RAF Lymington

Royal Air Force Station Lymington USAAF Station AAF-551
Located Near Lymington, Hampshire, England
Lymington Airfield - 22 May 1944
RAF Lymington RAF Lymington, shown within Hampshire
Coordinates	50°45′59″N 001°30′46″W / 50.76639°N 1.51278°W / 50.76639; -1.51278
Type	Military airfield
Code	LY
Site information
Controlled by	United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1943
In use	1944-1946
Battles/wars	European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945
Garrison information
Garrison	Ninth Air Force
Occupants	50th Fighter Group

RAF Station Lymington is a former World War II airfield in Hampshire, England. The airfield is located approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Lymington; about 80 miles (130 km) southwest of London

Opened in 1944, Lymington was a prototype for the type of temporary Advanced Landing Ground type airfield which would be built in France after D-Day, when the need for advanced landing fields would become urgent as the Allied forces moved east across France and Germany. It was used by the Royal Air Force, Canadian and the United States Army Air Forces. It was closed in 1946 after two years of being utilized as a storage area for the Royal Navy.

Today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields with a private grass airfield using the North/South runway.

USAAF use

Lymington was known as USAAF Station AAF-551 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 "LY".

50th Fighter Group

RAF Lymington saw the arrival of the USAAF 50th Fighter Group on 5 April 1944, the group arriving from Orlando AAF, Florida. The 50th had the following operational squadrons:

The 50th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 84th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command. It flew the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The group ended operations at Giebelstadt, Germany in May 1945, and returned to the United States in August. I

Civil use

With the facility released from military control in 1946, almost all traces of the former airfield were removed.

One of the original blister hangars remains on the standing today adjacent to a private grass airstrip (Pylewell House) overlaid on the site of the former N/S military airfield runway, (31/13). The airfield appears to be closed, with white "X"s shown on the runway ends.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle ISBN 0-900913-80-0
Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle ISBN 1-85409-272-3
Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Lymington.

USAAF Ninth Air Force in World War II

Stations

Palestine (Mand)	Lydda Muqueibile Ramat David St Jean

Egypt	Abu Sueir Ismailia El Amiriya Daba Deversoir Fayid Kabrit * Landing Ground 174 Payne Sidi Haneish

Libya	Baheira Belandah Benina Castel Benito Berca Darragh El Adem El Assa Gambut Hamraiet Lete Martuba Tmed El Chel Tobruk Tripoli Sidi Azeiz

Tunisia	Ben Gardane Bou Grara Chekira Hani Hazbub Hergla El Djem El Haouaria Kairouan Medenine Menzel Heurr Sfax Soltane

United Kingdom	Aldermaston Andover Andrews Field Ashford Balderton Barkston Heath Beaulieu Birch Bisterne Boreham Bottesford Boxted Charmy Down Chalgrove Chilbolton Chipping Ongar Christchurch Cottesmore Earls Colne Exeter Folkingham Fulbeck Gosfield Great Dunmow Greenham Common Grove High Halden Headcorn Holmsley South Hurn Ibsley Kingsnorth Langar Lashenden Little Walden Lymington Matching Membury Merryfield Middle Wallop North Witham Ramsbury Raydon Rivenhall Saltby Scorton Staplehurst Spanhoe Stansted Stoney Cross Thruxton Upottery Warmwell Welford Weston Zoyland Wethersfield Winkton Woodchurch Wormingford

Europe	Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) in France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany too numerous.

Units

Commands

Wings

Bombardment	97th Bombardment 98th Bombardment 99th Bombardment

Fighter	8th Fighter 9th Fighter 70th Fighter 71st Fighter 84th Fighter 100th Fighter 303d Fighter

Troop carrier	50th Troop Carrier 52d Troop Carrier 53d Troop Carrier

Groups

Bombardment	12th Bombardment 98th Bombardment 322d Bombardment 323d Bombardment 340th Bombardment 344th Bombardment 376th Bombardment 386th Bombardment 387th Bombardment 391st Bombardment 394th Bombardment 397th Bombardment 409th Bombardment 410th Bombardment 416th Bombardment

Fighter	36th Fighter 48th Fighter 50th Fighter 57th Fighter 79th Fighter 324th Fighter 354th Fighter 358th Fighter 365th Fighter 362d Fighter 363d Fighter 366th Fighter 367th Fighter 368th Fighter 370th Fighter 371st Fighter 373d Fighter 404th Fighter 405th Fighter 406th Fighter 474th Fighter

Troop carrier	61st Troop Carrier 64th Troop Carrier 313th Troop Carrier 314th Troop Carrier 315th Troop Carrier 316th Troop Carrier 349th Troop Carrier 434th Troop Carrier 435th Troop Carrier 436th Troop Carrier 437th Troop Carrier 438th Troop Carrier 439th Troop Carrier 440th Troop Carrier 441st Troop Carrier 442d Troop Carrier IX Troop Carrier Pathfinder (Provisional)

Reconnaissance	10th Reconnaissance 67th Reconnaissance 69th Reconnaissance

Squadrons

Liaison	14th Liaison 47th Liaison

Night fighter	422d Night Fighter 425th Night Fighter

United States Army Air Forces

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