RAF Bognor

RAF Bognor was a temporary wartime airfield, or Advanced Landing Ground, laid out on farmland roughly two miles north of the seaside town of Bognor in West Sussex. It opened on 1 June 1943 as a satellite of nearby RAF Tangmere, around four miles away, and was equipped with two intersecting runways of Sommerfeld steel-mesh tracking rather than concrete. Facilities were deliberately spartan: the airmen lived under canvas, and a handful of blister hangars added in late 1943 provided most of the limited cover for aircraft.

The station served Fighter Command and later the Second Tactical Air Force, principally No. 83 and No. 84 Groups, as one of the forward bases prepared for the invasion of Europe. A succession of Supermarine Spitfire units passed through, including Nos. 19, 66, 122 and 602 Squadrons and the Norwegian Nos. 331 and 332 Squadrons of No. 132 Wing, flying sweeps and ground-attack sorties against coastal defences and V-1 sites in the build-up to D-Day. No. 1310 Flight operated Ansons on transport and casualty-evacuation duties, while the 83 Group Support Unit handled Spitfires, Typhoons and Mustangs.

Once Allied squadrons moved to the Continent the airfield’s purpose lapsed, and it closed late in 1944. The land was cleared and returned to its owners by early 1945; the site has since reverted to farmland and been overtaken by the spread of Bognor Regis, leaving few traces.