| RAF Membury USAAF Station AAF-466  .png)  | |||||||||||
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| Located NearLambourn, Berkshire, England | |||||||||||
 Membury airfield photographed on 8 August 1944. As Membury had been designed as a maintenance and repair depot, additional hangar space and other facilities were required. However, because the 04/22 runway could not be lengthened due to the hilly terrain on the eastern side, the secondary 17/35 was increased in length. This is what gives the runway layout an unusual shape. | |||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||
| Type | Military airfield | ||||||||||
| Code | ME | ||||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||
| Controlled by |  Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces | ||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||
  Location in Berkshire | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°28′41″N1°33′18″W / 51.478°N 1.555°W /51.478; -1.555 | ||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||
| Built | 1942 (1942) | ||||||||||
| Built by | Gee, Walker & Slater[1] | ||||||||||
| In use | 1942–1946 (1946) | ||||||||||
| Battles/wars | European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 – May 1945 | ||||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||||
| Garrison | Eighth Air Force Ninth Air Force RAF Transport Command | ||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||
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Royal Air Force Membury or more simplyRAF Membury is a formerRoyal Air Forcestation built in thecivil parish ofLambourn inBerkshire, England, approximately 4.6 miles (7.4 km) north-northwest ofHungerford. The airfield was opened on the site of a civil airfield in August 1942, and closed in October 1946.
The base was used by both theRoyal Air Force (RAF) andUnited States Army Air Forces (USAAF). DuringWorld War II it was used by several combat units with varying missions.
The airfield continued in use, but in the late 1960s, theM4 motorway was built (opening in 1971) and it ran straight through the airfield, including through the middle of the main runway. TheMembury services were built on the site, in a triangle between the former two largest runways. A smaller airfield continues to operate on the southern half of the site, and the former technical site is now the Membury Business Parkindustrial estate.
Construction was authorised for the site in May 1941, and was originally intended to be a training airfield for91 Group,[2] a training group ofRAF Bomber Command.
During construction, the East side of the earthworks of theIron Agehillfort atMembury Camp were destroyed,[3] including flanking diagonaloutworks.[4]
Construction was nearing completion in August 1942, and RAF technical staff arrived on site to install equipment, only to be withdrawn within days as the base was to be handed over theUnited States Army Air Force (USAAF).
On 21 August 1942, headquarters personnel from theEighth Air Force arrived at Membury, and it was designated asUSAAF Station AAF-466.[5] Its USAAF Station Code was "ME".
Meanwhile, theEighth Air Force VIII Ground Air Support Command, the forebear of the rebornNinth Air Force had designated Membury for use by its reconnaissance units. These were the men of the3rd Photographic and the67th Observation Groups,[5] who arrived at Membury on 7 and 8 September 1942.
The 3rd consisted of the 5th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 23d squadrons, however the group's air echelons were still in the United States at Colorado Springs AAF,Colorado. Whilst at RAF Membury, the group was reassigned to theTwelfth Air Force and moved toRAF Steeple Morden in Cambridgeshire during October prior to its movement to North Africa.
The67th Observation Group arrived at Membury fromEsler AAFLouisiana, flyingSpitfire V aircraft, and consisted of the following operational squadrons:
At the time of the transfer to Ninth Air Force, the group was redesignated the67th Reconnaissance Group.
At the time, the 107th and 109th Squadrons were converting toNorth American P-51A Mustangs. However, before this was completed, the 107th Squadron was moved to nearbyRAF Aldermaston.
During the winter of 1942/1943, the Air Depot site was occupied by the 7th and 16th Air Depot Groups, forming the6th Tactical Air Depot which specialised in the repair and modification ofRepublic P-47 Thunderbolt.
In 1943, the north–south runway was extended to 6,000 feet (1,800 m) to support the facility as an Air Depot.
In January 1944 the366th Fighter Group arrived at Membury fromBluethenthal AAFNorth Carolina. Operational squadrons of the group were:
The 366th was a group ofNinth Air Force's71st Fighter Wing,IX Tactical Air Command. Before the group could become operational, the unit was moved toRAF Thruxton on 1 March.
The436th Troop Carrier Group with itsDouglas C-47/C-53 Skytrains arrived on 3 March fromRAF Bottesford. Operational squadrons of the group were:
The436th Troop Carrier Wing, part of the53rd Troop Carrier Wing, was assigned to Membury.[6]
Membury became a hub of activity in the run up toD-Day, as the 436th worked with the101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles" to train on glider landings forMission Albany.[5] FiveC-47 aircraft from Membury were lost on D-Day.[5]
When the 53rd Troop Carrier Wing moved its groups to France in February 1945 the 436th vacated Membury between the 21st and 25th for its new location at Melun (A-55). Nevertheless, there was still a US presence at Membury until a few weeks after the end of hostilities as the airfield was being used by the IX Troop Carrier Command as a pick-up point.[7][8]
With the 436th leaving Membury for Melun in France and the Americans departing by the end of June the station handed back to the RAF on 1 July 1945. On 15 July,C-47 Dakotas of525 Squadron arrived on the base, and they were joined by187 Squadron in October.[5]
On 30 January 1946, aRoyal Air ForceC-47 Dakota based at Membury crashed when returning to the station in a storm nearLe Mans, France, killing 11 RAF servicemen.[9][10]
In October 1946, the station was closed and Membury was reduced tocare and maintenance status, parented byRAF Welford.[5]
In the 1950s, the base was considered as having potential as aStrategic Air Command airfield, but was rejected over the alignment of the runways (with the largest runway being north–south aligned), andRAF Greenham Common, around 12.5 miles (20.1 km) away, was chosen instead.[5][6]
The following units were also here at some point:[11]
Much of the 1951 novelAir Bridge byHammond Innes is set in the closed RAF Membury at the time of theBerlin Airlift, and describes how the decaying airfield and its surroundings looked at that time.
The airfield was used by theBBC as a filming location forDoctor Who, representing aUNIT airfield twice in the shows history, the first time was in the opening episode of the 1971 serialThe Daemons and again in the second episode of 1974'sPlanet of the Spiders.[12]
Many small industries took over the old buildings on the former Air Depot technical site which are used for light industrial purposes. The former aircraft hangars are used for grain storage. The former airfield tower stood until 1998 when it was demolished.
Membury is now jointly owned and operated by two aircraft operating companies, as well as hostingparamotor andmicrolight training.
In recent years the remaining runways have had new tarmac strips laid and new aircraft hangars were erected in 2010.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency (USAAF/USAF)
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