We all express our appreciation and like for different aircraft and expand on that in so many threads, but what about airports? An essential part of aviation in WW2, airfields differed enormously during the war, from simple strips cut from bare land to massive industrial complexes capable of employing thousands of people. So, what is your favourite airfield, aerodrome or airport of WW2? It could be somewhere that your favourite aircraft operated from, it could be somewhere you visited and it resonated with you for whatever reason, it could be somewhere near where you live, or where a relative was posted, or a person you admire was posted during the war...
Airfields, aerodromes and airports
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I'll kick it off with mine - Tempelhof Aerodrome in Berlin. During the war, Tempelhof operated as a civil and military aerodrome and was part owned by Lufthansa and the Weser Flugzeugbau. That enormous semi-circular terminal was not completed until after the war and did not see a single fare paying passenger throughout the whole war, but its space - the second largest building in the world to this day in floor area, was used by Weser to build and overhaul aircraft. Five out of six Ju 87s were built by Weser at Tempelhof and Fw 190s and a wide variety of Junkers aircraft were overhauled there, as Weser was part owned by the firm. In order to support the production facility there was a Konzentrationslager on site housing hundreds of inmates, as well as the SS run facility the Columbiahaus across the road as an extra incentive for the workforce.
The civilian airport was located in the centre of the new field and was owned by Lufthansa, running services during the war, but was eventually taken over completely for military use. As we know, the big terminal was completed and opened to air traffic in 1950 and throughout the Cold War served as a US military facility. I flew out of Tempelhof when I used to date a girl living in Berlin. I relished the experience - all that history in lavish surroundings, as well as the ease of check-in, transit and departure - you walked from the boarding gates to your aircraft under that enormous overhang, which was quite an experience.
Today you can visit the terminal as part of a guided tour and if in Berlin (when that ever happens again!) I'd highly recommend it. Some pictures I took during my European tour in 2019.
The public entrance to the terminal.
Europe 254
The passenger departure gates and that massive overhang. During the war, this space housed the Ju 87 production line, as doors could enclose the area.
Europe 248
Architect Erich Sagebiel's nearly 2 kilometre long terminal in all its majesty. The C-46 is an Airlift veteran and was flown to the airfield by the Candy Bomber himself, Gail Halvorsen.
Europe 247
The site as seen from the Fernsehturm in central Berlin.
Berlin Tour 100
The civilian airport was located in the centre of the new field and was owned by Lufthansa, running services during the war, but was eventually taken over completely for military use. As we know, the big terminal was completed and opened to air traffic in 1950 and throughout the Cold War served as a US military facility. I flew out of Tempelhof when I used to date a girl living in Berlin. I relished the experience - all that history in lavish surroundings, as well as the ease of check-in, transit and departure - you walked from the boarding gates to your aircraft under that enormous overhang, which was quite an experience.
Today you can visit the terminal as part of a guided tour and if in Berlin (when that ever happens again!) I'd highly recommend it. Some pictures I took during my European tour in 2019.
The public entrance to the terminal.
The passenger departure gates and that massive overhang. During the war, this space housed the Ju 87 production line, as doors could enclose the area.
Architect Erich Sagebiel's nearly 2 kilometre long terminal in all its majesty. The C-46 is an Airlift veteran and was flown to the airfield by the Candy Bomber himself, Gail Halvorsen.
The site as seen from the Fernsehturm in central Berlin.
Glider
Captain
Personally I would have gone for RNAS Culdrose but she was just after the war so HMS Daedalus. I spent time there training as an Artificer, started as a gliding instructor and basically learnt a lot.
An unusual feature while I was there was the Hovercraft trials unit. At the time there was a lot of interest in developing hovercraft to be used in the RN and as an ex flying boat base she had a ramp from the base to the water. All sorts of odd looking machines could be seen. The most impressive being the BH7 which passed all its tests, was purchased by the Iranian navy but the RN were not allowed to use it. We saw it equipped with everything from minesweeping equipment to SS missiles, anti aircraft missiles and everything in between. It was considered to be a plum posting and we all wanted to have a go, but it never happened.
