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RAF Folkingham

RAF Folkingham
USAAF Station AAF-484

Air Force Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgPatch9thusaaf.png
Folkingham-9may1944.jpg
Folkingham Airfield - 9 May 1944 with scores of gliders and C-47s about a month before D-Day.
Summary
Airport type Military
Owner Ministry of Defence
Operator Royal Air Force
United States Army Air Forces
Location Folkingham, Lincolnshire
Built 1943 (1943)
In use 1943-1947,1959-1963 (1963)
Elevation AMSL 266 ft / 81 m
Coordinates 52°51′29″N 000°26′34″W / 52.85806°N 0.44278°W / 52.85806; -0.44278Coordinates: 52°51′29″N 000°26′34″W / 52.85806°N 0.44278°W / 52.85806; -0.44278
Map
RAF Folkingham is located in Lincolnshire
RAF Folkingham
RAF Folkingham
Location in Lincolnshire
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
02/20 6,000 0 Asphalt
08/24 4,200 0 Asphalt
14/32 4,200 0 Asphalt

Royal Air Force Station Folkingham or RAF Folkingham is a former Royal Air Force station located south west of Folkingham, Lincolnshire and about 29 miles (47 km) due south of county town Lincoln and 112 miles (180 km) north of London, England.

Opened in 1940, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used primarily as a troop carrier airfield for airborne units and as a subsidiary training depot of the newly formed Royal Air Force Regiment. After the war it was placed on care and maintenance during 1947 when the RAF Regiment relocated to RAF Catterick.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the RAF Bomber Command used Folkingham as a PGM-17 Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) base.

Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields, with the main north-south runway acting as hardstanding for hundreds of scrapped vehicles.

Folkingham was known as USAAF Station AAF-484 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. It's USAAF Station Code was "FK".

US personnel started to arrive in January 1944 to prepare for the 313th Troop Carrier Group scheduled to transfer from Trapani/Milo Airfield, Sicily. On 5 February it opened as a USAAF IX Troop Carrier Command station flying four squadrons of C-47s. Operational squadrons and fuselage codes were:

The 313th TCG was part of the 52nd Troop Carrier Wing.

However, at the end of February 1945, the group began its move to a new base in France at Achiet (Advanced Landing Ground B-54), although the last elements did not leave until well into March.


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