My copy of Solomons Air War Vol 2 arrived just before Xmas. Probably next on my reading list.
A couple of days before that a book I had on order for some time finally arrived.
RAF and USAAF Airfield in the UK During the Second World War: A Complete Gazeteer.
by Geoff Mills & Daniel Knowles
656 pages; 17.8 x 3.8 x 25.4 cms, about 2kg, published my Fonthill UK, June 2022.
Publisher's Notes.
Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the United Kingdom was described as one vast aircraft carrier anchored off the coast of Europe. During a seven year period 500 airfields were constructed to serve the needs first of the RAF and later the USAAF as they carried the war to German-occupied Europe. The airfields that were constructed took many different forms from training airfields and Advanced Landing Grounds to grass fighter airstrips and vast complexes used to accommodate heavy bombers. This book charts the history of each Second World War airfield in and around the UK providing a unique insight in to the construction, operational life and post-war history of each airfield. Alongside detailing the history of each airfield, this work comprehensively records the details of each unit that operated from airfields around the UK. The information provided in this meticulously researched book is supported by a wealth of 690 photographs providing an illustration into the life of each wartime station.
Contents
Abbreviations
Glossary
Introduction
Hangar Types
Squadron Numbers as Allocated 1939-1945
A Complete Gazetteer
Bibliography
I had been looking for a while for a good, comprehensive, single source book giving details of airfields in the UK during WW2 that were used by the RAF and USAAF (plus RN-FAA and Army AOP units). This book caught my eye and by chance a little while back a local online bookseller had a discount running as well as free postage over a certain purchase value, and that moved it from "too expensive" to "within my budget". Took a few weeks for the bookseller to get stock from their supplier and then onto me, but it eventually arrived.
First impressions were of a large and weighty tome, lots of photos, alphabetical listing of the airfields, some airfields listed with a map/diagram of the airfield layout.
However, before diving in too deeply I decided to do a basic 'reality check', using as the basis the details of the airfields that the RAF WW2 Squadron that I am the Historian for. That is, using the details in the publicly available Squadron records held in the UK National Archives (which for some years have also been available for download online), along with other publicly available records held in the UK Archives in terms of airfields the Squadron was based at, dates of Squadron movements between airfields and any notations made in those records about the airfields.
Things did not get off to a good start, when the first airfield, the airfield that the Squadron was reformed at and was the original occupant of from October 1940 until April 1941, they are not recorded against. Further the book says the airfield was too small for the Westland Lysander and that other than trainers such as the Tiger Moth and Auster and some Army AOP Squadrons operated there. Well, factually No.268 Squadron RAF reformed and operated their Westland Lysanders as a part of Army Co-operation Command from Westley from October 1940 until April 1941. They also operated Tiger Moths and Miles Magisters there in a secondary role providing initial training for Army personnel being prepared to potentially fly either gliders or powered aircraft. The Squadron moved on 1 April 1941 to RAF Snailwell, as they were re-equipping with Curtiss Tomahawks, which definitely could not operate from Westley. Westley had no real potential for expansion due to limitations placed by the surrounding topography, combined with a lack of local infrastructure to support any significant expansion of the airfield without major works and investment. Here the entry for Snailwell shows 268 Squadron arriving in June 1941 and leaving in May 1944, which certainly does not match with the Squadron records and other entries in this book for the Squadron's movements to other airfields.
From that quick 'reality check' just based on No.268 Squadron's airfields, it was evident to me that there were gaps and errors in the material contained in the book. A look through the details recorded for most of the RAF ACC Squadrons and their airfields and found discrepancies between what the Squadron records detailed and what was contained in the book. Similarly, details on squadron identification codes letters in different timeframes squadrons were based at various airfields are incorrect. Not good.
The degree of content and detail for each airfield also varies greatly. Some airfields seem to have significantly more material, including airfield diagrams and more 'narrative' about the airfield's history and the units that were based there. Others, the bare minimal detail and information. Again, comparing what is in the records held in the UK Archives, I know about the airfields where a number of the RAF's ACC and 2TAF Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons were based, and many have the bare minimum information included. Potentially this reflects a bias by the authors towards the more 'notable' airfields where significant RAF and USAAF units were based. In a number of cases, there appears to be more about an airfield's post-War history than its wartime one.
Realistically I found myself underwhelmed by this book, It is very 'hit and miss' in the coverage it gives to individual airfields and the number of errors of fact in the details of specific airfields for the Squadrons that I cross checked against in terms of the use made of the airfields and the units based at it, I found disappointing.