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RAF North Witham
Airfield Code: NW USAAF Station: 479 Google Earth Co-ordinates: 52°47'35"N 00°35'53"W Runways: 02/20 = 6000ft x 150ft 06/24 & 13/30 = 4200ft x 150ft RAF North Witham was built in Twyford Wood alongside the A1 for No.7 Group, Bomber Command following a survey of the dense woodland in 1942. The Air Ministry requisitioned the site from the Forestry Commission. The airfield conformed to the normal A-layout with the main runway 2000 yards long. The dispersals were scaled to cope with 50 bomber aircraft at one time. The runways were the optimum 6,000 ft main and 4,200ft secondary’s, aligned 02/20, 06/24 and 12/30 respectively. The 50 hardstands were all loop type connecting to an enclosing perimeter track, of a standard width of 50 feet. The ground support station was constructed largely of Nissen huts of various sizes. North Witham opened officially on 15th December 1943, the first RAF personnel having arrived the day before. However the overall air campaign was changing with the arrival of US forces during the build-up to D Day, and on the 31st December 1943, the first USAAF personnel started arriving. The airfield was therefore destined to have a career with the 9th USAAF group which flew C-47, C-53 and CG-4A gliders. It became US Army Air Force Station 479 with an active runway from December 1943 and spent most of the period as a service, resupply and repair facility for the local Troop Carrier Groups as the 9th USAAF 1st Tactical Air Depot. There was also limited construction of glider aircraft in preparation for D Day. North Witham's most significant role in the Second World War was to serve 9th Air Force Troop Carrier Command Pathfinder School from March 1944 when it moved from RAF Cottesmore. The School was established to train the leading airborne invasion forces. C-47 from North Witham landed 200 troops in Normandy at 1220hrs on D-Day to guide in the main paratroop forces. After the 82nd and 101st Divisions had departed the Pathfinder School continued to train, amongst others, the Polish Airborne Brigade for Operation MARKET GARDEN. The School departed on 13th September 1944 for Oxfordshire as it was now too far north to support operations in France. Other units of the 9th Air Force began to depart over the coming months for France, a process which continued until the end of the war. By 1st May 1945 all of the remaining 9th USAAF 1st Tactical Air Depot units had departed North Witham. In June 1945 North Witham was returned to RAF control. The association with Bomber Command, parenting via RAF Barkston Heath, did not last long and the airfield was placed under Care and Maintenance with Maintenance Command on 7th May 1945. Within 2 days No.100 MU at RAF South Witham was using the hard standing and runways as an expansive bomb dump. Shortly thereafter, on 1st July 1945, No.259 MU was formed here as an Equipment Disposal Depot, operating an aircraft spares depot. Within 3 weeks No.259 MU had a satellite depot at RAF Woolfox Lodge. Within days RAF Woolfox Lodge became the parent No.259 MU site and North Witham the satellite. No.16 MU utilised the hard standing from 1st June 1946 until 1950. Like No.259 MU, this was an Equipment Disposal Depot. On 1st December 1948, No.100 MU was disbanded and immediately reformed as No.93 MU. This unit continued to parent RAF North Witham from RAF South Witham until 18th April 1956. In addition to the Maintenance Units, North Witham hosted No.4 RAF Regiment Depot, from 1st October 1945 to 5th June 1946. This Depot had a dual function, it streamed RAF Regt personnel returning from overseas into categories for early release and also trained recruits and ran field training courses. By April 1946, No.3 RAF Regiment Depot at RAF Folkingham was taking over its roles as in ran down for the last 2 months of its existence. After 1948 North Witham was again placed on care and maintenance until finally being closed in 1956. The site was disposed of in 1960 with the original woodland site being returned to the Forestry Commission and re-planted. BRM racing motors made use of the empty runways in 1961 and 1962 to test their cars, displaced from RAF Folkingham which was by now a Thor missile base. The modern-day remains RAF North Witham are scattered amongst Twyford Woods, a Forestry Commission Nature Reserve open to the general public. Ghostly outlines of large numbers of loop dispersal hardstands can be seen in aerial photography, with the perimeter track being reduced to a single lane road. The runway pattern can clearly be seen, some still remaining at full width, other parts being now at half width or less. All of the remaining runway sections are in a very deteriorated condition. However, the southern end of the airfield is something of an industrial estate with large numbers of metal silos and highway trailers being parked. In addition, there appears to be a very large automobile graveyard where C-47s and CG-4 Waco Gliders once were parked prior to the invasion of continental Europe. The airfield's proximity to a junction of the A1 road means that development is pressing against the wood from the north-west. Nonetheless the derelict control tower remains and on a warm summer's day, on the runway, in the quiet of the trees, it is a very atmospheric place. Aircraft & Squadrons
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