RAF Rivenhall USAAF Station AAF-168
Silver End,Essex in England
Rivenhall airfield photographed in April 1944 with the B-26 Marauders of the 397th Bombardment Group parked on the grass, while the P-51 Mustangs of the 363d Fighter Group are still on the dispersal loops.
Site information
Type	Royal Air Force station
Code	RL
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	United States Army Air Forces Royal Air Force
Controlled by	Ninth Air Force 1943-44 RAF Fighter Command 1944-
Location
RAF Rivenhall Shown within Essex
Coordinates	51°51′19″N000°38′23″E / 51.85528°N 0.63972°E /51.85528; 0.63972
Site history
Built	1944 (1944)
Built by	W. C. French Ltd
In use	December 1944 - January 1946 (1946)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	51 metres (167 ft)[1]AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Concrete/Tarmac 00/00  Concrete/Tarmac 00/00  Concrete/Tarmac

Royal Air Force Rivenhall (RAF Rivenhall) is a formerRoyal Air Force stationinEssex,England. The airfield is approximately 4 mi (6.4 km) south-southeast ofBraintree,Essex.

Opened in 1942, it was used by theRoyal Air Force andUnited States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used primarily as a combat airfield for fighter and bomber units. It was closed in 1946 and kept in reserve until 1956. The remains of the airfield are located on private property with the northern half having been turned into aquarry.

Rivenhall was known asUSAAF Station AAF-168 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and was referred to thus to avoid revealing its location. Its USAAF Station Code was "RL".

On 22 January 1944 a squadron of the363d Fighter Group arrived fromRAF Keevil where it had been awaiting equipment. The group had been selected as the third in theEuropean Theatre to be equipped with the newNorth American P-51B Mustang. The group consisted of:

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

On 14 April 1944, as part of a general movement ofNinth Air Force fighter units in theColchester area to advanced landing grounds, the 363d moved toRAF Staplehurst. The movement of all elements having begun two days previously.

On the day following the departure of the 363d the firstMartin B-26 Marauders of the397th Bombardment Group arrived fromRAF Gosfield. The group consisted of

• 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 fin (vertical stabiliser).

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

The following units were here at some point:^[2]

• No. 295 Squadron RAF (1944-46)
• No. 570 Squadron RAF (1944-45)
• No. 1677 (Target Towing) Flight RAF

Upon its release from military use, in June 1956, Marconi leased part of the airfield and within ten years had taken over most of the surviving buildings. Today the northern half of the former airfield is a quarry, with the vast majority of the land in the north-west of the site having been excavated.

The perimeter track of the airfield has been reduced to a single track agricultural road. All three runways either have been quarried, or substantially reduced in width, with the grass areas of the former airfield returned to agriculture. One T-2 hangar remains, along with a scattering of buildings. A motor salvage business has taken over some of the hardstands in the east end of the airfield, where once C-47s and gliders were stored. As of 2022, an integrated waste management facility is being constructed on part of the site.

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

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

• Falconer, J. (1998).RAF Fighter Airfields of World War 2. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing.ISBN 0-7110-2175-9.
• Freeman, Roger A. (1994).UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now. London: After the Battle. Battle of Britain Prints International.ISBN 0-900913-80-0.
• Freeman, Roger A. (1995).The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. London: Arms and Armour Press.ISBN 1-85409-272-3.
• Maurer, Maurer (1983).Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
• USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers: 1908 to present

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRAF Rivenhall.

• Rivenhall - A History of an Essex Airfield
• Rivenhall Airfield Pictures 2006^{[permanent dead link]}

• Airfields of the IX Fighter Command in the United Kingdom
• Airfields of the 9th Bombardment Division in the United Kingdom
• Military airbases established in 1943
• Royal Air Force stations in Essex
• Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom
• Military airbases closed in 1956

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