RAF Beaulieu

RAF Beaulieu lay in the New Forest of Hampshire, close to the village of East Boldre, on a site that had earlier hosted a First World War flying field. The Second World War station opened on 8 August 1942 and began life under Coastal Command, within No. 19 Group, as a base for long-range maritime patrol work. Its first squadrons flew Consolidated Liberators and Handley Page Halifaxes; No. 224 Squadron arrived in September 1942, and over the following year the Czechoslovak-manned No. 311 Squadron and No. 53 Squadron operated Liberators on anti-submarine patrols over the Bay of Biscay.

In March 1944 the airfield passed to the United States Ninth Air Force as Station AAF-408. The 365th Fighter Group, flying Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, moved in and became one of the most effective fighter-bomber units to operate from the New Forest, striking German positions in Normandy in support of the D-Day landings before following the advance into France that summer. RAF Typhoon and other tactical squadrons also used the station during this period.

After the Americans left, Beaulieu became home to the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment, which carried out parachute and airborne-equipment trials there into the early 1950s. The station finally closed in 1959. Today the ground has reverted to open New Forest heath, partly used for model aircraft flying.