RAF Rivenhall
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Royal Air Force Rivenhall or more simply RAF Rivenhall 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 in
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
,
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 ...
. The airfield is located approximately south-southeast of Braintree,
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, England. Opened in 1942, it was used by both the
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 ...
and
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 ...
. During the war it was used primarily as a combat airfield with various fighter and bomber units. It was closed in 1946 and kept in reserve until 1956. Today, the remains of the airfield are located on private property with the northern half having been turned into a
quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...
.


History


USAAF use

Rivenhall was known as USAAF Station AAF-168 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and was referred to thus to avoid revealing its location. Its USAAF Station Code was "RL".


363d Fighter Group

On 22 January 1944 a squadron of the
363d Fighter Group 363rd or 363d may refer to: *363d Expeditionary Operations Group, inactive United States Air Force unit *363d Bombardment Squadron or 19th Antisubmarine Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit *363d Fighter Squadron or 164th Airlift Squadro ...
arrived from
RAF Keevil Royal Air Force Keevil or more simply RAF Keevil is a former Royal Air Force station, now controlled by the Army Air Corps. It lies between the villages of Keevil and Steeple Ashton, about east of the town of Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, Engl ...
where it had been awaiting equipment. The group had been selected as the third in the
European Theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union and Franc ...
to be equipped with the new
North American P-51B Mustang Over twenty variants of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter were produced from 1940, when it first flew, to after World War II, some of which were employed also in the Korean War and in several other conflicts. Allison-engined Mustangs NA- ...
. The group consisted of the following operational squadrons: * 380th Fighter Squadron (A9) *
381st Fighter Squadron 381st may refer to: * 381st Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 381st Fighter Squadron or 18th Reconnaissance Squadron, squadron of the United States Air Force *381st Intelligence Squadron, intelligence unit located at Joi ...
(B3) * 382d Fighter Squadron (C3) On 14 April 1944, as part of a general movement of
Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint D ...
fighter units in the
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...
area to the advanced landing grounds, the 363d moved to
RAF Staplehurst Royal Air Force Staplehurst or more simply RAF Staplehurst is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground located in Kent, England. The airfield is located approximately northeast of Staplehurst; about southeast of London. Opened in 1 ...
. The actual movement of all elements had begun two days previously.


397th Bombardment Group

On the day following the departure of the 363d the first
Martin B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in ...
s of the
397th Bombardment Group 397th may refer to: *397th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit *397th Bombardment Wing, inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the 45th Air Division of Strategic Air Command * 397th Engineer Battalion (Unite ...
arrived from
RAF Gosfield Royal Air Force Gosfield or more simply RAF Gosfield is a former Royal Air Force station in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately north of Braintree, Essex, Braintree; about north-northeast of London Established in 1943, ...
. The group consisted of the following operational squadrons: * 596th Bombardment Squadron (X2) *
597th Bombardment Squadron The 597th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was activated at MacDill Field, Florida in April 1943. After training in the United States, it transferred to the European Theater of Operations, where it was a comp ...
(9F) * 598th Bombardment Squadron (U2) * 599th Bombardment Squadron (6B) The group's identification marking was a yellow diagonal band across both sides of the fin (vertical stabiliser). Early in August, officially on the 5th, the 397th transferred from Rivenhall to
RAF Hurn Royal Air Force Hurn or more simply RAF Hurn is a former Royal Air Force station located approximately north west of Christchurch, Dorset, England Opened in 1941, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. ...
in
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, ...
to give the Marauders a better radius of action, as the break-out of the Allied forces from the
Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
beachhead meant that potential targets were receding.


RAF use

The following units were here at some point: *
No. 295 Squadron RAF No 295 Squadron RAF was an airborne forces and transport squadron of the Royal Air Force during World War II. It was the first unit to be equipped with the Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle transport and glider tug aircraft. History With the Airb ...
(1944-46) * No. 570 Squadron RAF (1944-45) * No. 1677 (Target Towing) Flight RAF


Current use

Upon its release from military use, in June 1956, Marconi leased part of the airfield and within ten years had taken over most of the surviving buildings. Today the northern half of the former airfield has been turned into a quarry, with the vast majority of the land in the northwest of the site having been excavated. The perimeter track of the airfield has been reduced to a single track agricultural road. All three runways either have been quarried, or substantially reduced in width, with the grass areas of the former airfield return3ed to agriculture. One T-2 hangar remains, along with a scattering of buildings. A motor salvage business has taken over some of the hardstands in the east end of the airfield, where once C-47s and gliders were stored. As of 2022, an integrated waste management facility is being constructed on part of the site.


See also

*
List of former Royal Air Force stations This list of former RAF stations includes most of the stations, airfields and administrative headquarters previously used by the Royal Air Force. They are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the duration of ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle * Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers—1908 to present


External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivenhall Airfields of the IX Fighter Command in the United Kingdom Airfields of the 9th Bombardment Division in the United Kingdom Military units and formations established in 1943 Royal Air Force stations in Essex Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom