RAF Atcham

RAF Atcham USAAF Station 342
Shrewsbury, Shropshire in England
Atcham Airfield – 9 May 1946
RAF Atcham Location in Shropshire Show map of Shropshire RAF Atcham RAF Atcham (the United Kingdom) Show map of the United Kingdom
Coordinates	52°41′25″N 002°38′16″W / 52.69028°N 2.63778°W / 52.69028; -2.63778
Type	Royal Air Force station Group Sector Station
Code	AP[1]
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force[2] United States Army Air Forces (1942-45)
Controlled by	RAF Fighter Command (1941–1942) * No. 9 Group RAF Eighth Air Force (1942–1944) Ninth Air Force (1944–1945) RAF Flying Training Command (1945–1946)[2]
Site history
Built	1941 (1941)
In use	September 1941 – April 1946
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	61 metres (200 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 05/23 1,825 metres (5,988 ft) Asphalt 18/36 1,825 metres (5,988 ft) Asphalt 10/28 1,280 metres (4,199 ft) Asphalt

Royal Air Force Atcham, or more simply RAF Atcham, is a former Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8 km) east of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, on the north eastern boundary of Attingham Park.

Initially built for RAF Fighter Command, during the Second World War its primary use was by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force. It was mainly the home of the 495th Fighter Training Group, where pilots were trained to fly Republic P-47 Thunderbolts although a few also were trained to fly twin-engined Lockheed P-38 Lightnings for both Eighth and Ninth Air Force units.^[3] Atcham continued to see use as a training base until it was returned to the RAF in March 1945.^[4]