Royal Air Force Bottisham or more simply RAF Bottisham 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 ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

located east of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

History

RAF Fighter Command use

RAF Bottisham opened in March 1940 and was first used by bomb-armed

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary traine ...

s transferred from No. 22 Elementary Flying Training School RAF (EFTS) to be prepared for possible anti-invasion duties. From October 1940 the airfield was used by 22 EFTS Tiger Moths as a Relief Landing Ground until 1941. With the departure of the Tiger Moths, Bottisham was transferred to 241 Sqn Army Co-operation Command with

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British Army cooperation aircraft, army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operat ...

Curtiss Tomahawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...

s, North American Mustang Mk 1's, moved to

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

. From 15 June 1942, the airfield was used by No. 652 Squadron RAF and No. 168 Squadron RAF. A number of other Royal Air Force squadrons used the airfield before it was turned over to the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF): *

No. 2 Squadron RAF Number 2 Squadron, also known as No. II (Army Co-operation) Squadron, is the most senior squadron of the Royal Air Force. It is currently equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 at RAF Lossiemouth, Moray, since reforming there on 12 Janua ...

between 31 January 1943 and 19 March 1943 with detachments at RAF Westcott,

RAF Newmarket Royal Air Force Newmarket or more simply RAF Newmarket is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located near Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, England, near the border with Cambridgeshire. It was opene ...

RAF Cranfield Cran may refer to: *C-RAN, cellular network architecture * Comprehensive R Archive Network * Cran (unit), of uncleaned herring * Representative Council of France's Black Associations Surname * Chris Cran (born 1949), a Canadian painter *James Cran ...

RAF Duxford Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, about south of Cambridge. It is part of the Hundred Parishes area. History The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex. One of t ...

using the Mustang I. The squadron then moved to

RAF Fowlmere Fowlmere Airfield is a small airfield located northeast of Royston, Hertfordshire and southwest of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. It was previously a Royal Air Force satellite station, RAF Fowlmere. History First World War Flying at ...

. *

No. 4 Squadron RAF No. 4 Squadron, also known as No. IV Squadron, is a squadron of the Royal Air Force. Since November 2011, it has operated the BAE Hawk T2 from RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. The squadron provides weapons and tactics training for student pilots a ...

between 20 March 1943 and 16 July 1943 using the Tomahawk IIA and Mustang I. The squadron then moved to

RAF Gravesend Gravesend Airport, located southeast of Gravesend town centre, Kent and west of Rochester. It was operated from 1932 until 1956. It was initially a civil airfield, and became a Royal Air Force station known as RAF Gravesend during the Second W ...

. * No. 169 Squadron RAF between 10 March 1943 and 12 March 1943 with the Mustang I before moving to

. *

No. 268 Squadron RAF No. 268 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron raised during the First World War and in the Second World War operated the North American P-51 Mustang on tactical reconnaissance missions over occupied Europe and in support of the D-Day land ...

between 6 March 1943 and 10 March 1943 with the Mustang I. The squadron then moved to

RAF Snailwell Royal Air Force Snailwell or more simply RAF Snailwell is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station located near to the village of Snailwell, Cambridgeshire, located north of Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suff ...

. * No. 288 Squadron RAF between 18 January 1943 and March 1943 as a detachment from

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-s ...

. The squadron used the

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

Boulton Paul Defiant The Boulton Paul Defiant is a British interceptor aircraft that served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The Defiant was designed and built by Boulton Paul Aircraft as a "turret fighter" to meet the RAF requirement for day and ...

I and

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 ...

Mk's VB and IX. The squadron then moved to RAF Coleby Grange. * No. 400 Army Co-Operation Squadron between 18 June 1941 and 25 June 1941. The squadron used the

III and the Tomahawk Mk's I, IIA and IIB. The squadron then moved to

RAF Odiham Royal Air Force Odiham or more simply RAF Odiham is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station situated a little to the south of the village of Odiham in Hampshire, England. It is the home of the Royal Air Force's heavy lift he ...

. * No. 613 Squadron RAF between 7 March 1943 and 19 March 1943 with Mustang I before moving to

RAF Ringway RAF Ringway was a Royal Air Force satellite station at Ringway, Cheshire, England, near Manchester. It was operational from 1939 until 1957. The site is now occupied by Manchester Airport. Prewar years Manchester's first municipal airfield w ...

. *

No. 654 Squadron RAF No. 654 Squadron AAC (654 Sqn) is a squadron of the British Army's Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), Army Air Corps (AAC) that is currently the Headquarters Squadron for 4 Regiment Army Air Corps, 4 Regt AAC. It was formerly No. 654 Squadron RAF, ...

between 20 November 1942 and 20 February 1943 moving to

Gourock Gourock ( ; ) is a town in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a resort town, seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its ma ...

. The squadron used the Taylorcraft Plus C.2 and the

Taylorcraft Auster The Taylorcraft Auster was a British military liaison aircraft, liaison and observation aircraft produced by the Auster Aircraft, Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited company during the Second World War. Design and development The Auster ...

