Royal Air Force Headcorn or more commonly known as RAF Headcorn 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 ...

Advanced Landing Ground Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) were temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 19 ...

located northeast of

Headcorn Headcorn is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is on the floodplain of the River Beult south east of Maidstone. The village is 8 mi (13 km) southeast of Maidstone, on the A274 road to T ...

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 ...

. Opened in 1943, Headcorn was a prototype for the temporary

airfields to be built in France after D-Day, when the need for advanced landing fields became urgent as the Allied forces moved east across France and Germany. It was used by the

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 and has now reverted to farmland.

Units

Two Canadian squadrons, 403 Squadron RCAF and 421 Squadron RCAF, were based at Headcorn from August to November 1943 with

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

IXB's. The following units were also here at some point: * No. 17 (Fighter) Wing RAF (August - October 1943) * No. 127 Airfield (August - October 1943) * 362nd Fighter Group ** 377th Fighter Squadron flying

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

s **

378th Fighter Squadron The 378th Fighter Squadron is an active duty fighter squadron in the United States Air Force whose mission is to fly, maintain and support F-15C, F-16, and F-35 aircraft. It is assigned to the 495th Fighter Group, Headquarters Fifteenth Air For ...

flying Republic P-47 Thunderbolts ** 379th Fighter Squadron flying Republic P-47 Thunderbolts * No. 405 Repair & Salvage Unit (August - September 1943) * No. 2809 Squadron RAF Regiment * 'B' Section of No. 3207 Servicing Commando (August - September 1943)

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Headcorn Airfields of the IX Fighter Command in the United Kingdom Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom Royal Air Force stations in Kent

Units

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