Royal Air Force Stoney Cross or more simply RAF Stoney Cross 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 in the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

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 approximately northwest of Lyndhurst and west of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Opened in 1942, it served 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 functioned primarily as a combat bomber and fighter airfield. It closed in January 1948. Today the remains of the airfield sit on New Forest

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

managed by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...

Royal Air Force use

Stoney Cross opened in November 1942 and served the

and

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

. The following units were here at some point: ;Units:

USAAF use

Stoney Cross was known as USAAF Station AAF-452 for security reasons during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its USAAF Station Code was "SS".

367th Fighter Group

The 367th Fighter Group arrived from

Oakland Municipal Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger flig ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

flying Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. They had the following fighter squadrons and fuselage codes: * 392d Fighter Squadron (H5) *

393d Fighter Squadron 393rd or 393d may refer to: *393d Bomb Squadron (393 BS) is part of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri *393d Bombardment Group, inactive United States Air Force unit *393d Bombardment Squadron (Medium) (1942), inactive United ...

(8L) *

394th Fighter Squadron The 394th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was assigned to the 367th Fighter Group and was last stationed at Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, where it was inactivated on 7 November 1945. The squadron was ac ...

(4N) The 367th was a group of

70th Fighter Wing The 70th Fighter Wing (70th FW) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, based at Neubiberg Air Base, Germany. It was inactivated on 25 September 1947. History Established ...

IX Tactical Air Command The IX Tactical Air Command was a formation of the United States Army Air Forces. It fought in the European theater of World War II. Its last assignment was at Camp Shanks, New York, where it was inactivated on 25 October 1945. History Formed ...

. On 6 July the 367th Fighter was moved to nearby RAF Ibsley to make way for the 387th Bomb Group.

387th Bombardment Group (Medium)

With the fighters moved to Ibsley, the Martin

B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...

s of the 387th Bombardment Group moved to Stoney Cross from

RAF Chipping Ongar Royal Air Force Chipping Ongar or more simply RAF Chipping Ongar is a former Royal Air Force station located northeast of Chipping Ongar; about northeast of London. Opened in 1943, it was used by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and United Sta ...

on 25 June 1944. They had the following bomber squadrons and fuselage codes: * 556th Bombardment Squadron (FW) * 557th Bombardment Squadron (KS) * 558th Bombardment Squadron (KX) * 559th Bombardment Squadron (TQ) The 387th was a group of

's 98th Bombardment Wing, IX Bomber Command. By 1 September the group was able to move across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

to its Advanced Landing Ground at a captured

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

airfield, Maupertus-sur-Mer Airfield, France (A-15).

Civil use

Upon its release from military use, the airfield stood neglected. The Forestry Commission, who have managed the crown lands of the New Forest since 1924, took over the management of the site upon its closure. Runways were broken up in the 1960s, putting an end to their use for informal driving lessons, to meet demands for hardcore in the area and most of the usable buildings were sold. The final remaining structure - the water tower - was removed in 2004. At present a minor C road runs along the length of the main 25/07 runway as a right of way. The other two runways are still clearly visible in aerial photography, although the concrete has been removed. The eastern perimeter road is also in use as a C road. The Forestry Commission has established car parks on three dispersal pans and two campsites make use of other former dispersal sites alongside the eastern 33/15 runway. Almost all of the other dispersal hardstands have been removed, although a few survive in a deteriorated condition. There is a small marker along one of the roads as a memorial to the former airfield and an interpretation board at one of the car parks. From 1951 to 1954 the accommodation site at Longbeech was used by New Forest District council to house families waiting for council housing. The site had grocery, doctor's surgery, library, and hall which doubled up as a cinema at the weekends.Memories of Civilian Living at RAF Stoney Cross
New Forest & Hampshire Wartime Association, retrieved 8 December 2022 The site was vacated by 1955. In 1986 RAF Stoney Cross hit the national news when a Hampshire Constabulary led police operation evicted a large group of

Peace Convoy New Age travellers, not completely synonymous with but otherwise shortened to New Travellers (often referred to as "crusties"), are people in the United Kingdom generally espousing New Age beliefs along with the hippie culture of the 1960s (ove ...

travellers from the airfield site. BBC2 recorded the week-long occupation leading to an early-morning eviction in the documentary 'Seven Days At Stoney Cross (1986) Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
The concrete roads in Longbeech still exist but those on the remainder of the airfield that had survived the earlier 'blitz' were removed in the 1990s.

References

* * 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. .
www.controltowers.co.uk RAF Stoney Cross

External links

New Age Travellers - Seven Days At Stoney Cross (BBC 1986)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoney Cross Airfields of the 9th Bombardment Division in the United Kingdom Royal Air Force stations in Hampshire Military installations established in 1942 Military installations closed in 1946 New Forest 1942 establishments in England Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom