men and eight aircraft were to be found at Spanhoe. but on 11 March the North African detachment returned with 21 C-47 Skytrain
s. The operational squadrons and fuselage codes of the group at Spanhoe were:
The 315th TCG was part of the IX Troop Carrier Command
52nd Troop Carrier Wing
.
In order to build the group up to full strength, the 309th and 310th Troop Carrier Squadrons were transferred from the 10th TCG training at Grenada
AAF, Mississippi
, although all that arrived was their titles. The cadre of personnel and aircraft for these units were crews and 26 C-47s came from the 61st and 62nd TCGs based in Sicily
, some of the men having been with these groups in England in 1942. By April there were 60 C-47s on hand and numbers would rise to 90 by August.
Training exercises with paratroops kept the group occupied during April and May, and on 3 June men of the 82nd Airborne Division, which was located around Leicester
, started to arrive at Spanhoe to be accommodated in hangars where camp beds had already been set up. On the same day. ground personnel were employed painting black and white stripes on all aircraft. At 23:16 hours on D minus 1 the first of 48 C-47s operating took off, each aircraft carrying 19 or 21 paratroops and five or six parapacks on underwing racks. The drop was carried out successfully north-west of Sainte-Mère-Église
at 02:03 hours and all aircraft returned to England safely, although some had battle damage and wounded aboard.
Following the initial assault, the group hauled ammunition and supplies to France and continued training. On 8 July two C47s of the 315th collided shortly after take-off for an exercise. One crew member managed to parachute safely but eight others and 26 Polish paratroops perished in the crash at Tinwell
, near Stamford
.
For Operation "Market Garden"
, the 315th again carried 82nd Airborne paratroops. Two serials of 45 C-47s each delivered 664 and 690 paratroops, plus parapacks north and just south of the River Maas
, one aircraft being shot down by flak. On D plus 2, two serials of 27 aircraft each met very strong fire when taking British paratroops and equipment to Ginkel Heath and two C-47s were shot down before the dropping point.
An attempt to drop Polish paratroops at Oriel on 21 September turned into a disaster, the first serial being defeated by weather and the second, reaching the dropping zone, flying headlong into a vicious flak barrage that brought down five and damaged many other C-47s. On 22 September, 41 aircraft delivered some 565 Polish airborne troops to the Overasselt
DZ. The last mission for 'Market Garden' was the transportation of British troops and equipment to a landing strip at Keent on 26 September in which 72 of the 315t's aircraft took part without loss.
Early in 1945. the 315th received a few Curtiss C-46 "Commando" transports and it also had two fuel tanker converted B-24 Liberators. In March, the group was alerted for another combat operation and on the 14th a ground party moved to RAF Boreham
with aircraft and crews following on the 22nd.
For Operation Varsity
, the group carried men of the British 6th Airborne Division. It proved the most costly operation in the group's history, with 19 C-47s shot down or written off as beyond repair.
Between 6/11 April 6, 1945, the 315th TCG moved from Spanhoe to their Advanced Landing Ground
(ALG) at Amiens/Glisy airfield, France (ALG B-48), the last of the 52nd TCW groups to move to the Continent. However, IX TCC maintained Spanhoe and on 30 April a detachment of 315th TCG C-47s returned for a training exercise but by June the IX TCC had departed.
took over the station and began its task of dis-assembling RAF transport ready for disposal, and vehicles of various types parked along the runways and around the perimeter track. Auction sales followed and the site was cleared the following year. Spanhoe was then closed and returned to the farmers from whom it had been requisitioned.
XD864 of No. 7 Squadron crashed on the airfield and was completely destroyed. It had just taken off from RAF Wittering
and during the climb the nose wheel failed to retract. The pilot chose to stay in the local area Though the Board of Inquiry found the Captain guilty of "blameworthy negligence" - a fractured center line main spar was found at the scene, and was not properly investigated by the BoI. the aircraft may have been attempting an emergency landing on the disused NW/SE runway 14 at Spanhoe. All five crew were killed.
In the 1970s, the north and west areas were excavated for iron ore and today little of the airfield remains. The majority of the main runway was removed along with the perimeter track and dispersal hardstands, although a small portion of the northeast (08) end of the main runway remains along with part of the perimeter road and a few loop hardstands. The 02/20 secondary runway is faintly visible in aerial photography
As of 2007, the airfield is currently active and houses various privately owned light aircraft. It is also the home of Windmill Aviation. The south-western taxiway is now runway 27, and the southeast section of the wartime 14/32 runway was re-opened in 2004. Some of the wartime Nissen Huts are in use and a new hangar and maintenance building was erected on the site of what was a large wartime J-hangar.