An unusual feature while I was there was the Hovercraft trials unit. At the time there was a lot of interest in developing hovercraft to be used in the RN and as an ex flying boat base she had a ramp from the base to the water. All sorts of odd looking machines could be seen. The most impressive being the BH7 which passed all its tests, was purchased by the Iranian navy but the RN were not allowed to use it. We saw it equipped with everything from minesweeping equipment to SS missiles, anti aircraft missiles and everything in between. It was considered to be a plum posting and we all wanted to have a go, but it never happened.
yosimitesam
Airman 1st Class
Branan Airfield, FL. Here's what it looked like in 1944. Training airfield. A place where even the 'greenest' student pilot could always land up-wind. Photo from Abandoned and Little Known Airfields site: Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields
Attachments
Ascent
Senior Airman
It would be hard for me to identify a single airfield as a favourite.
When I was in the RAF I loved it out on the flightline at RAF Lossiemouth first thing in the morning, with the sun not long up and a totally still day. The silence before the first engines started and everything still and serene.
These days I like what used to be RAF Glatton, now a private aerodrome. It used to be home to B-17's and I love being able to cycle down what was one of the main runways but is now the road past it. You can just picture in your minds eye those big lumbering monsters coming in to land where you're passing.
When I was in the RAF I loved it out on the flightline at RAF Lossiemouth first thing in the morning, with the sun not long up and a totally still day. The silence before the first engines started and everything still and serene.
These days I like what used to be RAF Glatton, now a private aerodrome. It used to be home to B-17's and I love being able to cycle down what was one of the main runways but is now the road past it. You can just picture in your minds eye those big lumbering monsters coming in to land where you're passing.
There are many. Where I was born and live there are/were 5 ww2 airfields within walking distance, though Catterick is 28 miles away and I think I would take the bus back. My local airport is Teesside, in WW2 it was called Middleton St George after the name of the village next to it. On take off you can still see the hard standing for WW2 bombers and the hangers and outbuildings look distinctly WW2 RAF. It was home to Bomber Command in WW2 with many Canadian crews. My mother had a friend from Middleton St George who had many tales to tell. Andrew Mynarski flew from Middleton St George and there is a statue in memory of him there. The Canadian "Mynarski Lancaster" flew over my head going into land after an engine check last time it was in UK, an unforgettable moment. Andrew Mynarski - Wikipedia
As a Teenager Teesside airport was a "bikers pub" I first started going there when I was 16. Eirther on my sisters moped or the back of someone elses bike. One night, on the back of an RD 400 Yamaha my mate Bernard decided to show someone on a GT 750 Suzuki what cornering was all about on the way out. We crashed on the last corner before the exit junction, I slid on my ass until I hit the kerb when I became airborne to the highest altitude I have ever been without the assistance of an aircraft. Bernard had no excuse, he was an apprentice electrician at the airport. The gouge made by the bike that night (and a few others) are still there, although it is no longer the entrance /exit. Picture of the airfield below.
As a Teenager Teesside airport was a "bikers pub" I first started going there when I was 16. Eirther on my sisters moped or the back of someone elses bike. One night, on the back of an RD 400 Yamaha my mate Bernard decided to show someone on a GT 750 Suzuki what cornering was all about on the way out. We crashed on the last corner before the exit junction, I slid on my ass until I hit the kerb when I became airborne to the highest altitude I have ever been without the assistance of an aircraft. Bernard had no excuse, he was an apprentice electrician at the airport. The gouge made by the bike that night (and a few others) are still there, although it is no longer the entrance /exit. Picture of the airfield below.
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Teesside is also my local airport, i live approximately 9miles away.
Its one of my favourites for the airshows i attended as a child in the 1970's.
Duxford is another again for more modern airshows and also the amazing museum and fantastic history.
Duxford Aerodrome - Wikipedia
Its one of my favourites for the airshows i attended as a child in the 1970's.
Duxford is another again for more modern airshows and also the amazing museum and fantastic history.
