RAF Kings Cliffe

52.5683, -0.4856 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Kings Cliffe, in the wooded country of Northamptonshire west of Peterborough, opened in 1941 as a satellite of nearby Wittering and hosted several RAF fighter squadrons before being handed to the United States Army Air Forces as Station 367. From 1943 it was the home of the 20th Fighter Group, which flew Lockheed P-38 Lightnings and then North American P-51 Mustangs on long-range bomber escort and ground-attack sweeps, earning the nickname the “Loco Group” for its attacks on German railways and a Distinguished Unit Citation in April 1944. Glenn Miller gave one of his last concerts at the base in October 1944. After the war the airfield returned to farmland; the control tower survives and a small museum opened in 2024.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including King's Cliffe — Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust and RAF Kings Cliffe — Wikipedia. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Photographs

RAF ace Johnnie Johnson climbing out of the cockpit of his Spitfire. Kings Cliffe 1941.
ⓘ licence & creditBritish Government / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JohnsonSpitfire1941.jpgView source & full licence →
P-38 Lightning of the 20th Fighter Group, Kings Cliffe airfield, England. This P-38 Lightning MC-Z was flown by my father, Glenn Martin Webb until it was replaced by a P-51 Mustang with the same MC-Z lettering. Both ships were named Glengary Guy for Glenn (Dad), Gary (my brother), and Guy (me). The right side cowling read Jackie (my mother). Dad was killed in a similarly named P-51D on December 7, 1951 in Amarillo, Texas. The name Julie (my sister) was added after Jackie on August 27, 1951. Julie was 3 months old when Dad perished.
ⓘ licence & creditUSAAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20th_Fighter_Group_P38.jpgView source & full licence →
P-51D-20-NA Mustang Serial 44-72519, of 77th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, at Kings Cliffe airfield, England.
ⓘ licence & creditassumed USAAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20th_Fighter_Group_P-51.jpgView source & full licence →
Aerial photograph of Kings Cliffe Airfield, England.
ⓘ licence & creditBritish Government / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kingscliffe-16jan47.pngView source & full licence →

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