Flying cadets of the Air Service, United States Army were trained at Fowlmere by RAF instructors, prior to their deployment to the Western Front in France.[2] After the First World War ended, the hangars were all demolished along with the assorted buildings by 1923.
When the airfield was turned over to the USAAF, Fowlmere was expanded to meet the requirements of a complete fighter group. The airfield was assigned USAAF designation Station 378 It was allocated to the United States Army Air ForcesEighth Air Force fighter command.
USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Fowlmere were:[16]
314th Service Group[17]
467th Service Squadron; HHS 314th Service Group
331st Service Group[18]
464th and 465th Service Squadrons; HHS 331s Service Group
18th Weather Squadron
72nd Station Complement Squadron
861st Engineer Aviation Battalion
1178th Quartermaster Company
1786th Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company
989th Military Police Company
2120th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon
The 339th Fighter Group arrived at Fowlmere from Rice AAF, California on 4 April 1944. The group was under the command of the 66th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command. Aircraft of the group were identified by a red/white chequerboard pattern.
Postwar Royal Air Force use
With the departure of the Americans, Fowlmere was used briefly by No. 11 Group RAFRAF Fighter Command until January 1946 then closed and placed into care and maintenance status. It was eventually sold back to local farmers in 1957. With the end of RAF control, the concreted areas and buildings of Fowlmere airfield were largely ground into aggregate and sold for local construction projects.
Current use
The airfield is in active use, with new management as of November 2020.[19] It is home to the British Aerobatic Academy and the Modern Air flying club. There is a grass runway 07/25, with PPR (Prior Permission Required) necessary to land.
Fowlmere Airfield Museum is on-site, open one Sunday per month.
^"Fowlmere". controltowers.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
^Jefford 1988, p. 30.
^Jefford 1988, p. 23.
^ a bJefford 1988, p. 29.
^Jefford 1988, p. 31.
^Jefford 1988, p. 56.
^Jefford 1988, p. 59.
^Jefford 1988, p. 63.
^Jefford 1988, p. 64.
^Jefford 1988, p. 65.
^Jefford 1988, p. 80.
^Jefford 1988, p. 90.
^Jefford 1988, p. 91.
^Jefford 1988, p. 103.
^"Fowlmere". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
^"331st Service Group". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
^"314th Service Group". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
^"Fowlmere Airfield - Under new management".
Bibliography
Jefford, C G (1988). RAF Squadrons. A comprehensive record of the movement and equipment of all RAF squadrons and their antecedents since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. ISBN 1-85310-053-6.
Freeman, Roger A. (1978) Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle ISBN 0-900913-09-6
Freeman, Roger A. (1991) The Mighty Eighth: The Colour Record. Cassell & Co. ISBN 0-304-35708-1
Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present Archived 22 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
mighty8thaf.preller.us Fowlmere Archived 8 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
339th Fighter Group on www.littlefriends.co.uk Archived 25 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine
External links
Fowlmere Airfield (current website)
British Aerobatic Academy
Modern Air flying club
Fowlmere Airfield Museum
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fowlmere Airfield.