Duxford Aerodrome - Wikipedia
Oh I remember them too I walked there once, I will never forget seeing the "shock waves" (technically shock diamonds) in an F-4 Phantom doing a display there and the feeling of massive power.
rochie
The least spectacular of all the airfields I know about has to be RAF Greatham, I worked in the Hartlepool pipe factory (pic below) for 4 years, with many people young and old from Greatham and no one ever mentioned that it was built on a WW2 fighter airfield, possibly because almost nothing happened. It is on the right hand side as you go into Hartlepool from Billingham,RAF Greatham - Wikipedia
Yes i think my father-in-law is the only person i know that was aware of RAF Greatham.
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RAF Greatham - Wikipedia
It gets a mention in one of the pilot biographies i have, cant remember by who though !
-I was in the US Army but had to visit the Naval Station at Treasure Island, CA not too long before it closed. It was built as a trans-Pacific seaplane base in the 1930s. The terminal building was absolutely beautiful and was, I believe, used as a stand in for European airports in 1930ish movies including one of the Indiana Jones epics.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
Floyd Bennett Field, aka Naval Air Station New York (NASNY) aka Gateway National Park.
I believe it was New York City's first airport. I know Charles Lindbergh did not make THAT flight from Floyd Bennett Field but I think Wrongway Corrigan did.
The USN sponsored my Sea Explorer "Ship" (Boy Scout troop, Sea Explorer ship) at Floyd Bennett Field and we met there Friday nights. It was quite a treat to wait in the car for a P2V to taxi by.
I lived a few miles away and could see A-4's, Neptunes and KC-97's flying around all the time. Coming home from visiting kin "on the island", that rotating green and white light seemed like the light in the window.
One day, riding my bicycle to the boatyard, I heard an aircraft sound that I had never heard before. I looked up and saw a FOR REAL Vulcan bomber. That Friday night, one of the Navy brats who was a member said the RAF was here to break a speed record. There was a couple of RAF Phantoms (the actual record breakers) as well.
I even saw Airforce One. President Nixon's, not the 747.
I'd prefer it was still an airfield but the park is very nice. The hangers and tower are still there when last I looked.
I believe it was New York City's first airport. I know Charles Lindbergh did not make THAT flight from Floyd Bennett Field but I think Wrongway Corrigan did.
The USN sponsored my Sea Explorer "Ship" (Boy Scout troop, Sea Explorer ship) at Floyd Bennett Field and we met there Friday nights. It was quite a treat to wait in the car for a P2V to taxi by.
I lived a few miles away and could see A-4's, Neptunes and KC-97's flying around all the time. Coming home from visiting kin "on the island", that rotating green and white light seemed like the light in the window.
One day, riding my bicycle to the boatyard, I heard an aircraft sound that I had never heard before. I looked up and saw a FOR REAL Vulcan bomber. That Friday night, one of the Navy brats who was a member said the RAF was here to break a speed record. There was a couple of RAF Phantoms (the actual record breakers) as well.
I even saw Airforce One. President Nixon's, not the 747.
I'd prefer it was still an airfield but the park is very nice. The hangers and tower are still there when last I looked.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
RE: post # 6
Body surfing on asphalt really isn't as much fun as it sounds.
Body surfing on asphalt really isn't as much fun as it sounds.
RAF Croft - Wikipedia
RAF Croft was set up as a satellite of Middleton St George. Post war it was made into a race circuit as many airfields were. I started going there when I was 12 or 13 on a bicycle. It had everything a race circuit needs for a 12 year old. RAF Croft - Wikipedia
1 Lots of noise and smells of burning oil.
2 A tunnel under the main straight/runway to get in and out (possibly the coolest thing in the world)
3 A footbridge over the main straight with advertising on it.
4 A first corner called "Tower Bend" with a late apex and narrower going out than in, guaranteed to have lots of crashes.
5 A chicane before the start finish made of railway sleepers, not so many crashes but when they happened they were spectacular.
