RAF Newchurch

51.0469, 0.9229 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Newchurch was a temporary Advanced Landing Ground on Romney Marsh in Kent, used in 1943–44. In the summer of 1944 it was the base of No. 150 Wing, a Hawker Tempest formation including No. 3 Squadron and the New Zealanders of No. 486 Squadron, which flew fighter cover over occupied France and won fame in the battle against the V-1 flying bombs, destroying hundreds of them over Kent and the Channel. Once the threat moved on the wing followed the armies to the Continent, and the airfield was returned to farmland.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Newchurch — Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust and RAF Newchurch — 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

Royal Air Force ground crew refuel and re-arm Hawker Tempest Mark V 'JF-G' of No. 3 Squadron RAF by the grass North-South runway at Newchurch, Kent (UK). On the far side of the runway is the dispersal area of No. 56 Squadron RAF.
ⓘ licence & creditF/O Wilson, Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tempest-V-2TAF.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force- 2nd Tactical Air Force, 1943-1945. Squadron Leader A S Dredge, Officer Commanding No. 3 Squadron RAF, briefs his pilots for a sweep over the Caen area, on the elevator of a Hawker Tempest Mark V, 'JF-M' at Newchurch, Kent.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Wilson (LAC) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force-_2nd_Tactical_Air_Force,_1943-1945._CH18814.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Fighter Command, 1939-1945. Pilots and ground crews of No. 132 Squadron, RAF pose for the photographer with their Supermarine Spitfire Mark VBs, lined up at Newchurch, Kent.
ⓘ licence & creditCrouch F W (F/O), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Fighter_Command,_1939-1945._CH11473.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Fighter Command Flight Sergeant Morris Rose of No 3 Squadron points out the essential characteristics of the V-1 flying bomb to other Tempest pilots at Newchurch, 23 June 1944. The Scottish pilot downed his first 'doodlebug' on 16 June, and by the end of July had claimed a total of 11 destroyed.
ⓘ licence & creditBroom R R (Plt Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Fighter_Command_CH13428.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Hawker Tempest. Tempest Mark V, JN682 ‘JF-Z’, of No. 3 Squadron RAF, parked at Newchurch, Kent, as another pair of aircraft takes off to patrol the Normandy beachhead.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer, Wilson (LAC) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Hawker_Tempest._CH14095.jpgView source & full licence →

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