RAF Bassingbourn
Royal Air Force Bassingbourn or more simply RAF Bassingbourn is a former Royal Air Force station located in Cambridgeshire approximately north of Royston, Hertfordshire and south west of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.
During the Second World War it served first as an RAF station and then as a bomber airfield of the Eighth Air Force, of the United States Army Air Forces. It remains the home of the Tower Museum Bassingbourn.
Origin and development
Construction
RAF Bassingbourn was constructed by John Laing & Son between 1937 and 1939 in the parishes of Wendy and Bassingbourn immediately to the west of the A14 road. The site selected was low ground between several tributaries of the River Cam. The area had been long cleared of forest and tended to be swampy and unstable, and because the boggy ground produced a persistent mist over the large meadow the site was considered ideal for airfield camouflage.The project was begun in April 1937 under the direction of Sir Maurice Laing, with Reginald Silk as the site engineer and John Crowther the site surveyor. Four C Type hangars were erected by a sub-contractor in a semi-circle at the south edge of the airfield site approximately one mile north of the hamlet of Kneesworth. Laing then began work pouring concrete foundations for the technical site buildings, communal sites and barracks; the nature of the ground necessitated the rebuilding of several foundations that had sunk into the ground. Roadway cores were built of unusual thickness to prevent crumbling of the pavement.
The technical site was built with permanent, kerbed streets and landscaped. Originally treeless, Bassingbourn was made one of the most attractive RAF stations by the planting of hundreds of plum trees as part of the project.
The runways were originally grass. The Bristol Blenheim light bombers that first used the field were able to operate under the existing conditions, although landings often produced pronounced water splashes, but the weight of heavier bombers tore ruts in the grass surface and limited take-off speeds.
The runways
W & C French Ltd. constructed three concrete runways surfaced with asphalt during the winter of 1941–1942: a runway aligned southwest to northeast, one of crossing it north–south, and a runway connecting the northeast ends of the first two. The Class A airfield standard was promulgated by the Air Ministry in August 1942 and the runways at Bassingbourn were immediately extended. The main runway was lengthened to by extending it west, with the use of extensive tile drainage, across a moat off the Mill River. The north–south runway was extended south, and the third runway lengthened to the northwest. Additional perimeter track was added around the bomb store site, which was doubled in area, to reach the west end of the main runway. Ultimately seven miles of taxiway were paved.Four dispersal areas were also built. Dispersal A was placed in a large field between the technical site and the hamlet of Bassingbourn-North End. Dispersal B was located north and west of the bomb store. Dispersal C was next to the A14 north of the runways and Dispersal D was built in the grand avenue of Wimpole Park, the tree-lined entrance to Wimpole Hall across the A14 from the station. Bombers using this dispersal had to cross the road to marshal for take-off. Ultimately 35 "pan" hardstands and 16 loop hardstands were constructed, able to accommodate 67 bombers.
Bassingbourn made extensive use of camouflage to disguise the location of its runways. Prior to the building of the concrete runways, the strips were painted to blend them into the surrounding pattern of fields, lanes and drainage areas. After conversion to Class A standards, which required extensive clearing and grading of the airfield area, the areas between the runways were camouflaged to resemble agricultural crops.
Royal Air Force use (1938–42)
The airfield was opened in March 1938, with the Hawker Hind light bombers of 104 and 108 Squadrons from RAF Hucknall and RAF Uxbridge moving in on 2 May 1938. In May–June 1938 the two squadrons re-equipped with Bristol Blenheim bombers. In May 1939, the two Bassingbourn-based squadrons were given the new task of converting aircrew from the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve onto the Blenheim, the two squadrons supplementing their Blenheims with Avro Anson trainers, and on 1 June 1939, both squadrons were designated Group Training Squadrons for 2 Group, RAF Bomber Command.The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 saw the two squadrons transfer to 6 Group and move to RAF Bicester in mid-month, being replaced by 215 Squadron, the 3 Group training squadron, equipped with Vickers Wellington, by the end of the month. No. 35 Squadron, the 1 Group training squadron, equipped with Blenheims and Fairey Battles, was also based at Bassingbourn between December 1939 and February 1940. On 8 April 1940, No. 11 Operational Training Unit was formed at Bassingbourn, absorbing the Station HQ and 215 Squadron. The new unit had an allocated strength of 54 Wellingtons and 11 Ansons, and used RAF Steeple Morden as a satellite airfield. From December 1941 to February 1942 the OTU operated from Steeple Morden and RAF Tempsford while runways were constructed at Bassingbourn.
