RAF Membury

RAF Membury USAAF Station AAF-466
Located Near Lambourn, Berkshire, England
Membury airfield photographed on 8 August 1944. As Membury had been designed as a maintenance and repair depot, additional hangar space and other facilities were required. However, because the 04/22 runway could not be lengthened due to the hilly terrain on the eastern side, the secondary 17/35 was increased in length. This is what gives the runway layout an unusual shape.
Coordinates	51°28′41″N 1°33′18″W / 51.478°N 1.555°W / 51.478; -1.555
Type	Military airfield
Code	ME
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Controlled by	Royal Air Force  United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1942 (1942)
In use	1942–1946 (1946)
Battles/wars	European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 – May 1945
Garrison information
Garrison	Eighth Air Force Ninth Air Force RAF Transport Command

Royal Air Force Membury or more simply RAF Membury is a former Royal Air Force station built in the civil parish of Lambourn in Berkshire, England. The airfield is located approximately 4.6 miles (7.4 km) mi north-northwest of Hungerford, at the Membury services stop of the M4 motorway; about 60 miles (97 km) miles west-southwest of London. The airfield also lies immediately next to the Iron Age hill fort of Membury Camp.

Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). During the war it was used by several combat units with varying missions. It was also a major supply and maintenance depot. After the war, it was a private airport until the construction of the M4 motorway in the 1960s when it was closed.

Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property with the former technical site now being an industrial estate (Membury Business Park).

Membury was known as USAAF Station AAF-466 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its USAAF Station Code was "ME".

Meanwhile, the Eighth Air Force VIII Ground Air Support Command, the forebear of the reborn Ninth Air Force had designated Membury for use by its reconnaissance units. These were the men of the 3rd Photographic and the 67th Observation Groups, who arrived at Membury on 7 and 8 September 1942.

The 3d consisted of the 5th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 23d squadrons, however the group's air echelons were still in the United States at Colorado Springs AAF, Colorado. While at Membury, the group was reassigned to the Twelfth Air Force and moved to RAF Steeple Morden in Cambridgeshire during October prior to its movement to North Africa.