RAF Broadwell
RAF Broadwell was a Royal Air Force station located 2 miles north of Broadwell and 3 miles southeast of Burford, Oxfordshire, and within 2 miles of RAF Brize Norton.
It opened on 15 November 1943, operating under RAF Transport Command, and closed on 31 March 1947. It had three concrete runways in a triangular configuration.
History
No. 512 Squadron and No. 575 Squadron were based here, flying the Douglas Dakota.
In February 1944, No. 512 Squadron was transferred to No. 46 Group at RAF Broadwell. It was a tactical Dakota squadron and started training glider towing and parachute dropping. Its first operation in the new role was a leaflet drop on 17 April 1944 over France; this was followed by intensive flying in and out of France, including dropping parachutists at Arnhem.
Broadwell took part in the D-Day assaults alongside nearby RAF Down Ampney and RAF Blakehill Farm. On the eve of D-Day, No. 575 Squadron dropped 5 Para into the invasion drop zone. On 6 June, it towed 21 Horsa gliders into France. In the next few weeks it started a casualty evacuation service from France back to England. In September 1944, it was involved in operations at Arnhem where the squadron suffered severe casualties.
The airfield continued to be a terminus for long-range transport operations to Europe, the Middle East and India.
Current use
The site has returned to farmland and has a large solar farm covering it.
External links
Coordinates: 51°45′26.5″N 1°38′21.5″W / 51.757361°N 1.639306°W