question for you experts.. Burtonwood airfield isnt mentioned in the battle of britain http://www.battle-of-britain.com/ http://www.controltowers.co.uk/B/Burtonwood.htm any ideas cheers..
Erm, wasn't it built by the USAAF for heavy bombers? Or was it a bomber station under the RAF given over to the USAAF? Can't remember. But Cheshire and Manchester were covered by Cranage, Calverley & Hack Green to my local knowledge. I understand its now a HEUGE housing estate.
says it was opened 1/4/1940. as storage depot. maybe as it had only just opened it didnt play a major role in the BOB. but must have been used
Pretty sure it was a bomber station it's entire flying life. So it wouldn't be part of the BoB, that would be down to the fighter stations I have already mentioned. Why do you want to clarify this anyway?
cheers Kitty... hope im not sending you on a wild goose chase... the 2 sites you mentioned arnt listed in the BOB site.. http://www.battle-of-britain.com/ it also says calvery only opened in 1942... i now understand Burtonwood was a maintenance depot/storage in 1940 and later over run with U.S bombers. but if it was a storage/maintenance depot surely it played a role in the BOB in some ways just not as a fighter command. i live very close to it and is now the m62/sevices/housing and ikea etc. cheers for your answers
You're right, Calverley was later, it never came to anything as it was badly sited. Cranage and Hack Green are difficult to track down as they were small stations. Burtonwood was a storage depot as you sy, so it would have supplied everything for the RAF and in a way did help with the BOB but not in an active sense. Later it became a bomber centre. And yes Lance, it was bloody HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEUGE!
cheers all. i found this very usefull and interesting http://www.controltowers.co.uk/Site%20Map.htm part of Burtonwood runway is still there and the hangers are used for storage by great bear distribution.its also used for training HGV drivers. i remember just before it closed around 1994 the Yanks filmed some parts for a wwII film there because of the long runway not sure if tom cruise was in it. any ideas of the film
raf, have you tried (there are a couple of links at the bottom): http://www.rafweb.org/Stations/Stations-B.htm#Burtonwood
cheers http://www.south-lancs-aviation.co.uk/raf_burtonwood_history.htm http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/b/burtonwood/ also came across these
A WW2 anecdote that involved Burtonwood .......... In the late afternoon of Monday, 19 February, 1945 an American B24 Liberator (#42-50668), who's destination was Burtonwood, crashed on the moors just outside Burnley (Black Hameldon). Some of my schoolmates and I hiked to the impact site not long after the crash when the wreckage was still smoldering. The entire event is well chronicled at: http://web.ukonline.co.uk/lait/site/B-24%2042-50668.htm
Burtonwood never mounted an operation against the enemy. When it first opened in 1940,it was designated as a RAF MU,receiving aircraft direct from the manufacturers for distribution to the various RAFunits.The first Fortresses to received by the RAF passed through here when they were issued to RAF No 90 Squadron at Polebrook. By 1942 the airfield was passed to the control of the USAAF 8 th Air Force who used throughout as a Base Air Depot. the BAD function was to receive aircraft from the US, then issue them to the various flying units.Even so the 12th Air Force who were deployed to North Africa was largely equpped from Burtonwood.The 9th Airforce received its B 26 and C47 aircraft from this storage,the latter aircraft being put in place for the Normandy invasion The site expanded rapidly as the unit became responsible for US aircraft engine servicing and aircraft modifications.P38s were assembled here after arriving crated at Liverpool Docks.(There is still film footage around showing this aircraft being unloaded at Liverpool as open deck cargo.) By December 1945,activities had wound down but Burtonwood still remained as a depot for USAAF supplies for the UK until the RAF returned in January 1946 with a MU which was to last until 1950.The USAF returned in 1948 at the onset of the Cold War with Burtonwood utilised as a supply depot to support the rotation of B 29 flying units at various RAF airfields in East Anglia.
