Royal Air Force Stations in Lincolnshire

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RAF North Witham

USAAF Station AAF-479; Grid reference centred on: SK 947 229


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The remains of North Witham airfield are contained within the boundary of Twyford Forest, to the east of the A1 and the south of the A151. The airfield was built to the standard bomber pattern (Class "A") with three intersecting concrete runways and two T2 hangars. The communal and accommodation sites were dispersed to the south, and the bomb stores were located to the north-east of the airfield.
North Witham was allocated to the US Ninth Air Force and opened in the autumn of 1943 as USAAF Station 479 with IX Troop Carrier Command (TCC). In residence the US 1st Tactical Air Depot (TAD), a major transport aircraft distribution and maintained C-47s and C-53s of the IX TCC. This included Horsa and Hadrian assault gliders. During 1944, two Mobile Repair and Reclamation Squadrons (MRSS), 44th MRSS and the 27th MRSS, were also based at the airfield.

In March 1944, IX TCC Pathfinder School (PFS) arrived at the airfield from RAF Cottesmore, Rutland. The C-47s of the school were equipped with Gee navigational equipment and radar allowing them to drop pathfinder paratroopers accurately on target who would set up visual and radio directional aids with a device named "Eureka". This ground based radio sent messages to a transponder aboard the aircraft which were equipped with Rebecca receivers which picked up the Eureka signal, thereby accurately guiding the main body of airborne troops to the drop zone. Link It was C-47s operating from North Witham which led the invasion forces on D-Day, twenty aircraft being dispatched, one of which failed to return having been shot down. The PFS moved to Chalgrove, Oxfordshire between 10-14th September 1944, although C-47 maintenance continued at North Witham on a reduced scale. When the airfield was handed back to the RAF in early 1945, it was briefly placed on Care and Maintenance but on 1st June, it was allocated to 40 (Maintenance) Group, for aircraft and ordnance storage.

The site is on Forestry Commission land and accessible from the A151. Most of the runways and perimeter track still exists today, although parts are reduced in length and width and together with the bomb stores, surrounded by trees. The watch office still stands in a derelict state. The T2 hangar on the technical site is still in use by Witham Specialist Vehicles Ltd, for resale of former military vehicles.

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