Forgotten history of abandoned RAF stations in Hampshire

However, over the years, many airfields and bases have been closed, abandoned and forgotten.

Some of these were rendered redundant after the second world war while other relocated to more spacious or compact areas.

The Ministry of Defence is constantly reviewing and changing its security and defence which is why they are continually opening, closing and relocating to new areas in the UK.

Hampshire is now left with one RAF base in Odiham which provides critical, rapid support for UK military operations throughout the world and is home to the UK Chinnok Force.

Air Marshal AGR Garrod, Member of the Air Council for Training, accompanied by Mr JF Wolfenden, Director of Pre-Entry Training, Air Ministry, inspecting cadets of 26 (Tiffins) Air Training Corps Squadron in March 1941. The Squadron was composed of boys fr

Here are eight of Hampshire’s lost and forgotten RAF stations:

RAF Chilbolton

Google Street View

This airfield opened in 1940 and was used by the Royal Air Force and later by the United States Army Air Force. During the war it was used as a troop carrier airfield for parachutists and continued to be used after the war for military jet aircraft training before closing in 1946.

RFC East Boldre

former officers mess has now been transformed into the village hall Image: Google Street View

To the south of the B3054 lies the remains of the World War I aerodrome at East Boldre.

The former officers mess has now been transformed into the village hall whilst most of the other buildings including several huts, iron hangers and a powerhouse have been dismantled.

The nearby Church Yard at St Peter’s in East bolder contains the graves of several RFC and RAF personnel killed in training accidents.

RAF Beaulieu

Not to be confused with RFC East Boldre, work here commenced in 1941 and was completed within the year.

In 1942 the RAF Coastal Command Squadron moved in to help with the critical situation with German U-boats. The site is now used as Roundhill campsite.

Ibsley

Ibsley RAF memorial- Google Street View

The airfield was built in less than six months at the beginning of the 1940s after Southampton had been heavily bombed.

The remnants and rubble of the bombed buildings from the city were used as the runway foundations.

It was here that the wartime classic propaganda film first of the few was filmed.

The control tower shell still remains today but the site is now known as Blashford Lakes which is used for fishing, sailing and water ski clubs.

Homsely

This airfield was used by both the United States Army Air Force and the Royal Air Force during World War II.

It was primarily used as a bomber and transport airfield and helps to combat the German U-boat threat.

The airfield consisted of three converging runways placed at 60° angles to each other in a triangular pattern.

The airfield was inactivated on March 31, 1946 and it has now used as a campsite.

Stoney Cross

Stoney Cross

Stoney Cross, the largest of 12 wartime airfields built in the New Forest, was used to supply the French Resistance and the Special Operations Executive, a British organisation that worked behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Europe.

American gliders deployed in the D-Day landings were assembled at Stoney Cross, which was used by the United States Air Force from 1944 onwards.

The purpose of this airfield was not clear and was kept a secret at the time it was being built.

It is thought to have been intended as a contingency airfield for use in the event of an invasion of the UK.

As reported in the Daily Echo, servicemen based there included President Obama’s grandfather, Sergeant Stanley Dunham.

Visitors to the airfield included General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe.

After the war Stoney Cross became a major staging post for RAF transport planes flying to the Far East, but by December 1946 the few remaining units at the airfield had been transferred to RAF Manston in Kent.

The land was handed back to the Forestry Commission, which demolished all four hangars, the control tower and most of the perimeter tracks.

The airfield is now used as a campsite, if you visit long beach campsite will be able to see remnants of the area’s wartime history.

RAF Andover

This airfield played a part in both World War I and World War II. It was the site where the first attempt to develop a long-range electronic navigation system took place, as well as being home to the first British military helicopter unit.

During the Battle of Britain, a Woman’s Auxiliary Air Force telephone (WAAF) operator at RAF Andover was awarded a medal a military medal for her courage during two air raids, one of only six such awards were given out to WAAF during the entire Second World War.

RAF Sopley

During the Second World War this airfield underwent major development and it continued to be in use post war as a GCI, fighter interception and air traffic control radar unit until 1974. RAF Sopley was visited by King George and UK forces worked alongside the Commonwealth and American squadrons.