RAF Holmsley South

RAF Holmsley South was carved out of the New Forest in Hampshire, north-east of Christchurch, and opened in 1942. It led an unusually varied life. Under Coastal Command its long-range squadrons flew anti-submarine and maritime patrols over the Western Approaches and the Bay of Biscay. In the build-up to the Normandy invasion it became a busy advanced landing ground: the United States Ninth Air Force took it over as Station 455 and the B-26 Marauders of the 394th Bomb Group flew from here in support of the D-Day landings, while fighter and air-sea-rescue units, among them Polish and Canadian squadrons, also used the field. Later in the war it served Transport Command. Released from military use in 1946, the site provided temporary housing for some years and is now Forestry Commission land, its old hardstandings given over to a campsite and caravan park amid the regenerating heath and woodland.