6 A WW2 control tower.
Years later Bernard ( mentioned in post 6) started racing, that seemed cool, so I thought I would have a go. You could go there to practice on a Thursday, so we did, I managed two crashes on Tower Bend before I even had a race there, its so easy to do, anyone can do it. I entered a race meeting and did quite well as in I wasnt last. Second meeting I was determined do better, it just needed a bit more effort and determination. On the first lap coming out of the chicane I gave it too much gas on road tyres and slid up the track in spectacular fashion with me and the bike coming to a halt under the footbridge. If anyone wants any tips on crashing a bike on a race track without leaving the racing surface, I am your man. The efforts of the 30+ riders to avoid me and my machine were talked about in the bar for weeks.
Croft was an operational airfield but also an operational training field. A Halifax left the airfield on take off leading to an iconic image of a 4,000 cookie blowing up. Almost 1000 aircrew, mainly Canadian lost their lives in Ops from Croft. When a 4,000lb blockbuster bomb exploded at Croft airfield
RAF Croft was set up as a satellite of Middleton St George. Post war it was made into a race circuit as many airfields were. I started going there when I was 12 or 13 on a bicycle. It had everything a race circuit needs for a 12 year old. RAF Croft - Wikipedia
1 Lots of noise and smells of burning oil.
2 A tunnel under the main straight/runway to get in and out (possibly the coolest thing in the world)
3 A footbridge over the main straight with advertising on it.
4 A first corner called "Tower Bend" with a late apex and narrower going out than in, guaranteed to have lots of crashes.
5 A chicane before the start finish made of railway sleepers, not so many crashes but when they happened they were spectacular.
6 A WW2 control tower.
Years later Bernard ( mentioned in post 6) started racing, that seemed cool, so I thought I would have a go. You could go there to practice on a Thursday, so we did, I managed two crashes on Tower Bend before I even had a race there, its so easy to do, anyone can do it. I entered a race meeting and did quite well as in I wasnt last. Second meeting I was determined do better, it just needed a bit more effort and determination. On the first lap coming out of the chicane I gave it too much gas on road tyres and slid up the track in spectacular fashion with me and the bike coming to a halt under the footbridge. If anyone wants any tips on crashing a bike on a race track without leaving the racing surface, I am your man. The efforts of the 30+ riders to avoid me and my machine were talked about in the bar for weeks.
Croft was an operational airfield but also an operational training field. A Halifax left the airfield on take off leading to an iconic image of a 4,000 cookie blowing up. Almost 1000 aircrew, mainly Canadian lost their lives in Ops from Croft. When a 4,000lb blockbuster bomb exploded at Croft airfield
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Croft, 1975 RAC Rally ..................
That's cheating, he isn't on the race circuit, you managed to have a pic of the footbridge and chicane that I couldn't find anywhere on the net without paying.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Start of the stage was in the pit lane, into the circuit in the reverse direction used for race days, and then off into the "ullu", on the rough, where the dispersals used to be around the perimeter, and back to the parc ferme near the pit lane for the end of the stage. Length of the stage was around 3 to 4 miles, from memory.
Couple more pics below, from the 1975 RAC rally, showing parts of Croft the public don't normally see.
I don't have a "favourite" airfield, but I'm pleased to have been able to visit, and walk around, many former WW2 airfields, some still active, most returned to agriculture, some with buildings preserved as museums, and one or two, at least, certainly having a slightly "eerie" atmosphere.
Visiting Tempsford, ( home of the Special Duties squadrons that dropped agents and supplies to Resistance groups ) back in the early 1980's, I definitely had a shudder as I looked into the (then) remains of the equipment storage barn that had been part of Gibraltar Farm, now preserved as a memorial..
Walking around a deserted and semi-derelict Burtonwood, again in the early 1980's, which was then bisected by the M62 Motorway, but otherwise still almost intact, was again a strange experience. The base, expanded for use during WW2 as a Base Air Depot for the USAAF, remained in service until the mid 1960's, being one of the largest airfields in the world, and the US Army still had a huge above and below ground storage depot there until the mid 1980's, on the edge of the former airfield. Now, it's all gone, swallowed up by retail parks and housing estates
Until the airfield closed, it was the USAF "Gateway to Europe", with a multitude of aircraft types operating, and transitting through, the base, and a huge complex of facilities, from arrivals terminal to clubs, servicing hangars, housing etc.