Burtonwood never mounted an operation against the enemy. When it first opened in 1940,it was designated as a RAF MU,receiving aircraft direct from the manufacturers for distribution to the various RAFunits.The first Fortresses to received by the RAF passed through here when they were issued to RAF No 90 Squadron at Polebrook. By 1942 the airfield was passed to the control of the USAAF 8 th Air Force who used throughout as a Base Air Depot. the BAD function was to receive aircraft from the US, then issue them to the various flying units.Even so the 12th Air Force who were deployed to North Africa was largely equpped from Burtonwood.The 9th Airforce received its B 26 and C47 aircraft from this storage,the latter aircraft being put in place for the Normandy invasion The site expanded rapidly as the unit became responsible for US aircraft engine servicing and aircraft modifications.P38s were assembled here after arriving crated at Liverpool Docks.(There is still film footage around showing this aircraft being unloaded at Liverpool as open deck cargo.) By December 1945,activities had wound down but Burtonwood still remained as a depot for USAAF supplies for the UK until the RAF returned in January 1946 with a MU which was to last until 1950.The USAF returned in 1948 at the onset of the Cold War with Burtonwood utilised as a supply depot to support the rotation of B 29 flying units at various RAF airfields in East Anglia. Hi Harry.. wouldnt want to undermine your knowledge of Burtonwood but are you sure it never made any raids.... The Memphis bell was known to land at Burtonwood coming back from a raid but maybe it was diverted to this airfielsd because it was damaged and Burton wood was a maintenance dept. cheers
Hi Harry.. wouldnt want to undermine your knowledge of Burtonwood but are you sure it never made any raids.... The Memphis bell was known to land at Burtonwood coming back from a raid but maybe it was diverted to this airfielsd because it was damaged and Burton wood was a maintenance dept. cheers I cannot confirm if the M.B ever used Burtonwood as a divertion but the fact is that Burtonwood was never an airfield that mounted operational raids. As a principle from the 1935 expansion of the RAF,all bomber airfields were located in the east of the country,ie the nearest to their continental targets where there was the minimum of flight time with a bomb load.Being diverted on an operational return to an airfield for maintenance reasons would be never considered,the priority would be the crew and the "training investment" that the crew represented along with minimum harm to the crash area. Of course,any airfield would be a safe haven for any stricken aircraft off course for a variety of reasons from navigitational error to descending fog to be safely put down.Some of these airfields,to the alarm of their crews were not adequate for an aircraft to put down on but had to be used if their aircraft had run out of fuel.Some aircraft were abandoned in the air by their crews if,when running out of fuel the pilot could not find an airfield to put down on. For instance,when Nettleton won the VC for the raid on the MAN diesel engine works at Augsberg in Bavaria in April 1942,it was a daylight raid,nevertheless Nettleton put his Lancaster down on the return leg in the early hours of next day,not at Waddington,his own base but at Squire's Gate airfield,Blackpool,about 120 miles to the north west.Officially directed divertions were necessary at times due to fog etc,or when Luffewaffe intruders (as they affected the RAF on operations at night) were known to be about. It was recognised that once the RAF /USAAF bomber offensive against German targets got underway,there was a requirement for dedicated emergency airfields that were easy to divert to and had improved landing aids,such as FIDO for use in the event of fog. Three airfields were selected,Carnaby adjacent to Bridlington, in the north which operated solely as an emergency airfield, Woodbridge adjacent to Ipswich in Suffolk and Manston in Kent sitting virtually opposite, and a short hop from the Pas de Calais. It would be interesting to reveal the divertions,if any, of the M.B's operation returns.
north west england and north wales was training country. Also aircraft were sent here from factories and the US in order to be checked, armed and sent out to operational units on the east side of the pennines. the west side of the country was considered to be far enough away from enemy action to protect the sprogs and for them not to be a hindrance to operational squadrons in the east. Unfortunately a lot of these inexperienced crews came up against the pennines and welsh mountains. I personally now know of over 50 crash sites within a 10 mile radius near where i live. and only 1 was German. The rest were either training or being delivered. Burtonwood was probably used for emergency landings, FIDO, bad weather diversions, or just as a safe haven when a sprog got it wrong and they ran out of fuel.
north west england and north wales was training country .......... I personally now know of over 50 crash sites within a 10 mile radius near where i live .......... The Lancashire Aircraft Investigation Team (LAIT) http://web.ukonline.co.uk/lait/site/Recent%20LAIT%20projects.htm has done a fantastic job reconstructing and recording WW2 crashes. In addition to visiting the USAAF Liberator crash site near Burnley right after it happened, my best friend and I went to Gregson Lane (Bamber Bridge) to try and see the V1 "doodlebug" impact site, but it was all cordoned off and we were turned away.
nice site james i live in wigan and all sites are on my door step... there a pub in burtonwood called the memphis bell the manager said they filmed part of the film at burtonwood so it must have had some relation with burtonwood. thanks again guys
Hi Guys, Me & my friend Malc are 2 local guys from the Burtonwood/Lancs area & we have found quite a few items of interest on an old 'dump' around the Great Sankey area. We have found exhust manifolds from aircraft along with radio equipment & our recent find is a quarter panel window fully in tact with plexiglass from a liberator (we think?). We are trying to find anyone that was stationed at Burtonwood during the periods 1945 - 1955+ to see if they can tell us more about the area that we are finding these items? Regards Gary & Malcolm
Hello and welcome to the forum. The station was, as previously mentioned by Harry Ree, an American Airforce Base called BAD1 (Base Air Depot No 1.) My American Uncle was Training school Head at BAD 2 (Warton in Lancashire) which is now Bae Military Aircraft Division. These bases were not operational as far as I am aware and were used for finally assembling and after factory modifications before being ferried to the Operational Airfield. I can recommend the book, The World's Greatest Air depot. The US 8th AirForce at Warton 1942 -1945 by Harry Holmes, although it is all about Warton, the bases worked the same way, just different aircraft. They were all located as far away from German bomber range as possible. Each Base had an active reunion group and you may find it on the internet. Regards Tom
