RAF Swannington

52.7421, 1.1698 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Swannington opened in Norfolk in 1944 as a night-intruder base in the secretive No. 100 Group. The de Havilland Mosquitoes of Nos. 85 and 157 Squadrons flew with the bomber stream to hunt down German night-fighters, and when detached to West Malling in the summer of 1944 they destroyed scores of V-1 flying bombs. Flying ended in 1947, and the site is now farmland, with the control tower and stretches of runway surviving.

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

Photographs

Traces of old airfield between Swannington and Brandiston - geograph.org.uk - 527893 — Traces of old airfield between Swannington and Brandiston Anywhere in Norfolk and Suffolk that you find back roads and farm tracks made of concrete, it is a good sign that here was a Second World War air base - and there are many, many of them. Not totally flat here but flat enough for use by the aircraft of the day.

ⓘ licence & credit
Zorba the Geek / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Traces_of_old_airfield_between_Swannington_and_Brandiston_-_geograph.org.uk_-_527893.jpgView source & full licence →

Pillbox beside the road - geograph.org.uk - 764703 — Pillbox beside the road. Pillbox (Type FW3/22) - part of the ground defences of the RAF Swannington airfield; reference no S0005569 in the Defence of Britain database. Same as 454695 - 528599, viewed from the southeast; in a small area seen to the right of the entrance the outer wall, the brick shuttering is still adhering to the concrete. The brick exterior covering was used as a mould in which to pour the concrete. Inside the pillbox has a central anti-ricochet wall. In an effort to prevent an anticipated German invasion, a network of defences, the most common being so-called pillboxes, was constructed in 1940 at strategic points, along rivers and canals, as well as along the coast and on airfields. It is estimated that less than 6,000 of a total of 28,000 pillboxes still survive. http://www.pillboxesuk.co.uk/

ⓘ licence & credit
Evelyn Simak / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pillbox_beside_the_road_-_geograph.org.uk_-_764703.jpgView source & full licence →

Former RAF Station Swannington - geograph.org.uk - 304185 — Former RAF Station Swannington World War 2 RAF Station Swannington, situated near the Haveringland Estate, was built in 1943 and disbanded in 1947. It was home to 85 Squadron and 157 Squadron both flying Mosquito aircraft. At foreground left is shown part of one of the original aircraft perimeter tracks, and the line of trees follows the edge of one of the three main runways.

ⓘ licence & credit
Jurek and Trish Sienkiewicz / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Former_RAF_Station_Swannington_-_geograph.org.uk_-_304185.jpgView source & full licence →

Concrete track - geograph.org.uk - 753934 — Concrete track Taxiway or service road on disused WWII airfield.

ⓘ licence & credit
Evelyn Simak / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Concrete_track_-_geograph.org.uk_-_753934.jpgView source & full licence →

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