It was strange to walk around the deserted hangars, with overhead chains clinking in the breeze, and in the former bar and dance hall of the terminal, with decorations from the last party still hanging limply from the walls and ceiling.!!
Couple more pics below, from the 1975 RAC rally, showing parts of Croft the public don't normally see.
I don't have a "favourite" airfield, but I'm pleased to have been able to visit, and walk around, many former WW2 airfields, some still active, most returned to agriculture, some with buildings preserved as museums, and one or two, at least, certainly having a slightly "eerie" atmosphere.
Visiting Tempsford, ( home of the Special Duties squadrons that dropped agents and supplies to Resistance groups ) back in the early 1980's, I definitely had a shudder as I looked into the (then) remains of the equipment storage barn that had been part of Gibraltar Farm, now preserved as a memorial..
Walking around a deserted and semi-derelict Burtonwood, again in the early 1980's, which was then bisected by the M62 Motorway, but otherwise still almost intact, was again a strange experience. The base, expanded for use during WW2 as a Base Air Depot for the USAAF, remained in service until the mid 1960's, being one of the largest airfields in the world, and the US Army still had a huge above and below ground storage depot there until the mid 1980's, on the edge of the former airfield. Now, it's all gone, swallowed up by retail parks and housing estates
Until the airfield closed, it was the USAF "Gateway to Europe", with a multitude of aircraft types operating, and transitting through, the base, and a huge complex of facilities, from arrivals terminal to clubs, servicing hangars, housing etc.
It was strange to walk around the deserted hangars, with overhead chains clinking in the breeze, and in the former bar and dance hall of the terminal, with decorations from the last party still hanging limply from the walls and ceiling.!!
Looking back there were a lot of people involved in motorsport, my sisters boyfriend and my supervisor in R&D at Hartlepool both raced stock cars. There was a huge "gang" of friends who did rallying, I remember counting 8 Saab 96s and 2 Ford Escorts parked outside theirs and almost everyone else's houses one Sunday a helluva sight to see. My colleague in 1978 -83 and some years later (we worked together on a project for Brazil 10 years ago) was a rally fanatic, probably was either a marshall or a competitor in that rally and had an Mk 1 RS 1800 Escort as in the pic but yellow (it was far from standard). He was reprimanded by the works manager for doing "hand brake turns" on the gravel in the car park, the "turns" started at 60MPH lol.
When Croft closed at the end of 1981, Carnaby (and Elvington) became my local race circuits. I had never heard about Carnaby and what it did as an emergency landing field. RAF Carnaby - Wikipedia. There is nothing about Carnaby that makes you think it was an airfield it is just an industrial estate a barren piece of concrete at the end, until you see it from the air. It was 9,000 ft long and 750 ft wide, those good at map reading may be able to tell where it was. Not shown on most pictures is how close it was to the sea, about the same as its length under 2 miles. From its construction and operation in March 1944 1,400 planes made emergency landings or around 4 per day on average. Post war the station was used for bloodhound and Thor missiles, some pics and footage looks like real sci fi stuff. See if you can spot the airfield lol.
below map of missile sites.
below map of missile sites.
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Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Some pics from my "Tin Tent Tours", in Norfolk and Suffolk, the first two being Thorpe Abbotts museum, former home of the B-17's of the 100th Bomb Group, and a superb museum.
Second pair is the control tower museum at Framlingham ( Parham ), 390th BG, also B-17's, unfortunately closed the day I visited. The hangar and building behind the tower are original WW2, now used for storage and transport. These two shots were taken from the remains of the main runway, now a track much narrower than originally built.
Second pair is the control tower museum at Framlingham ( Parham ), 390th BG, also B-17's, unfortunately closed the day I visited. The hangar and building behind the tower are original WW2, now used for storage and transport. These two shots were taken from the remains of the main runway, now a track much narrower than originally built.
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