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RAF Stansted Mountfitchet

Former Royal Air Force airbase in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England (1943–1958)

Summary

Former Royal Air Force airbase in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England (1943–1958)

Field	Value
name	RAF Stansted Mountfitchet
ensign	[[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg	90px]]
location	Near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England
image	RAF Stansted Mountfitchet - 9 Jan 1947 Airphoto.jpg
caption	Aerial photograph of RAF Stansted Mountfitchet looking north after a large snowstorm, 9 January 1947. The bomb dump is at the bottom.
type	Airfield
code	KT
built	1943
used	1943–1958
occupants	United States Army Air Force
Royal Air Force
battles	Second World War
map_type	Essex
pushpin_label_position	none
map_size	300
coordinates

Aerial photograph of the USAAF 2d Tactical Air Depot oriented north, located to the northeast of the Stansted Mountfichet Airfield 8 May 1948

Royal Air Force

RAF Stansted Mountfitchet is a former Royal Air Force station during the Second World War located near the village of Stansted Mountfitchet in the District of Uttlesford in Essex, 48 km north-east of central London. The airfield is now London Stansted Airport.

History

Second World War

Construction work began in August 1942 by US Engineers of the 817th Battalion, who were later replaced by the 825th and 850th Battalions, with work being completed in August 1943. Although the official name was Stansted Mountfitchet, the base was, from early in its construction, usually referred to simply as the more manageable Stansted.

344th Bombardment Group

Stansted was officially opened on 7 August 1943 when the 30th Air Depot Group took up residence. The airfield was officially transferred to the Ninth Air Force on 16 October. On 8 February 1944, the first operational squadron arrived at Stansted, the 344th Bombardment Group, transferring in from Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia, USA. The 344th operated the Marauder bomber, and flew their first operational sortie on 6 March 1944. On 6 June 1944, the 344th led the Ninth Air Force on the first bombing mission of D-Day. The 344th left Stansted on 30 September 1944, when they moved to an Advanced Landing Ground at Cormeilles-en-Vexin, France.

2nd Tactical Air Depot

Stansted airfield also served as a maintenance and supply depot, working on the Marauder bomber. Following Allied advances in the Normandy campaign, these activities were transferred to France, but Stansted remained in use as a supply storage area for the support of forward-deployed aircraft.

Post-war use

Following the departure of the USAAF on 12 August 1945, Stansted was taken over by the Air Ministry, who used it both as a storage site (until 1949), and as a prisoner-of-war camp (until 1947).

The airfield passed to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 1949. In 1954, work was undertaken to prepare the airfield for a return to military usage, including the extension of runways, however these plans fell through, and in 1966 control passed to the newly-formed British Airports Authority.

References

Bibliography

References

"Stansted Airport". Bishop's Stortford & Thorley - A History & Guide.
(2022). "RAF and USAAF Airfields in the UK During the Second World War". Fonthill Media.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

royal-air-force-stations-in-essex airfields-of-the-9th-bombardment-division-in-the-united-kingdom royal-air-force-stations-of-world-war-ii-in-the-united-kingdom london-stansted-airport military-airbases-established-in-1943 military-airbases-closed-in-1958

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