A memorial obelisk on the approach road to the airfield commemorates the 315th Troop Carrier Group and a memorial in Tinwell Church commemorates US and Polish victims of the C-47 collision.
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 Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
, 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 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Uppingham
Uppingham
Disambiguation: "Uppingham" is the colloquial name for Uppingham SchoolUppingham is a market town in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, located on the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, about 6 miles south of the county town, Oakham.- History :A little over a mile to the...
; about 80 miles (128.7 km) north-northwest 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 transport airfield. After the war it was closed in late 1945.
Today, much of the airfield has been returned to agriculture, however one runway remains and the airfield is currently active and houses various privately owned light aircraft.
Overview
Built in 1943, the airfield was also known as HarringworthHarringworth
Harringworth is a village and civil parish in East Northamptonshire extremely close to the Northants-Rutland border. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 247 people....
to local people as much of the site lay within that parish.
The airfield was built to the late 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 with 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 Runway lengths were a 6,000 ft. main aligned O8/26 and two 4,200 ft secondaries aligned 02/20 and 14/32 connecting to an enclosing perimeter track, of a standard width of 50 feet. All 51 hardstands were loops and would come to support two C-47s each by the late summer of 1944.
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 about a quarter of a mile apart 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 southeast side of the airfield, outside of the perimeter track surrounded by large dirt mounds and concrete storage pens.
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 2,400 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
Stoney Cross as known as USAAF Station AAF-493 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 "UV".315th Troop Carrier Group
Basically complete late in 1943 and opened on New Year's Day 1944, the station had already been earmarked for US troop carrier use and a station complement squadron moved in to ready the base between January 4 and 7.On 7 February 1944, the headquarters of the 315th Troop Carrier Group took up residence, a somewhat reduced organization as most of the air echelon had been sent on detachment to Twelfth Air Force in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
during May 1943. For a month only some 65 (1 men and eight aircraft were to be found at Spanhoe. but on 11 March the North African detachment returned with 21 C-47 Skytrain
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...
s. The operational squadrons and fuselage codes of the group at Spanhoe were:
- 34th Troop Carrier Squadron (NM)
- 43d Troop Carrier Squadron (UA)
- 309th Troop Carrier Squadron309th Airlift SquadronThe 309th Airlift Squadron is part of the 86th Airlift Wing at Chièvres Air Base, Belgium. It operates C-37 aircraft providing executive airlfit for NATO.-History:...
(M6) - 310th Troop Carrier Squadron310th Airlift SquadronThe 310th Airlift Squadron is part of the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It operates C-37 aircraft providing executive airlfit for Combatant Commanders.-Mission:...
(4A)
The 315th TCG was part of the 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...
52nd Troop Carrier Wing
52d Troop Carrier Wing (World War II)
The 52d Troop Carrier Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the New York Air National Guard. It was inactivated on 31 October 1950....
.
In order to build the group up to full strength, the 309th and 310th Troop Carrier Squadrons were transferred from the 10th TCG training at Grenada
Grenada, Mississippi
Grenada is a city in Grenada County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,879 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Grenada County.-History:...
AAF, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, although all that arrived was their titles. The cadre of personnel and aircraft for these units were crews and 26 C-47s came from the 61st and 62nd TCGs based in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, some of the men having been with these groups in England in 1942. By April there were 60 C-47s on hand and numbers would rise to 90 by August.
Training exercises with paratroops kept the group occupied during April and May, and on 3 June men of the 82nd Airborne Division, which was located around Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, started to arrive at Spanhoe to be accommodated in hangars where camp beds had already been set up. On the same day. ground personnel were employed painting black and white stripes on all aircraft. At 23:16 hours on D minus 1 the first of 48 C-47s operating took off, each aircraft carrying 19 or 21 paratroops and five or six parapacks on underwing racks. The drop was carried out successfully north-west of Sainte-Mère-Église
Sainte-Mère-Église
Sainte-Mère-Église is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-History:Founded in the eleventh Century, the earliest records include the name Sancte Marie Ecclesia, Latin for "Church of St. Mary", while a later document written in Norman-French mentions Saincte...
at 02:03 hours and all aircraft returned to England safely, although some had battle damage and wounded aboard.
Following the initial assault, the group hauled ammunition and supplies to France and continued training. On 8 July two C47s of the 315th collided shortly after take-off for an exercise. One crew member managed to parachute safely but eight others and 26 Polish paratroops perished in the crash at Tinwell
Tinwell
Tinwell is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.-Village:The village is just west of the A1 and within walking distance of the town of Stamford in Lincolnshire. The village has a small village hall, which was recently refurbished, and a beautiful church...
