Royal Air Force Appledram or more simply RAF Appledram is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Advanced Landing Ground southwest of

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, England and east of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

History

Authorisation was given to build an Advanced Landing Ground south-west of

and near the village of

Apuldram Apuldram or Appledram is a small parish and a village on the northeastern upper reach of Chichester Harbour about two miles (3 km) south-west of the centre of Chichester in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Hartin ...

in December 1942. Advanced Landing Grounds were temporary airfields with limited facilities intended for the upcoming invasion of France. A total of 23 Advanced Landing Grounds were built in the South and South-East of England in 1943–1944. Work began on the airfield in February 1943, with two runways made of Sommerfeld tracking being laid. Accommodation consisted largely of tents, with one Blister hangar and metal mesh hardstanding for aircraft added during the autumn/winter of 1943–44. The airfield was completed in May that year. The first users of the airfield were the

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor aircraft, interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems we ...

fighters of three squadrons of 124 Airfield, ( 175,

181 Year 181 ( CLXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Burrus (or, less frequently, year 934 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 181 for this ye ...

and

182 Year 182 ( CLXXXII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sura and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 935 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 182 for this year ...

Squadrons), which moved in on 2 June 1943. They carried out attacks against airfields, communications centres and radar stations before leaving for airfields in Kent early in July 1943, with the airfield temporarily being used for grazing farm animals. The next user of the airfield was 134 Airfield, which consisted of the Czechoslovakian-manned,

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...

-equipped

310 __NOTOC__ Year 310 ( CCCX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Andronicus and Probus (or, less frequently, year 1063 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 310 ...

312 __NOTOC__ Year 312 (Roman numerals, CCCXII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus (or, less frequently, year 1065 ''Ab urbe co ...

and 313 Squadrons, which moved in on 3 April 1944. The three squadrons carried out a mixture of fighter sweeps, bomber escort and attacks against

V-weapon V-weapons, known in original German as (, German: "retaliatory weapons", "reprisal weapons"), were a particular set of long-range artillery weapons designed for strategic bombing during World War II, particularly strategic bombing and aerial ...

launch sites. On 6 June 1944, as

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

(the invasion of

German-occupied Europe German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly military occupation, militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the governmen ...

) took place, the wing's aircraft provided fighter cover over the beaches. These operations continuing until 22 June when the wing moved to

RAF Tangmere Royal Air Force Tangmere or more simply RAF Tangmere is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located in Tangmere, England, famous for its role in the Battle of Britain. It was one of several stations near Chichester, West Sussex. The Seco ...

to intercept V-1 flying bombs. The wing was replaced by the Polish-manned No. 131 Wing RAF ( 302, 308 and 317 Squadrons), which carried out ground attack operations in support of the advancing allied troops before leaving for

RAF Ford HM Prison Ford (informally known as Ford Open Prison) is a Category D men's prison, located at Ford, in West Sussex, England, near Arundel and Littlehampton. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Air Force and Navy use B ...

on 16 July and then transferring to airfields in France. RAF Appledram saw no further operational use, and it was released for farming in November 1944, with the hangar, runways and dispersals removed in January 1945.

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* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Appledram Royal Air Force stations in West Sussex Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom

History

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