442d Troop Carrier Group Douglas C-47A-15-DK Skytrain 42-92879

Royal Air Force Fulbeck or more simply RAF Fulbeck is a former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

station located east of

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

and west of

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington, Lincolnshire, ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The airfield is located about north-northwest of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and was opened in 1940 when it was used by both the

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 troop carrier airfield for airborne units. After the war it was closed in 1948.

History

USAAF use

It was known as USAAF Station AAF-488 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its USAAF Station Code was "FB".

434th Troop Carrier Group

In October 1943, the 434th Troop Carrier Group arrived at Fulbeck from Baer AAF,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. The group was assigned to the 53d Troop Carrier Wing and flew Douglas C-47/C-53 Skytrains. Operational squadrons of the 434th and fuselage codes were: * 71st Troop Carrier (CJ) * 72d Troop Carrier (CU) * 73d Troop Carrier (CN) * 74th Troop Carrier (ID) The 434th TCG had 56 C-47s and started training with some detachments elsewhere until finally moving to

RAF Welford Royal Air Force Welford or more simply RAF Welford is an active Royal Air Force station in Berkshire, England. The station is located approximately northwest of Newbury; about west-southwest of London Opened in 1943, it was used during the Se ...

on 10 December 1943.

442d Troop Carrier Group

At the end of March 1944 the

442d Troop Carrier Group 44 may refer to: * 44 (number) * one of the years 44 BC, AD 44, 1944, 2044 Military *44M Tas, a Hungarian medium/heavy tank design of World War II *44M Tas Rohamlöveg, a Hungarian tank destroyer design of World War II, derived from the 44M Tas ta ...

arrived at Fulbeck from Baer AAF,

. The group was assigned to the 50th Troop Carrier Wing and flew Douglas C-47/C-53 Skytrains. Operational squadrons of the 442d and fuselage codes were: * 303d Troop Carrier (J7) * 304th Troop Carrier (V4) * 305th Troop Carrier (4J) * 306th Troop Carrier (7H) The 442d TCG moved to

RAF Weston Zoyland RAF Westonzoyland is one of the country's oldest airfields being established in the early 1920s. Somerset, England. The airfield is located approximately east-southeast of Bridgwater; about west-southwest of London. It was opened in 1925 ...

in mid-June after having taken part in the D-Day operations.

440th Troop Carrier Group

During the following two months there was little activity at Fulbeck until some C-47s of the

440th Troop Carrier Group 44 may refer to: * 44 (number) * one of the years 44 BC, AD 44, 1944, 2044 Military *44M Tas, a Hungarian medium/heavy tank design of World War II *44M Tas Rohamlöveg, a Hungarian tank destroyer design of World War II, derived from the 44M Tas t ...

arrived in September 1944 from

RAF Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

to use Fulbeck as part of Operation Market, the air component of

Operation Market-Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, c ...

RAF Bomber Command use

The IX Troop Carrier Command relinquished the airfield back to the RAF in late September and No. 5 Group Bomber Command moved in the distinguished No. 49 Squadron from Fiskerton, an airfield which was transferred to No. 1 Group the following month. On 2 November the recently formed No. 189 Squadron arrived from

Bardney Bardney is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish was 1,643 at the 2001 census increasing to 1,848 (including Southrey) at the 2011 census. The village sits on the e ...

having taken part in its first operation the previous day. Both Nos. 49 and 189 Squadron's Lancasters remained based at Fulbeck until April 1945. No. 49 flew some 60 raids from the airfield losing 15 aircraft and No. 189 took part in 40 raids with 16 aircraft lost. No. 189 moved back to Bardney on the 8th of the month and No. 49 moved to

Syerston Syerston is a small Nottinghamshire parish about six miles south-west of Newark-on-Trent, which is bisected by the A46 trunk road. It contains 179 inhabitants in seventy-three households (2011) which are almost all in a settlement to the east ...

on the 22nd. On the morning of transfer, a No. 49 Squadron Lancaster making a low farewell pass across the airfield crashed into the technical area and of the resulting 24 casualties among air and ground personnel, 15 were fatal. Bomber Command operations from Fulbeck cost 38 Lancasters, either failing to return or destroyed in crashes.

1945 Avro Lancaster Crash

on the 22 April 1945 a Royal Air Force, Avro Lancaster Mk III (PB463) of the 49 Squadron had taken off from the base bound for

RAF Syerston Royal Air Force Station Syerston, commonly known as merely RAF Syerston , is a Royal Air Force station in the parish of Flintham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire. Opened in 1940, it was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a bomber base during the ...

. Shortly after lifting off the aircraft caught fire & crashed into a depot. All Six crew & Fifteen on the ground diedhttps://www.bcar.org.uk/new1945-incident-logs

Current use

The runways, apart from narrow strips used as farm roads, were removed in the 1970s and all but three of the hardstandings but the perimeter track was kept intact. Small sections of the 30 and 10 runway ends, however, still exist in their full width. At one time Fulbeck was proposed for a nuclear waste disposal site.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Photographs of RAF Fulbeck from the Geograph British Isles project

http://armyairforces.com 434th, 442d Troop Carrier Wings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulbeck Royal Air Force stations in Lincolnshire Airfields of the IX Troop Carrier Command in the United Kingdom 1945 disasters in the United Kingdom Aviation accidents and incidents locations in England