RAF Welford
| RAF Welford USAAF Station AAF-474   
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| Part of United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) | |||||||||||
| Near Welford, Berkshire in England | |||||||||||
USAF munitions being loaded into a container in 2012
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 RAF Welford
Shown within Berkshire
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| Coordinates | 51°28′06″N 001°24′13″W / 51.46833°N 1.40361°WCoordinates: 51°28′06″N 001°24′13″W / 51.46833°N 1.40361°W | ||||||||||
| Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||||||
| Code | WF | ||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||
| Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||||
| Operator |
Royal Air Force (1943,1945–1948) United States Army Air Forces (1943–1945) United States Air Force (1955—present) |
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| Site history | |||||||||||
| Built | 1943 | ||||||||||
| In use | 1943–1948, 1955—present | ||||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||||
| Garrison | 420th Munitions Squadron | ||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||
| Elevation | 147 metres (482 ft) AMSL | ||||||||||
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Royal Air Force Welford or more simply RAF Welford is an active Royal Air Force station in Berkshire, England. The airfield is located approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of Newbury; about 50 miles (80 km) west-southwest of London
Opened in 1943, it was used during the Second World War by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used primarily as a transport airfield. After the war it was closed in 1946 and placed in reserve status. As a result of the Cold War, the station was reopened in 1955 as a munitions depot by the United States Air Force
Today it is one of the largest ammunition compounds for the United States Air Force in Western Europe for heavy munitions.
Welford is now under the command of the 420 Munitions Squadron, and comes under the command of the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, which provides support to the Geographically Separated Units (GSU)s in the United Kingdom.
RAF Welford is located in West Berkshire with a dedicated and rarely used access road leading to the station from the eastbound M4 motorway to the west of the A34 junction with the M4. There is no access from the westbound motorway, so traffic leaving the station for the west must first travel east to the A34 junction before heading west.
The access road from the M4 is enigmatically signposted "Works Unit Only", but has the distinctive red border of a defence establishment.
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Wikipedia