RAF North Witham

52.7931, -0.5981 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗
Photograph of RAF North Witham
ⓘ licence & creditBritish Government / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NorthWitham-19mar44.jpg

About

RAF North Witham was built in Twyford Wood in Lincolnshire and opened in 1943 as a United States Army Air Forces base, Station 479. Its main work was as a troop-carrier air depot, maintaining and distributing Douglas C-47 transports, but it is best remembered as the home of the IX Troop Carrier Command Pathfinder School, whose radar-equipped C-47s dropped the first American pathfinder paratroops into Normandy in the small hours of D-Day. The airfield closed in 1956; the Forestry Commission now manages the wood, with the derelict control tower still standing among the trees.

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

A walk through Twyford Wood: No 5 This is one of the perimeter roads of the old North Witham airfield that remain throughout the wood. The trees in this section are mainly beech with some birch. Because this is a young "forest" the undergrowth is fairly dense. See http://raf-lincolnshire.info/northwitham/northwitham.htm To follow the walk pick up the images in order. It starts in SK9423, continues into SK9522 and moves into this square before returning to SK9423.
ⓘ licence & creditKate Jewell / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_walk_through_Twyford_Wood,_No_5_-_geograph.org.uk_-_272076.jpgView source & full licence →
A walk through Twyford Wood: No 4 Looking back the way I've walked. This part of the old North Witham Airfield is more recently planted with pine. See http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/recreation.nsf/LUWebDocsByKey/EnglandLincolnshireKestevenForestTwyfordWood for information. To follow the walk pick up the images in order. It starts in SK9423, continues in this square, this being the last one before moving into SK9523. It then returns to SK9423.
ⓘ licence & creditKate Jewell / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_walk_through_Twyford_Wood,_No_4_-_geograph.org.uk_-_272055.jpgView source & full licence →
A walk through Twyford Wood: No 2. This is the main runway of the old North Witham Airfield which is 2000 yards long. The airfield conformed to the normal A-layout able to cope with 50 bomber aircraft dispersals at one time. See http://raf-lincolnshire.info/northwitham/northwitham.htm for detailed information about this site. To follow the walk pick up the images in order . It starts in SK9423, continues in this square and moves into SK9523 before returning to SK9423.
ⓘ licence & creditKate Jewell / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_walk_through_Twyford_Wood,_No_2_-_geograph.org.uk_-_272038.jpgView source & full licence →
A walk through Twyford Wood: No 1 Twyford Wood (or "Forest" as mentioned on the 1940's map) was requisitioned by the RAF in the early 1940s and cleared for the construction of North Witham Airfield, see http://raf-lincolnshire.info/northwitham/northwitham.htm . After the site was sold back to the Forestry Commission twenty years later the wood was replanted with conifers and deciduous trees, mainly oak. The concrete runways and perimeter roads still run through the site making it a great place for walking and cycling in all weathers. There is a car park off the Bourne Road, just east of the Colsterworth turn on the A1. Take the main track into the woodland and follow the many routes through the trees and open areas. To follow the walk pick up the images in order. Go to SK9522 next.
ⓘ licence & creditKate Jewell / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_walk_through_Twyford_Wood,_No_1_-_geograph.org.uk_-_272030.jpgView source & full licence →
Aerial photograph of North Witham Airfield, England.
ⓘ licence & creditBritish Government / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NorthWitham-19mar44.jpgView source & full licence →

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