Royal Air Force High Halden or more simply RAF High Halden 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) an ...

Advanced Landing Ground in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. The airfield is located approximately west-southwest of Ashford; about southeast of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. Opened in 1944, Ashford was a prototype for the type of temporary Advanced Landing Ground type 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

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 ...

. It was closed in September 1944. Today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields with no recognisable remains.

History

The USAAF Ninth Air Force required several temporary Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) along the channel coast prior to the June 1944 Normandy invasion to provide tactical air support for the ground forces landing in France.

USAAF use

High Halden was known as USAAF Station AAF-411 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its USAAF Station Code was "HH".

358th Fighter Group

An advance party of the

358th Fighter Group 358th may refer to: *358th Bombardment Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 358th Fighter Group, inactive United States Army Air Force unit * 358th Fighter Squadron (358 FS), part of the 355th Fighter Wing at Davis-Monthan Air Force Ba ...

moved into High Halden airfield in on 13 April 1944 from

RAF Raydon 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 ...

. Operational squadrons of the 358th were: * 365th Fighter Squadron (CH) * 366th Fighter Squadron (IA) * 367th Fighter Squadron (CP) The group was assigned to the

XIX Tactical Air Command The XIX Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The unit's last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force based at Biggs Field, Texas, where it was inactivated on 31 March 1946. During World War II, the mission of th ...

, 100th Fighter Wing. The 358th began movement to the ALG at Cretteville France (ALG A-14) on 29 June, however the group continued to operate from High Halden until 16 July with the remainder of the ground support personnel leaving on the 18th.

Current use

With the facility released from military control the airfield area was returned to the farmers, which put it back into agricultural use. Today, the area is unrecognizable as an airfield. High Halden's precise location can only be determined by matching the secondary roads in the area with those visible on aerial photography taken during the airfields active use. Close examination of recent aerial photography shows some evidence of scarring on the landscape that still exists, which align with the NE/SW runway. In the local area, a few outward traces remain of the airfield, consisting of some metal PSP that was used for fencing. A memorial to those who served at the airfield has been erected close to the northern end of the 04/22 runway on Bethersden Road.

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
{{DEFAULTSORT:High Halden Airfields of the IX Fighter Command in the United Kingdom Royal Air Force stations in Kent