RAF Rivenhall: Difference between revisions

RAF Rivenhall was a World War II airfield in England two miles north of the Essex village after which it was named and near Witham about 0.9 mi northeast of Silver End. During the war it was used by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force Ninth Air Force as USAAF station 168.

Construction was begun in early 1943 with the runways, perimeter and hardstandings being built by Messrs W. & C. French and the buildings by Bovis Limited. Rivenhall was laid out with the standard three runways of the period, one of 6,000 ft and two of 4,200 ft. Building progress was slow during the autumn and winter of 1943, so much so that much of the accommodation and support installations were uncompleted when the first units of the USAAF arrived. The airfield, like others in the grouping, had first been allocated to the Eighth Air Force for heavy bomber use and eventually re-assigned to the 3rd Bomb Wing which became the nucleus of IX Bomber Command.

On 22 January 1944, a squadron of the 363rd Fighter Group arrived from RAF Keevil where it had been awaiting equipment. The group had been selected as the third in the ETO to be equipped with the new North American P-51B Mustang. The group consisted of the following operational squadrons:

• 380th Fighter Squadron (A9)
• 381st Fighter Squadron (B3)
• 382d Fighter Squadron (C3)

The first of its squadrons to arrive at Rivenhall, the 382nd, received Mustangs with which to begin training two days later. The other two squadrons of the group, the 380th and 381st, had arrived by the end of the first week of February.

Many of the Mustangs had already seen service with the 354th FG at RAF Boxted, having been withdrawn for modification and re-issued. The early model Mustangs had been employed in a tactical fighter reconnaissance role by the RAF and USAAF, and the same task was planned for the new P-51B. However, its exceptional endurance and good performance made the type ideal for long-range bomber escort duties which was the pressing need of the USAAF in Britain at this time.

Bad weather caused the 363rd FG's first combat mission to be abandoned, but this was achieved two days later on 24 February when 24 P-51Bs took off from Rivenhall for Belgium on bomber support. Thereafter, there was no gentle introduction to operations for the remainder of the Rivenhall pilots: this inexperienced organisation had some painful lessons ahead.

On 4 March, while supporting a raid over Germany, the group was surprised by an experienced Luftwaffe unit. This was probably the Luftwaffe's most successful interception of P-51s and 11 Mustangs failed to return to Rivenhall.

The 363rd continued to provide escort for Eighth Air Force heavy bombers, but prepared to go over to fighter-bomber work. This included dive-bombing and several practice sorties were despatched to dive-bomb targets in the Stour estuary. On two occasions, the Mustangs involved broke up attempting to pull out of the dive which led to re-examination of the technique employed.

During its stay at Rivenhall the 363rd flew 20 missions, had 16 aircraft missing in action, and was credited with shooting down 13 of the enemy. On 14 April 1944 as part of a general movement of Ninth Air Force fighter units in the Colchester area to the advanced landing grounds, the 363rd moved to RAF Staplehurst. The actual movement of all elements had begun two days previously.

On the continent, the 363d was reorganized into a Reconnaissance group flying the F-5 photo-reconnaissance version of the P-38 Lightning and the F-6 photo-reconnaissance version of the P-51 Mustang at Le Mans airfield, France (A-35). The 380th, 381st and 382d squadrons were redesignated as the 160th, 161st and 162d Reconnaissance Squadrons respectivley. The group flew photographic missions to support both air and ground operations; directed fighter-bombers to railway, highway, and waterway traffic, bridges, gun positions, troop concentrations, and other opportune targets; adjusted artillery fire; and took photographs to assess results of Allied bombardment operations.

It received two Belgian citations for reconnaissance activities, including the group's support of the assault on the Siegfried Line and its participation in the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944-Jan 945). The 363d assisted [[Ninth United States Army |Ninth Army's]] drive across the Rhine and deep into Germany during the period from Feburary 1945 to V-E Day, eventually being stationed at Wiesbaden, Germany (Y-80) at the end of hostilities in May.

The 363d returned to the United States in December 1945 and was inactivated on 11 December 1945 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey.

On the day following the departure of the 363d, the first Martin B-26 Marauders of the 397th Bombardment Group arrived from RAF Gosfield. The group consisted of the following operational squadrons:

• 596th Bombardment Squadron (X2)
• 597th Bombardment Squadron (9F)
• 598th Bombardment Squadron (U2)
• 599th Bombardment Squadron (6B)

The group's identification marking was a yellow diagonal band across both sides of the vertical tailplane.

Over the next few days, more than 60 'bare metal' B-26s were to be seen on the Rivenhall hardstands. Although fresh from the training grounds in south-eastern United States, and having only reached the UK early in April. the 347th undertook its first combat mission on 20 April: an attack on a Pas de Calais V-1 site.

During its tenure of Rivenhall the 397th undertook 56 bombing missions, 32 of them attacks on bridges. Other targets were enemy airficlds, rail junctions, fuel and ammunition stores, V-weapon sites and various military installations in France and the Low Countries. During these missions a total of 16 B-26s were missing in action and several others wrecked in crash-landings at the base.

Early in August, officially on the 5th, the 397th transferred from Rivenhall to RAF Hurn in Hampshire, to give the Marauders a better radius of action as the break-out of the Allied forces from the Normandy beachhead meant that potential targets were receding.

In early October, Short Stirlings of the RAF's No. 295 Squadron took up residence with most of its operations consisting of supply drops to Norwegian resistance forces and similar activities over Holland and Denmark. On 24 March 1945, the unit took part in Operation Varsity, the crossing of the Rhine.

Early in April another Stirling squadron arrived. No. 570, which joined No. 295 in night operations in support of resistance forces in occupied countries. Both squadrons were disbanded at Rivenhall in January 1946 whereupon the station was held on a care and maintenance basis.

Rivenhall continued to be one of the busiest airfields in the U.K. until January 1946 when its squadrons moved to RAF Shepherds Grove, situated 12 miles northeast of Bury St. Edmunds.

During the immediate post-war years, Rivenhall was used to house Polish servicemen released from PoW camps who did not want to return to their homeland. In June 1956, Marconi leased part of the airfield and within ten years had taken over most of the surviving buildings. The main runway has for many years been used by GEC for radar experiments. Several airfield buildings survive. including the station cinema and power house. Two runways and several hardstandings are intact. but part of the third runway was removed For hardcore for use on the A-12 Witham bypass.

• List of RAF stations
• USAAF Ninth Air Force - World War II

• Freeman, Roger A., UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now, 1994

• Rivenhall - A History of an Essex Airfield
• Rivenhall Airfield Pictures 2006

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51°51′18″N 000°38′24″E / 51.85500°N 0.64000°E / 51.85500; 0.64000