, near Stamford
Stamford, Lincolnshire
Stamford is a town and civil parish within the South Kesteven district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately to the north of London, on the east side of the A1 road to York and Edinburgh and on the River Welland...
.
For Operation "Market Garden"
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time....
, the 315th again carried 82nd Airborne paratroops. Two serials of 45 C-47s each delivered 664 and 690 paratroops, plus parapacks north and just south of the River Maas
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
, one aircraft being shot down by flak. On D plus 2, two serials of 27 aircraft each met very strong fire when taking British paratroops and equipment to Ginkel Heath and two C-47s were shot down before the dropping point.
An attempt to drop Polish paratroops at Oriel on 21 September turned into a disaster, the first serial being defeated by weather and the second, reaching the dropping zone, flying headlong into a vicious flak barrage that brought down five and damaged many other C-47s. On 22 September, 41 aircraft delivered some 565 Polish airborne troops to the Overasselt
Overasselt
Overasselt is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Heumen.Overasselt was a separate municipality until 1 July 1980, when it was merged with Heumen. Overasselt has a population of about 2500....
DZ. The last mission for 'Market Garden' was the transportation of British troops and equipment to a landing strip at Keent on 26 September in which 72 of the 315t's aircraft took part without loss.
Early in 1945. the 315th received a few Curtiss C-46 "Commando" transports and it also had two fuel tanker converted B-24 Liberators. In March, the group was alerted for another combat operation and on the 14th a ground party moved to RAF Boreham
RAF Boreham
With the facility released from military control, in 1946, the West Essex Car Club developed the 4.76 kilometre perimeter track for motor racing. Although not on the official Grand Prix calendar, Boreham Racing Circuit hosted competitive races between 1949 and 1952. Among the teams that raced at...
with aircraft and crews following on the 22nd.
For Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
, the group carried men of the British 6th Airborne Division. It proved the most costly operation in the group's history, with 19 C-47s shot down or written off as beyond repair.
Between 6/11 April 6, 1945, the 315th TCG moved from Spanhoe to their 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...
(ALG) at Amiens/Glisy airfield, France (ALG B-48), the last of the 52nd TCW groups to move to the Continent. However, IX TCC maintained Spanhoe and on 30 April a detachment of 315th TCG C-47s returned for a training exercise but by June the IX TCC had departed.
RAF Maintenance Command use
On 9 July, No. 253 Unit RAF Maintenance CommandRAF Maintenance Command
RAF Maintenance Command was the Royal Air Force command which was responsible for controlling maintenance for all the United Kingdom-based units from formation on 1 April 1938 until being renamed RAF Support Command on 31 August 1973.- History :...
took over the station and began its task of dis-assembling RAF transport ready for disposal, and vehicles of various types parked along the runways and around the perimeter track. Auction sales followed and the site was cleared the following year. Spanhoe was then closed and returned to the farmers from whom it had been requisitioned.
Civil use
On August 12, 1960, Vickers ValiantVickers Valiant
The Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant was a British four-jet bomber, once part of the Royal Air Force's V bomber nuclear force in the 1950s and 1960s...
XD864 of No. 7 Squadron crashed on the airfield and was completely destroyed. It had just taken off from RAF Wittering
RAF Wittering
RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire is the nearest town, the runways of RAF Wittering cross the boundary between Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire....
and during the climb the nose wheel failed to retract. The pilot chose to stay in the local area Though the Board of Inquiry found the Captain guilty of "blameworthy negligence" - a fractured center line main spar was found at the scene, and was not properly investigated by the BoI. the aircraft may have been attempting an emergency landing on the disused NW/SE runway 14 at Spanhoe. All five crew were killed.
In the 1970s, the north and west areas were excavated for iron ore and today little of the airfield remains. The majority of the main runway was removed along with the perimeter track and dispersal hardstands, although a small portion of the northeast (08) end of the main runway remains along with part of the perimeter road and a few loop hardstands. The 02/20 secondary runway is faintly visible in aerial photography
As of 2007, the airfield is currently active and houses various privately owned light aircraft. It is also the home of Windmill Aviation. The south-western taxiway is now runway 27, and the southeast section of the wartime 14/32 runway was re-opened in 2004. Some of the wartime Nissen Huts are in use and a new hangar and maintenance building was erected on the site of what was a large wartime J-hangar.
A memorial obelisk on the approach road to the airfield commemorates the 315th Troop Carrier Group and a memorial in Tinwell Church commemorates US and Polish victims of the C-47 collision.