RAF Kings Cliffe/USAAF Station 367 - August 2010 ** PIC Heavy **

[sYnc_below]

RAF Kings Cliffe opened in 1943, was operational until 1959 and was assigned USAAF designation Station 367, it was home to the 20th Fighter Group of the USAAF 8th Airforce who flew P38 Lightnings and later P51 Mustangs on bomber escort duties & also the 56th Fighter Group of the USAAF 8th Airforce who flew P-47 Thunderbolts. When the war finished the airfield was used by the RAF for armament storage up until 1959 when it was sold and turned back to agricultural use which continues to this day.

Sadly all of the hangars and most of the Technical Site have been demolished and in recent months some Stanton Shelters have also been demolished to make way for some currently unknown construction. There are however many smaller buildings still intact such as M&E Plinths, Substations, Sleeping Quarters, Motor Transport Repair, PBX, several defended Fighter Pens with work area, Mushroom Pillboxes, a Battle Headquarters, miscellaneous buildings and of course the Control/Watch Tower.

This visit focused mainly on the perimeter track and outlying defences, a planned return visit in winter (with less undergrowth!!) will concentrate more on the Technical and Communal Sites.

Hope you enjoy the pictures - Thanks for looking

Airfield & Technical Site. Fighter Pen (Building 112)

Airfield & Technical Site. Fighter Pen

Airfield & Technical Site. Sleeping Shelter

Airfield & Technical Site. Mushroom Type Pill Box (Building 91)

Battle Headquarters (Building 90)

3ft High & Rising

Airfield & Technical Site. Sleeping Shelter and Gun Post (Building 81a)

Bunk Bed Mounts inside Building 81a

Airfield & Technical Site. Private Branch Exchange (Building 78)

Airfield & Technical Site. Control Tower for Night Fighter Stations (Building 79)

Mechanical and Electrical Plinth

Fighter Pen Stanton

Callender Hamilton Hangar door rail

Motor Transport Repair Sheds

Airfield & Technical Site. Sub Station

Airfield & Technical Site. Sub Station Transformer

Glenn Miller Memorial

Memorial

More pictures available if anyone is interested

 

[Black Shuck]

Excellent Stuff, Hal! Got to love these American Bomber Bases. In my Neck of the woods they are very prevalent and very close to my Heart being an East Anglian!! Poignant Memorial and info about Glen Miller as well, always gives me a Lump in my throat!! Brave Boys indeed!

 

[MD]

nice work, the ammo dump is up the road but there isnt much to see
i think there is a link on here somewhere

 

[night crawler]

Great report well put together sort of place I'd love to have a wander round.

 

[Foxylady]

Fabulous site. Excellent pics and write-up, Hal. Some nice bits and pieces there.

 

[outkast]

is the bird scarer still in the top of the control tower?

went wandering in there and nearly got deafened

 

[sYnc_below]

Excellent Stuff, Hal! Got to love these American Bomber Bases. In my Neck of the woods they are very prevalent and very close to my Heart being an East Anglian!!!

I've got heaps of airfields on my doorstep too...Kings Cliffe, Grafton Underwood, Deenthorpe, Polebrook, Desborough, Harrington, Spanhoe....also an ex East Anglian too

 

[sYnc_below]

Great report well put together sort of place I'd love to have a wander round.

Let me know if you're in the area...can show you here and Grafton Underwood

 

[sYnc_below]

is the bird scarer still in the top of the control tower?

went wandering in there and nearly got deafened

Not currently, there were a few laying around, all turned off thankfully....was expecting one to go off though !!

 

[losttom]

Good report, shame the battle HQ is flooded, have you been to the RAF Market Harborough one? nice and dry!!

 

[sYnc_below]

have you been to the RAF Market Harborough one? nice and dry!!

Yes, currently Market Harborough and Grafton Underwood are dry.

 

[hydealfred]

Excellent report. Some very nice period items remaining here.

 

[Mills25]

Thanks for your excellent report Hal. Will look forward to your next visit when the vegetation has died down a bit.