The station was attacked on 28 May 1940 by an isolated German raider that dropped 10 bombs, and from March to August 1941, as the easternmost bomber OTU, came under fairly regular attack by German night intruder aircraft. Five Wellingtons of the OTU were shot down by intruders, and on 13 August 1941, a German aircraft dropped four bombs on the airfield, one of which hit a barrack block, killing 10.
On 31 May 1942 aircraft from Bassingbourn participated in the "Thousand Bomber" raid on Cologne. In order to raise this number, Bomber Command employed every aircraft capable of taking to the air, including 25 Wellington bombers from No. 11 OTU. Subsequently aircraft from Bassingbourn took part in several more large raids until the end of September, with 11 OTU moving to RAF Westcott between 28 September and 2 October 1942.
United States Army Air Forces use
Plans for locating United States Army Air Forces heavy bomber groups dated back to before America's entry into the war, when RAF Thurleigh was tentatively designated in November 1941. Initial concepts anticipated that 75 heavy bomb groups would eventually be based in East Anglia and the Huntingdon area in five bombardment wings, but the first plan on 24 March 1942, called for 45 groups, with four to be moved to the UK by June. This did not come to pass but 75 fields were allocated by the Air Ministry on 10 August 1942 for VIII Bomber Command.From 19 August 1942 to 25 June 1945, Bassingbourn served as headquarters for the 1st Combat Bombardment Wing of the 1st Bomb Division. It was assigned USAAF designation Station 121.
USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Bassingbourn were:
- 441st Sub-Depot
- 18th Weather Squadron
- 1st Station Complement Squadron
- 831st Engineer Aviation Battalion
- 204th Quartermaster Company
- 1696th Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company
- 863rd Chemical Company
- 982nd Military Police Company
- 985th Military Police Company
- 2024th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon
- 206th Finance Section
- 3rd Mobile Training Unit
- 556th Army Postal Unit
91st Bombardment Group (Heavy)
The 91st BG was assigned to the 1st Combat Bombardment Wing, which was also based at Bassingbourn from September 1943. The group tail code was a "Triangle A". Its operational squadrons and fuselage codes were:
- 322d Bombardment Squadron
- 323d Bombardment Squadron
- 324th Bombardment Squadron
- 401st Bombardment Squadron
The 91st began combat operations from Bassingbourn on 7 November 1942, as one of the four "pioneer" B-17 groups. The group operated primarily as a strategic bombardment organization throughout the war.
The first eight months of operations concentrated against the German submarine campaign, attacking U-boat pens in French ports or construction yards in Germany in 28 of the first 48 missions flown. Secondary targets were Luftwaffe airfields, industrial targets, and marshalling yards.
The 91st BG received a Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing marshalling yards at Hamm on 4 March 1943 in spite of adverse weather and heavy enemy opposition. From the middle of 1943 until the war ended, the Group engaged chiefly in attacks on aircraft factories, aerodromes, and oil facilities. Specific targets included airfields at Villacoublay and Oldenburg, aircraft factories in Oranienburg and Brussels, chemical industries in Leverkusen and Peenemünde, ball-bearing plants in Schweinfurt and other industries in Ludwigshafen, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Wilhelmshaven.
On 11 January 1944 organisations of Eighth AF went into central Germany to attack vital aircraft factories. The 91st BG successfully bombed its targets in spite of bad weather, inadequate fighter cover and severe enemy attack, being awarded a second Distinguished Unit Citation for the performance.
Expanding its operations to include interdictory and support missions, the group contributed to the Battle of Normandy by bombing gun emplacements and troop concentrations near the beachhead area in June 1944 and aided the Saint-Lô breakout by attacking enemy troop positions on 24 and 25 July 1944. The 91st flew tactical bombing missions on the front line near Caen in August 1944 and attacked communications near the battle area during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945. In support of Operation Varsity, the group assisted the push across the Rhine by striking airfields, bridges and railways near the front line in the spring of 1945.
The 91st Bomb Group continued combat operations until 25 April 1945, flying 340 missions. In terms of its casualties, 197 B-17s failed to return to Bassingbourn, the US Eighth Air Force's highest heavy bomber loss at any USAAF station in the UK.
After V-E Day the group helped to evacuate prisoners of war from German camps. During June and July 1945, the 91st BG withdrew from Bassingbourn and returned to the United States.