Mk's I and III. * No. 4 Flying Instructors School (Supplementary) RAF. * No. 2761 Squadron RAF Regiment. * RAF (Belgian) Training School.

United States Army Air Forces use

With the arrival of large numbers of USAAF fighter groups in 1943, Bottisham was allocated to the Americans and assigned designation as Station 374 (IM). The airfield was enlarged and areas of steel matting were laid. USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Bottisham were: * 50th Service Group (VIII Air Force Service Command) : 468th and 469th Services Squadrons; HHS 50th Service Group * 18th Weather Squadron * 66th Station Complement Squadron * 1073rd Quartermaster Company * 1097th Signal Company * 1184th Military Police Company * 1598th Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company * 2118th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon

361st Fighter Group

The airfield was first used by the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...

361st Fighter Group The 127th Operations Group is a unit of the Michigan Air National Guard. It is stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base and is one of two flying groups assigned to the 127th Wing. The group operates Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbol ...

, arriving from

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

AAF,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

on 30 November 1943. The group was under the command of the 65th Fighter Wing of the

VIII Fighter Command The VIII Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit of command above the wings and below the numbered air force. Its primary mission was command of fighter operations within the Eighth Air Force. In the World War II European Thea ...

. Aircraft of the group were identified by yellow around their cowlings and tails. The group consisted of the following squadrons: *

374th Fighter Squadron 374th may refer to: *374th Airlift Wing, unit of the United States Air Force assigned to Fifth Air Force, stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan * 374th Fighter Squadron or 171st Air Refueling Squadron, unit of the Michigan Air National Guard's 127th ...

(B7) *

375th Fighter Squadron 375th may refer to: *375th Air Mobility Wing, unit of the United States Air Force assigned to Eighteenth Air Forcestationed at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois *375th Bombardment Squadron The 375th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United State ...

(E2) *

376th Fighter Squadron The 376th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 361st Fighter Group, VIII Fighter Command, stationed at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. It was inactivated on 23 October 1945. In 1985, ...

(E9) The 361st FG entered combat with

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

aircraft on 21 January 1944 and converted to

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kin ...

's in May 1944. The unit served primarily as an escort organisation, covering the penetration, attack, and withdrawal of

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

bomber formations that the USAAF sent against targets on the Continent. The group also engaged in

counter-air patrol Counter-air patrol, known as Flower missions in RAF parlance, is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft against other fighters, common in World War II and sometimes combined with ''fighter sweeps'' (Rhubarb missions) against targets of opp ...

s, fighter sweeps, and strafing and dive-bombing missions. It attacked such targets as aerodromes, marshalling yards, missile sites, industrial areas, ordnance depots, oil refineries, trains, and highways. It participated in the assault against the German Air Force and aircraft industry during

Big Week Operation Argument, after the war dubbed Big Week, was a sequence of raids by the United States Army Air Forces and RAF Bomber Command from 20 to 25 February 1944, as part of the Combined Bomber Offensive against Nazi Germany. The objective o ...

, 20–25 February 1944; the

Normandy invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...

, June 1944 and the

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy.RAF Little Walden Royal Air Force Little Walden, or more simply RAF Little Walden, is a former Second World War-era Royal Air Force station, located north of Saffron Walden, Essex, England. Construction began in 1942, with the site initially assigned to the Eig ...

when it became available after the departure of the 409th Bombardment Group (Light) for

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Little Walden was a Class A airfield with concrete runways and much better facilities than were available at Bottisham.

Post-war use

From mid-1945 until 5 January 1946 Bottisham was used temporarily by Belgian airmen until being closed. Today, few traces of Bottisham remain as the land has all been reclaimed for farming, however a few buildings remain in use. The outline of the PSP runway can still be seen, but now as a long thick row of trees. Also the track which intersected the PSP runway towards the SW end is now a permanent road which cuts through this row of trees. There is now a volunteer-run museum at the former site, in honour of the RAF and USAF personnel who were stationed there during the war.

Bottisham Airfield Museum

The museum opened in 2009 and is the only UK museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force, United States 8th Army Air Force and Belgian Air Forces. It operates out of the last remaining buildings within the airfield's original perimeter. The purchase of the site was completed in September 2014 and, since then renovation and restoration of the airfield buildings and restoration to their original appearance has been in process. A new Nissen hut has been installed in the original position of one located there in 1944.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Freeman, Roger A. (1978) Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle * Freeman, Roger A. (1991) The Mighty Eighth The Colour Record. Cassell & Co. * * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
www.controltowers.co.uk Bottisham

mighty8thaf.preller.us Bottisham

361st Fighter Group on www.littlefriends.co.uk

External links

Bottisham Airfield Museum website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bottisham Royal Air Force stations in Cambridgeshire Airfields of the VIII Fighter Command in the United Kingdom Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom