RAF Lymington
This article includes alist of references,related reading,orexternal links,but its sources remain unclear because it lacksinline citations.(July 2020) |
RAF Lymington USAAF Station AAF-551 | |
---|---|
Located NearLymington,Hampshire,England | |
Coordinates | 50°45′59″N001°30′46″W/ 50.76639°N 1.51278°W |
Type | Military airfield |
Code | LY |
Site information | |
Owner | Air Ministry |
Controlled by | United States Army Air Forces |
Site history | |
Built | 1943 |
In use | 1944-1946 |
Battles/wars | European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | Ninth Air Force |
Occupants | 50th Fighter Group |
Royal Air Force Lymingtonor more simplyRAF Lymingtonis a formerRoyal Air ForceAdvanced Landing Ground inHampshire,England. The airfield is located approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) east ofLymington;about 80 miles (130 km) southwest of London.
Opened in 1944, Lymington was a prototype for the type of temporaryAdvanced Landing Groundtype airfield which would be built in France after D-Day, when the need for advanced landing fields would become urgent as the Allied forces moved east across France and Germany. It was used by the Royal Air Force, Canadian and the United States Army Air Forces. It was closed in 1946 after two years of being utilized as a storage area for the Royal Navy.
Today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields with a private grass airfield using the North/South runway.
USAAF use
[edit]Lymington was known asUSAAF Station AAF-551for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its USAAF Station Code was "LY".
50th Fighter Group
[edit]RAF Lymington saw the arrival of the USAAF50th Fighter Groupon 5 April 1944, the group arriving fromOrlando AAF,Florida.The 50th had the following operational squadrons:
The 50th was a group ofNinth Air Force's84th Fighter Wing,IX Tactical Air Command.It flew theRepublic P-47 Thunderbolt. The group ended operations atGiebelstadt,Germany in May 1945, and returned to the United States in August.
Civil use
[edit]With the facility released from military control in 1946, almost all traces of the former airfield were removed.
One of the original blister hangars remains on the standing today adjacent to a private grass airstrip (Pylewell House) overlaid on the site of the former N/S military airfield runway, (31/13). The airfield appears to be closed, with white "X" s shown on the runway ends.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]This article incorporatespublic domain materialfrom theAir Force Historical Research Agency
Citations
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Freeman, Roger A. (1994)UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994.After the BattleISBN0-900913-80-0
- Freeman, Roger A. (1996)The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two.After the BattleISBN1-85409-272-3
- Maurer, Maurer (1983).Air Force Combat Units Of World War II.Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.ISBN0-89201-092-4.