RAF Sawbridgeworth
England
About
RAF Sawbridgeworth was a grass airfield in Hertfordshire, in use from the First World War and serving in the Second as an army-cooperation and reconnaissance station. Its main resident, No. 2 Squadron, flew Westland Lysanders, Curtiss Tomahawks and North American Mustangs on tactical reconnaissance, and many other army-cooperation units passed through. Flying ended in 1946, and the site has returned to farmland, much of its concrete perimeter track still visible.
Photographs
American Aircraft in Royal Air Force Service 1939-1945- North American Na 73 and Na 102 Mustang. Mustang Mark Is, AG550 “XV-U” and AM112 “XV-X”, of No. 2 Squadron RAF based at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, in flight over Cambridgeshire. AG550 is being flown by Wing Commander A J W Geddes, the squadron commander.
ⓘ licence & credit
Daventry B J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Aircraft_in_Royal_Air_Force_Service_1939-1945-_North_American_Na_73_and_Na_102_Mustang._CH7064.jpgView source & full licence →Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Westland Lysander. Lysander Mark III, T1532 ‘KO-D’, of No. 2 Squadron RAF based at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, in flight while making a practice attack on a road convoy at Odiham, Hampshire.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer, Tovey P H F (Mr) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Westland_Lysander._CH2639.jpgView source & full licence →date = 1943
ⓘ licence & credit
Germany. Luftwaffe / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Target_Dossier_for_Sawbridgeworth,_Hertfordshire,_England_-_DPLA_-_66e06e7d905ddea5122c03ea78e51b70.jpgView source & full licence →A view of five Spitfires on an airfield. The two Spitfires in the foreground stand side by side with a brick wall between them.
ⓘ licence & credit
Eric Ravilious / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spitfires_at_Sawbridgeworth,_Herts._(Art._IWM_ART_LD_2125).jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Army Co-operation Command, 1940-1943. A pilot and an Army Liaison Officer examine prints of aerial reconnaissance photographs taken by No. 2 Squadron RAF in their Mobile Operations Room at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, while an airman of the Photographic Section examines a newly-developed roll of film.
ⓘ licence & credit
Daventry B J H (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Army_Co-operation_Command,_1940-1943._CH17418.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Army Co-operation Command, 1940-1943. Photographic staff transfer the film magazine of an Type F.24 aerial camera, mounted in the oblique position in a North American Mustang of No. 2 Squadron RAF, to its carrying case for rapid development by the Photographic Section, following a tactical reconnaissance training sortie, at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer, Daventry B J (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Army_Co-operation_Command,_1940-1943._CH17415.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Army Co-operation Command, 1940-1943. A North-American Mustang Mark I, AL995 ‘XV-S’, of No. 2 Squadron RAF, undergoes an overhaul on its dispersal point at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, as another aircraft of the squadron overflys the airfield.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer, Daventry B J (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Army_Co-operation_Command,_1940-1943._CH17407.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Army Co-operation Command, 1940-1943. A North American Mustang of No. 2 Squadron RAF, takes off from Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, past a Commer Q2 mobile wireless van providing air to ground communications. To the left, a De Havilland Dragon Rapide communications aircraft is parked in on o fhe dispersals.
ⓘ licence & credit
Daventry B J H (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_Air_Force_Army_Co-operation_Command,_1940-1943._CH17402.jpgView source & full licence →PictionID:40971199 - Title:Mustang North American Mustang Mk.I AG550 XV-U No.2 Sqd RAF based at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire 1942 - Catalog:15_002825 - Filename:15_002825.tif - Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album “US Army Aircraft.”----PLEASE TAG this image with any information you know about it, so that we can permanently store this data with the original image file in our Digital Asset Management System.----SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & credit
San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mustang_North_American_Mustang_Mk.I_AG550_XV-U_No.2_Sqd_RAF_based_at_Sawbridgeworth,_Hertfordshire_1942_(15954744507).jpgView source & full licence →American Aircraft in Royalair Force Service 1939-1945- North American Na 73 and Na 102 Mustang. Mustang Mark I, AG456 ‘XV-B’, of No. 2 Squadron RAF, preparing to depart on a reconnaissance practice flight at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire.
ⓘ licence & credit
Royal Air Force official photographer, Daventry B J (Fg Off) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:American_Aircraft_in_Royalair_Force_Service_1939-1945-_North_American_Na_73_and_Na_102_Mustang._CH17401.jpgView source & full licence →A North-American Mustang Mark I, AL995 ‘XV-S’, of No. 2 Squadron RAF, undergoes an overhaul on its dispersal point at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, as another aircraft of the squadron overflys the airfield.
ⓘ licence & credit
Daventry B J (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2_Squadron_Mustangs_at_RAF_Sawbridgeworth_WWII_IWM_CH_17407.jpgView source & full licence →Home to
- No. 2 Squadron — 35 Wing
Squadrons that operated here
7 RAF squadrons flew from this airfield during the Second World War.
No. 63 Sqn · No. 80 Sqn · No. 126 Sqn · No. 168 Sqn · No. 170 Sqn · No. 182 Sqn · No. 268 Sqn
People connected to this base
2 persons cross-referenced to this airfield — through a posting here, a squadron based here, or aircrew who flew from it.
| Name | Rank | Connection | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kingsbury, James Henry (jim) | Flying Officer | Aircrew (squadron based here) | — |
| Yerby, George William | Flying Officer | Aircrew (squadron based here) | — |