Fowlmere Airfield

Fowlmere Airfield
Near Royston, Hertfordshire in England
Aerial photograph of Fowlmere airfield 31 May 1944, taken by 13th Photographic Squadron, 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group
Fowlmere Airfield Shown within Cambridgeshire
Coordinates	52°04′57″N 000°03′31″E
Site history
Built	1939 (1939)/40
In use	1940-
Airfield information
Elevation	38 metres (125 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 07/25 710 metres (2,329 ft) Grass 00/00  Sommerfeld Tracking

Fowlmere Airfield (ICAO: EGMA) is a small airfield located 4.2 miles (6.8 km) northeast of Royston, Hertfordshire and 8.8 miles (14.2 km) southwest of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. It was previously a Royal Air Force satellite station, RAF Fowlmere.

History

First World War

Flying at Fowlmere originated in 1918 when the airfield was used by Royal Air Force

• No. 124 Squadron RAF[1]
• No. 125 Squadron RAF[1]
• No. 126 Squadron RAF[1]

Flying cadets of the Air Service, United States Army were trained at Fowlmere by RAF instructors, prior to their deployment to the Western Front in France.[2] After the First World War ended, the hangars were all demolished along with the assorted buildings by 1923.

Second World War

Royal Air Force use

A Supermarine Spitfire Mk 1 of No. 19 Squadron RAF being re-armed between sorties at Fowlmere, near Duxford, September 1940.

Flight Lieutenant P S Turner of No. 242 Squadron RAF, rests on the tail elevator of his Hawker Hurricane Mk I, after landing at Fowlmere, near Duxford in Cambridgeshire, September 1940.

With the eruption of the Second World War, Fowlmere was intended to be a satellite for RAF Fighter Command at nearby RAF Duxford and was used by 19 Squadron with Supermarine Spitfires[3] along with:

• No. 2 Squadron RAF.[4]
• No. 15 Squadron RAF.[5]
• No. 16 Squadron RAF.[5]
• No. 21 Squadron RAF.[6]
• No. 111 Squadron RAF.[7]
• No. 133 (Eagle) Squadron RAF.[8]
• No. 154 Squadron RAF.[9]
• No. 167 Squadron RAF.[10]
• No. 174 Squadron RAF.[11]
• No. 264 Squadron RAF.[12]
• No. 411 (Canadian) Squadron RAF.[13]
• No. 421 (Canadian) Squadron RAF.[14]
• No. 655 Squadron RAF.[15]

United States Army Air Forces use

North American P-51 Mustangs of the 505th Fighter squadron. All are P-51D's with the exception of 42-10657 (2nd from front) which is a P-51B. Serials visible are 44-72437 (front), 42-10657, 44-11427 and 44-11215 (top)

Four United States Army Air Force officers standing in front of a Nissen hut. Handwritten on slide: "Paul Fickel, Bernie Allen, Anthony Hawkins, Ethelbert Graham 503FS Fowlmere James G. Robinson".

Lt. Col. Joseph L Thury. [St. Paul MN]. 505th Fighter Squadron, 339th Fighter Group, 8th AF. North American P-51D Mustang 44-72437 6N-C "Pauline".

Captain George Hrico, Captain Evan M "Johnny" Johnson, Major Archie A Tower and Lieutenant Richard E Krauss of the 339th Fighter Group in front of a P-51 Mustang (6N-W, serial number 44-14705) nicknamed "Boomerang", assigned to Lieutenant Dick Thieme. Written on slide casing: 'Cpt Hrico, Johnson, Tower & Krauss, 505 FS, Archie Tower.'

When the airfield was turned over to the USAAF, Fowlmere was expanded to meet the requirements of a complete fighter group. The airfield was assigned USAAF designation Station 378 It was allocated to the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force fighter command.

USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Fowlmere were:[16]

• 314th Service Group[17]

467th Service Squadron; HHS 314th Service Group

• 331st Service Group[18]

464th and 465th Service Squadrons; HHS 331s Service Group

• 18th Weather Squadron
• 72nd Station Complement Squadron
• 861st Engineer Aviation Battalion
• 1178th Quartermaster Company
• 1786th Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company
• 989th Military Police Company
• 2120th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon

The 339th Fighter Group arrived at Fowlmere from Rice AAF, California on 4 April 1944. The group was under the command of the 66th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command. Aircraft of the group were identified by a red/white chequerboard pattern.

Postwar Royal Air Force use

With the departure of the Americans, Fowlmere was used briefly by No. 11 Group RAF RAF Fighter Command until January 1946 then closed and placed into care and maintenance status. It was eventually sold back to local farmers in 1957. With the end of RAF control, the concreted areas and buildings of Fowlmere airfield were largely ground into aggregate and sold for local construction projects.

Current use

The airfield is in active use, with new management as of November 2020.[19] It is home to the British Aerobatic Academy and the Modern Air flying club. There is a grass runway 07/25, with PPR (Prior Permission Required) necessary to land.

Fowlmere Airfield Museum is on-site, open one Sunday per month.

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

Citations

1. Jefford 1988, p. 58.
2. "Fowlmere". controltowers.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
3. Jefford 1988, p. 30.
4. Jefford 1988, p. 23.
5. Jefford 1988, p. 29.
6. Jefford 1988, p. 31.
7. Jefford 1988, p. 56.
8. Jefford 1988, p. 59.
9. Jefford 1988, p. 63.
10. Jefford 1988, p. 64.
11. Jefford 1988, p. 65.
12. Jefford 1988, p. 80.
13. Jefford 1988, p. 90.
14. Jefford 1988, p. 91.
15. Jefford 1988, p. 103.
16. "Fowlmere". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
17. "331st Service Group". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
18. "314th Service Group". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
19. "Fowlmere Airfield - Under new management".

Bibliography

• Jefford, C G (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
• Freeman, Roger A. (1978) Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle ISBN 0-900913-09-6
• Freeman, Roger A. (1991) The Mighty Eighth: The Colour Record. Cassell & Co. ISBN 0-304-35708-1
• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
• USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present Archived 22 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
• mighty8thaf.preller.us Fowlmere Archived 8 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
• 339th Fighter Group on www.littlefriends.co.uk Archived 25 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Fowlmere Airfield (current website)
• British Aerobatic Academy
• Modern Air flying club
• Fowlmere Airfield Museum