RAF Debden

RAF Debden opened in April 1937 in the Essex countryside, a few miles south-east of Saffron Walden. Built as a permanent expansion-period station, it became a fighter aerodrome serving Fighter Command’s No. 11 Group, the sector responsible for defending London and south-east England. During the Battle of Britain in 1940 it operated as a sector station and came under repeated Luftwaffe attack, while its Hurricane and Spitfire squadrons claimed a substantial tally of enemy aircraft.

A long roster of fighter squadrons passed through Debden during the war, flying types including the Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Bristol Blenheim and Beaufighter, alongside Polish and Belgian-manned units. The station is best remembered for the American “Eagle” squadrons of RAF volunteers, Nos. 71 and 121, who were based there in 1942 before the airfield passed to the United States Army Air Forces that September as Station 356.

Debden then became the home of the USAAF 4th Fighter Group, which absorbed the Eagle squadrons and progressed from Spitfires to P-47 Thunderbolts and finally P-51 Mustangs, becoming one of the highest-scoring Eighth Air Force fighter groups. After returning to RAF control in 1945 the site served training roles, including the RAF Police and Dog School, before closing as an airfield in 1975 and passing to the Army as Carver Barracks.