RAF Fowlmere

RAF Fowlmere lay roughly six miles south-west of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, on a site first used for military flying during the First World War, when American Army cadets trained there in 1918. The grass landing ground was reactivated as the Second World War approached and served as a satellite of nearby RAF Duxford under Fighter Command.

In its early-war role Fowlmere became home to No. 19 Squadron and its Supermarine Spitfires, which operated from the field during the period of the Battle of Britain. Over the following years a long succession of fighter, reconnaissance and training units passed through, including squadrons flying for Fighter Command and Canadian-manned units, reflecting the station’s value as a forward dispersal close to the front-line bases of southern England.

The airfield’s best-known chapter came in April 1944, when the United States Eighth Air Force took it over as Station 378. The 339th Fighter Group arrived from California and flew long-range escort and ground-attack sorties, soon equipped with the North American P-51 Mustang, compiling one of the highest tallies of enemy aircraft destroyed of any American group in the theatre.

After the Americans departed and RAF use ended in the mid-1940s, Fowlmere was placed under care and maintenance and finally sold in 1957. Much of the wartime infrastructure was removed, but the site remains in aviation use today as a private grass airfield, with a small museum recalling its history.