RAF Kings Cliffe
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RAF Kings Cliffe USAAF Station 367  .png)
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Kings Cliffe Airfield - 16 January 1947
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| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Air Ministry | ||||||||||||||||||
| Operator |
Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces |
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| Location | Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1943 | ||||||||||||||||||
| In use | 1943-1959 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 259 ft / 79 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 52°34′13″N 000°28′57″W / 52.57028°N 0.48250°WCoordinates: 52°34′13″N 000°28′57″W / 52.57028°N 0.48250°W | ||||||||||||||||||
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 RAF Kings Cliffe
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Royal Air Force Kings Cliffe or more simply RAF Kings Cliffe is a former Royal Air Force station located near Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, 12 miles (19 km) west of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. Originally the airfield was grass-surfaced but hard-surfaced runways and a perimeter track were laid down early in 1943.
Kings Cliffe was assigned USAAF designation Station 367. It was the most northerly and furthest west of all Eighth Air Force fighter stations. It was in the 1st Air Division heavy bomber base area and more than fifty miles west of any other fighter airfield. In spite of the reduced range of escort flights operating from such a westerly airfield, there does not appear to have been any attempt to move the Group to another site nearer the coast.
While still under construction, Kings Cliffe received its first American units in December 1942 when a few Bell P-39 Airacobras of the 347th Fighter Squadron of the 350th Fighter Group located at RAF Duxford were briefly located there.
In January 1943 the 56th Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces's Eighth Air Force arrived at Kings Cliffe from Bridgeport AAF Connecticut with the 347th FS returning to Duxford. The group was under the command of 67th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command.
The group consisted of the following squadrons:
The 56th Fighter group spent its time at Kings Cliffe learning RAF fighter control procedures and training for combat with new Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and did not fly any operational missions. In April 1943, the group was transferred to the 65th Fighter Wing and moved to RAF Horsham St Faith.
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