RAF Birch

RAF Birch lay in Essex, roughly two miles north-east of Tiptree. The site was developed during 1942 and 1943, built to full heavy-bomber specification by American engineers, with three concrete runways, numerous loop hardstandings and two T2 hangars. Although laid out for intensive use, the station never saw the busy operational career its construction implied.

Birch was allocated to the United States Army Air Forces and designated USAAF Station 149. In April 1944 the 410th Bombardment Group of the Ninth Air Force, equipped with A-20 Havoc light bombers, moved in, but it stayed only briefly and flew no missions from the field before transferring to nearby Gosfield because the facilities were not ready. The airfield subsequently served Royal Air Force needs, including transport and airborne-forces roles, and was associated with Nos. 48 and 233 Squadrons and a group of maintenance units (Nos. 381 to 384). For much of its existence it functioned as a reserve airfield rather than a front-line base.

The station closed late in 1945. Most of the concrete was later broken up for hardcore, and the land returned largely to farming, with other parts given over to gravel extraction, industrial use and composting. Farm tracks today still follow the lines of the wartime runways.