RAF Ridgewell

RAF Ridgewell; USAAF Station 167
	Halstead, Essex, England
	Aerial Photo of Ridgewell Airfield - 1945
	<div style="position: absolute; top: Expression error: Missing operand for *.%; left: 4.3%; height: 0; width: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"> RAF Ridgewell; USAAF Station 167
Type	Military airfield
Code	RD
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Controlled by	Royal Air Force; United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1942
In use	1942-1957
Battles/wars	European Theatre of World War II; Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945
Garrison information
Garrison	RAF Bomber Command; Eighth Air Force
Occupants	No. 90 Squadron RAF; 381st Bombardment Group (Heavy)

Royal Air Force Station Ridgewell or more simply RAF Ridgewell is a former Royal Air Force station located 7.5 miles (12.1 km) north west of Halstead, Essex, England.

During the war, the airfield was used by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force.

History[]

Ridgewell airfield was an early example of stations completed to Class A heavy bomber airfield design for the RAF, and had three intersecting runways of 6,500 ft each in length, thirty-six hardstands, two T-2 hangars and accommodation for 2,900 men in temporary buildings.

RAF Bomber Command use[]

The airfield was opened in December 1942 and was first used by No. 90 Squadron of RAF Bomber Command, equipped with Short Stirling Bombers until May 1943, the station being at that time a satellite of RAF Stradishall.

USAAF use[]

Ridgewell was the only long-term heavy bomber base of the Eighth Air Force in Essex. For United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) use, the number of hardstands was increased to the fifty required by a US bomb group. The station was part of the 1st Combat Wing establishment of the 1st Division and was the furthest east of its thirteen heavy bomber stations. It was assigned USAAF designation Station 167, station code "RD".

381st Bombardment Group[]

From 30 June 1943 the airfield was used by the USAAF 381st Bombardment Group (Heavy), arriving from Pueblo AAB, Colorado. Its tail code was Triangle-L. The 381st Bomb Group consisted of the following operational squadrons and fuselage codes:

After V-E Day, the 381st Bomb Group returned to Sioux Falls AAF, South Dakota in July 1945 and was inactivated on 28 August.^[1]^[2]

B-17s of the 381st Bomb Group, Ridgewell Airfield England, en route to targets over Nazi-occupied territory. The aircraft in the foreground is Boeing B-17G-70-BO Fortress, Serial 42-31443 "Friday the 13th" of the 532d Bomb Squadron. This aircraft was lost on 22 February 1944 on a mission to Oschersleben, Germany.	Boeing B-17G-55-BO Fortress Serial 42-102664 "Happy Bottom" of the 532d Bomb Squadron being christened by Edward G. Robinson, 5 July 1944. Unfortunately this aircraft ditched in the English Channel on 16 July 1944	Boeing B-17G-70-BO Fortress 43-37675, of the 532d Bomb Squadron en route to targets over Nazi-occupied territory. Named "Patches", "Flak Magnet" and "Trudie's Terror" by various aircrews, This aircraft survived the war and was retired to Kingman AAF Arizona on 17 December 1945.

Air Ministry use[]

After the war, Ridgewell was used for bomb storage from 15 July 1945 to 31 March 1957. It was then disposed of and sold. The United States Air Force retained the old aircraft hangars which were used by units from nearby RAF Wethersfield and RAF Alconbury for storage until both bases were closed in the early 1990s.

Current use[]

With the end of military control, the majority of the base was returned to agriculture, with the buildings and control tower being torn down. The concrete runways and hardstands were removed for hardcore, although much of the perimeter track was reused for country roads, albeit at a reduced width.

Recently part of the airfield has been purchased by the Essex gliding club and is their home base for gliding throughout the summer months.

Memorials[]

There are two memorials to the men of Ridgewell. One is to the men of RAF 90 Squadron, and a second is dedicated to the USAAF 381st Bombardment Group. Both are located on the site of the base hospital,^[3] where a small museum is also located.^[4]

References[]

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

Citations[]

↑ Freeman 2001, p. 00.
↑ Maurer 1980, p. 00.
↑ http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ridgewell/90Squadron.htm
↑ http://www.381st.com/

Bibliography[]

Comer, John. Combat Crew: The true story of one man's part in World War II's allied bomber offensive. Time Warner Paperbacks, 2003. ISBN 0-7515-0796-2
Freeman, R. Airfields of the Eighth - Then and Now. After the Battle. London, UK: Battle of Britain International Ltd., 2001. ISBN 0-9009-13-09-6.
Freeman, Roger A. (1991) The Mighty Eighth The Colour Record. Cassell & Co. ISBN 0-304-35708-1
Maurer, M. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. USAF Historical Division. Washington D.C., USA: Zenger Publishing Co., Inc, 1980. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Ridgewell.

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at RAF Ridgewell and the edit history here.

[Freeman2001p00-1] Freeman 2001, p. 00.

[Maurer1980p00-2] Maurer 1980, p. 00.

[3] ttp://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/ridgewell/90Squadron.htm

[4] ttp://www.381st.com/

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