RAF Winkton

RAF Winkton
USAAF Station AAF-414
Bransgore, Hampshire in England
Winkton Airfield aerial of January 1947, the airfield having closed in July 1944. The outlines of the pierced steel planking perimeter track are still evident on the land, with it being returned to agricultural use.
RAF Winkton is located in Hampshire
RAF Winkton
RAF Winkton
Shown within Hampshire
RAF Winkton is located in the United Kingdom
RAF Winkton
RAF Winkton
RAF Winkton (the United Kingdom)
Coordinates50°46′37″N 001°46′2″W / 50.77694°N 1.76722°W / 50.77694; -1.76722
TypeAdvanced Landing Ground
CodeXT[1]
Site information
OwnerAir Ministry
OperatorRoyal Air Force
United States Army Air Forces
Controlled byRAF Fighter Command
* No. 11 Group RAF
Ninth Air Force
Site history
Built1943 (1943)/44
In useMarch 1944 - January 1945 (1945)
Battles/warsEuropean theatre of World War II
Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945
Airfield information
Elevation12 metres (39 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
 Sommerfeld Tracking
 Sommerfeld Tracking

Royal Air Force Winkton, or more simply RAF Winkton, is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground previously in Hampshire but now, due to County boundary changes, in Dorset, England. The airfield is located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Christchurch; and is named after the nearby hamlet of Winkton.

Although complete by September 1943 Winkton opened in March 1944 with Sommerfeld Mesh runways and pierced steel planking perimeter tracks, and was the prototype for the type of temporary Advanced Landing Ground type airfield that 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 British and the United States Army Air Forces. It was closed in July 1944, when the mesh runways were lifted for use on the Continent, and immediately returned to agriculture.

Today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields with no recognizable remains.

  1. ^ a b Falconer 2012, p. 215.