Royal Air Force Ashford or more simply RAF Ashford 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 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 landing ground is located approximately west of Ashford just south of the A28 near the junction with Old Surrenden Manor Road; 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 1943, Ashford was one of several prototypes for the temporary Advanced Landing Ground airfields built in France after D-Day, required as the Allied forces moved east across

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was used by British, Dominion and 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 few recognisable remains.

History

The following units were also here at some point: * No. 129 Airfield RAF (August - October 1943) * No. 3205 Servicing Commando * No. 3206 Servicing Commando * No. 3207 Servicing Commando * No. 3209 Servicing Commando

United States Army Air Forces use

Ashford was known as USAAF Station AAF-417 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its USAAF Station Code was "AF".

406th Fighter Group

On 5 April the airmen of the

406th Fighter Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

arrived, having crossed the Atlantic by troopship. The group arrived from Congaree Army Airfield

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. Operational fighter

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

s and

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...

codes were: *

512th Fighter Squadron The 512th Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 86th Fighter Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where it was inactivated September 1994. The squadron was first activated as the 628th B ...

(L3) (yellow) * 513th Fighter Squadron (4P) (red) * 514th Fighter Squadron (O7) (blue) The 406th Fighter Group was part of the 303d Fighter Wing,

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 ...

. The 406th Fighter Group conducted its first operation on 9 May and was chiefly involved in fighter-bomber work. On 18 when the 513th started to use ALG A-13 at Tour-en-Bessin. The last remnants of the 406th departed RAF Ashford on 31 July.

Bombing

The airfield was bombed during a night-time raid on 22 May 1944, at 12:35 am. A

high-explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

bomb was dropped in the tented area which accommodated the reserve flight pilots and other staff. These were RAF Volunteer Reservists of 5003 Airfield Construction Squadron, based at RAF Great Chart, some 1.2 km northeast of the airfield. There were 30 casualties, 14 being fatal.

Current use

With the facility released from military control, Ashford was rapidly returned to agricultural use. There is little to indicate that an airfield ever existed at this location.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* ''The Military Airfields of Britain'', pp 30–31, Ken Delve, 2005, Crowood, * * 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
* British Automobile Association (AA), (1978), Complete Atlas of Britain, {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashford Royal Air Force stations in Kent Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom

RAF 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 ...