RAF Barton Bendish

RAF Barton Bendish was a grass landing ground in north-west Norfolk, lying across the Downham Market to Swaffham road from its parent station, RAF Marham. It opened around the outbreak of war in September 1939 under Bomber Command, created in line with the policy of giving main bomber stations a dispersal field where aircraft could be scattered away from a concentrated, vulnerable base. The site never received permanent buildings; crews made do with tents, and at night a lit flare path was used as a decoy to draw enemy bombers away from Marham a short distance down the road.

Despite its bomber-support origins, the airfield saw most use by Army Co-operation squadrons. Marham’s Wellington unit, No. 115 Squadron, drew on it early in the war, but it was Nos. 26 and 268 Squadrons, flying Curtiss Tomahawk fighter-reconnaissance aircraft, that made the most visits during 1941. No. 268 in particular used the field on several occasions between May and October that year, while No. 26 was present for a few days in late September 1941.

Its working life was brief. Sitting too close to Marham to be expanded, and unsuitable for the longer take-off runs that heavier four-engined bombers demanded, Barton Bendish was effectively superseded by Downham Market by 1942. The field was returned to farmland and almost nothing survives beyond a few wartime pillboxes.