RAF Goxhill USAAF Station 345
Goxhill,Lincolnshire in England
RAF Aerial photograph of Goxhill airfield. taken on 29 April 1947. The runways are blocked with different types of equipment. Also, the control tower and technical site with two T2 hangars and a J-Type hangar is on the right.
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force station
Code	GX[1]
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces
Controlled by	RAF Bomber Command 1941 *No. 1 Group RAF RAF Fighter Command 1941-42 *No. 12 Group RAF 1945- Eighth Air Force Ninth Air Force RAF Maintenance Command
Location
RAF Goxhill Shown within Lincolnshire Show map of Lincolnshire RAF Goxhill RAF Goxhill (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	53°40′40″N000°18′56″W / 53.67778°N 0.31556°W /53.67778; -0.31556
Site history
Built	1940 (1940)/41
Built by	John Laing & Son Ltd
In use	June 1941 - December 1953 (1953)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Identifiers	WMO: (grid referenceTA110210)
Elevation	6 metres (20 ft)[1]AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Tarmac 00/00  Tarmac 00/00  Tarmac

Royal Air Force Goxhill orRAF Goxhill is a formerRoyal Air Force station located east ofGoxhill, on the south bank of theHumber Estuary in northLincolnshire,England, opposite the city ofKingston upon Hull.

During theFirst World War aRoyal Flying Corps landing ground existed near the Lincolnshire village of Goxhill. In 1940 theAir Ministry returned to survey the land once again for its suitability as anairfield.^[2]

Goxhill was originally used as abarrage balloon site to protect the port ofHull and theHumber estuary.

In 1940, Goxhill was transferred toRAF Bomber Command and was planned and rebuilt as a bomber airfield. It was equipped with three intersectingrunways, the main runway at 1,600 yards (1,500 m) and two secondary runways of 1,100 yards (1,000 m).^[3] Threehangars were built: two T-2s, one J-Type and four blisters and fifty aircraft hardstands. Temporary accommodation was provided for 1700+ personnel.

Its location, however, was too close to the air defences ofHull to be used for that purpose. Its first occupant was No. 1 Group, which took up residence on 26 June 1941. Its mission was towing practice targets withWestland Lysanders; its first operation began on 25 October.^[4]

In December 1941,RAF Fighter Command replaced the Bomber Command training unit with No. 12 Group, flyingSupermarine Spitfires from No. 616 Squadron atRAF Kirton in Lindsey. Fighter Command operated the base until May 1942.

The airfield was relegated to satellite field use byRAF Kirmington until August 1942, when it was taken over by theUnited States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The transfer ceremony was attended by GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower.^[5] During the war it was known asUSAAF Station 345.^[4]

The facilities at Goxhill, however, left a lot to be desired. Three woodenbarracks were supplemented by a number of metal fabricated buildings for living quarters. Typical of the temporary RAF station of that period, living quarters and mess facilities were 1 to 2 miles from the hangars and flight operations area for safety reasons.

The station was unofficially known by the USAAF units based here as "GoatHill".^[6][4] The USAAF used Goxhill as a training airfield for the rest of the war; several squadrons used it after their initial deployment to the UK, then moved on to a permanent facility for their operational missions.

USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Goxhill were:^[7]

• 333rd Service Group^[8]

332nd Service Squadron; HHS 333d Service Group

• 13th Station Complement Squadron
• 18th Weather Squadron
• 2nd Gunnery & Tow Target Flight
• 1004th Signal Company
• 1148th Quartermaster Company
• 1275th Military Police Company
• 1771st Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company
• 2130th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon

Both the USAAF8th and9th Air Force used Goxhill. Units which trained here were:

The 496th Fighter Group was a Combat Crew Replacement Center for 8th and 9th USAAF units. It consisted of the 554th Fighter Squadron with P-38s and the 555th Fighter Squadron withNorth American P-51 Mustangs. The group trained over 2,400 fighter pilots during its existence. The 78th Fighter Group came to England equipped with P-38s, but had all of its aircraft and most of its pilots sent to theTwelfth Air Force in February 1943, after which it flew P-47 Thunderbolts.^[9]

On 20 January 1945, the USAAF returned Goxhill to RAF control, and it was assigned as a satellite toRAF Kirton In Lindsey. On 27 May 1945 it was assigned to RAF Maintenance Command for storage of excess munitions. RAF Goxhill remained a storage depot until it was deactivated on 14 December 1953.^[10]

Goxhill airfield was leased to farmers for agricultural use until 29 January 1962, when it was finally sold by theMinistry of Defence (MoD). The technical site and the hangars, however, were retained by the MoD for storage. In July 1977, the MoD sold off the remaining parts of Goxhill to private owners for agricultural use.^[11]

Since the end of its military use, Goxhill airfield has remained remarkably intact, with aMary Celeste feel about it. Perhaps because of its relative inaccessibility, Goxhill still looks very much as it did during the war years.^[2] All the buildings on the technical site, except thecontrol tower which was partly demolished (despite the owner's objection) in 2002, are still standing.^[5] The three hangars—two T.2s and a J type—are also there, albeit in a state of disrepair. The perimeter track is almost complete, and a large part of the main runway is still in place. In the northwest corner of the site is a memorial incorporating apropeller blade from a crashed P-38. The remains of the control tower were acquired by theMilitary Aviation Museum inPungo, Virginia, USA, and after careful dis-assembly and cataloging, the components were shipped to America, where the tower has been reconstructed for use by the museum.^[5]

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

 This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Delve, Ken (2008).The Military Airfields of Britain; the East Midlands. Marlborough: Crowood Press.ISBN 978-1-86126-995-9.
• Falconer, Jonathan (2012).RAF Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing.ISBN 978-1-85780-349-5.
• Bruce Barrymore HalpennyAction Stations: Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands v. 2 (ISBN 978-0850594843)
• Freeman, Roger A.,Airfields Of The Eighth, Then And Now, 1978
• Maurer Maurer,Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, 1983
• Parker, RonGoxhill At War, 1994
• Parker, RonA Village At War Goxhill, 1996
• USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to presentArchived 27 May 2011 at theWayback Machine

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRAF Goxhill.

• 496th Fighter Training Group History—This opens up a pdf file and not a web page. (i.e. html)
• United States Army Air Forces - Goxhill
• Historic Goxhill photo.htm
• RAF Goxhill North Lincolnshire Airfield

• Royal Air Force stations in Lincolnshire
• Airfields of the VIII Fighter Command in the United Kingdom
• Royal Flying Corps airfields
• Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
• Military airbases established in 1941
• Military airbases established in 1953

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