RAF Mount Farm
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2013) |
RAF Mount Farm USAAF Station 234 |
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Royal Air Force Mount Farm, or more simply RAF Mount Farm, is a former
History
USAAF use
Mount Farm was originally a satellite airfield for the RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Unit at RAF Benson. The airfield was originally a grass field, but concrete was laid for runway and aircraft parking purposes and for taxiways. All hangars were the blister type. The airfield became associated with the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) when, in February 1943 it was used by the Eighth Air Force as a photo recon station. Mount Farm was given USAAF designation Station 234 (MF).
7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance)
The first USAAF unit to use the airfield was the 13th Photographic Squadron of
The group consisted of the following:
- 13th Photographic Squadron (red rudder)
- 14th Photographic Squadron (green rudder)
- 22nd Photographic Squadron(white rudder)
- 27th Photographic Squadron (blue rudder)
The group flew a combination of F-5 (P-38),
Ace RAF reconnaissance pilot Adrian Warburton, attached to the USAAF reconnaissance operations at Mount Farm, and under the command of Elliott Roosevelt, took off from here on April 12, 1944, in an F-5B Lightning for a reconnaissance flight to Schweinfurt, on which he was shot down and killed by flak.[1]
Prior to June 1944, the group photographed airfields, cities, industrial establishments, and ports in France, the Low Countries, and Germany. Following the Berlin raid in March 1944, Major Walter L Weitner flew the first Eighth Spitfire photo sortie to Berlin on 6 March and by 11 April the Group had chalked up its 1,000th sortie.
The 7th received a
The group covered missile sites in France during July, and in August carried out photographic mapping missions for ground forces advancing across France. Provided reconnaissance support for the
On September 12, 1944, a USAAF photo-reconnaissance flight over Germany, flown by pilot John Blyth, ended in a wheels-up landing at Mount Farm. Despite Blyth’s repeated efforts, his Spitfire's landing gear had failed to extend. The landing was filmed by a USAAF flight surgeon and amateur photographer, Jim (“Doc”) Savage. The film clip, along with related material, including Blyth's recollections[2] about the use of Spitfires by the USAAF at Mount Farm, was included in a 2006 documentary[3] entitled “Spitfire 944.” The documentary received an honourable mention at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.[4][5]
The 7th used P-51's to escort its own reconnaissance planes during the last months of the war as the group supported the Allied drive across the Rhine and into
The 7th Recon Group took over three million photographs during the course of its 4,251 sorties. It was transferred to RAF Chalgrove in March 1945, and was later inactivated at the 4th Strategic Air Depot (Hitcham) on 21 November 1945.[6][7]
From here stars including
Post-war governmental use
The airfield was transferred back to the RAF on 1 May 1945, and became inactive. After being used for a time by the
Current use
After the end of military control the then Bullingdon Rural District Council redeveloped the site of the RAF and USAAF buildings to build the new village of Berinsfield. The rest of the airfield was almost completely restored to agricultural use, with little evidence of its wartime past.
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Citations
- ^ "Mystery of the Missing Ace", BBC/History Channel co-production, 2002
- ^ “That was the sweetest airplane. Any pilot should fly a Spitfire at least once.”
- ^ Film is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie3SrjLlcUY
- ^ Spitfire 944 Sundance Website
- better source needed]
- ^ Freeman 2001, p. 00.
- ^ Maurer 1980, p. 00.
Bibliography
- Freeman, R. Airfields of the Eighth - Then and Now. After the Battle. London, UK: Battle of Britain International Ltd., 2001. ISBN 0-9009-13-09-6.
- Freeman, Roger A. (1991) The Mighty Eighth The Colour Record. Cassell & Co. ISBN 0-304-35708-1
- Maurer, M. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. USAF Historical Division. Washington D.C., USA: Zenger Publishing Co., Inc, 1980. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
- mighty8thaf.preller.us Mount Farm