RAF Blackbushe/hartford Bridge

RAF Blackbushe occupied a site on the Hampshire–Surrey border near Hartley Wintney, and for most of its wartime life it was actually known as RAF Hartford Bridge. It opened on 1 November 1942, initially under Army Cooperation Command and later passing through No. 70 Group, before being absorbed into the Second Tactical Air Force as the build-up to the invasion of Europe gathered pace. The station was renamed RAF Blackbushe in November 1944.

Rather than serving as a heavy-bomber base, the airfield housed the light-bomber, fighter and reconnaissance units that supported the Normandy campaign. Among the many squadrons that passed through were ones flying de Havilland Mosquitoes, Supermarine Spitfires and Douglas Boston light bombers, including French-manned units of the Free French air arm. The airfield also became a test ground for the FIDO fog-dispersal system, which burned fuel alongside the runway to clear mist and let aircraft land in poor visibility.

By late 1944 the station had shifted towards transport work under No. 46 Group of Transport Command, operating Dakota types. After the war it closed as an RAF station in 1946 and was transferred to civil control, reopening as Blackbushe Airport in 1947. The site remains an active general-aviation airfield to this day.