WW2 Airfields Archive
@WW2Airfields
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Dedicated to RAF & USAAF Second World War airfields. Celebrating the people, architecture, & WW2 airfield stories.
In the control tower
Joined July 2022
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The skeletal remains of P-38 Lightning that crashed during WW2 off the Welsh coast, occasionally emerges ghost-like from the seabed.
This is the "Maid of Harlech"
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Copy and paste the following co-ordinates into the Google Earth app.
-9.1980556°, 148.6616667°
Go back to 2002.
You can see "Swamp Ghost"
She's a B17 Flying Fortress that ditched in a Papua New Guinea swamp in 1942.
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👀
This isn't a real town.
It's "Boeing Wonderland", a fake town built on top of the roof of Boeing Plant 2, a factory building B-17 Flying Fortress in the USA.
As far as wartime decoys and deception goes, I think this has to be the most inventive I've seen.
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In 1947, Art Lacey purchased a B-17 bomber for $13,750 and flew it from Oklahoma to Troutdale.
He disassembled it, transported it covertly, and placed it atop his 48-pump gas station.
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We've all had those "oh sh*t" moments...
But perhaps not quite the same as the person who took this filming gig, then realised they were in the direct path of a bouncing bomb test.
💩💩💩
© IWM MTE 3136
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Who doesn't like an aircraft graveyard?
Here's a short selection of WW2 aircraft junkyards.
Makes you wonder how much these aircraft would be worth today if they had not been trashed or recycled.
First up, B17 Flying Fortresses as far as the eye can see in Arizona.
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Replacement Flying Fortresses lined up on an English airfield to replace squadron losses for the US Eighth Air Force.
I wish I knew which airfield... if anyone knows. 🧐
Original Source: National Archives and Records Administration
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James Stewart in 1975 standing near the control tower of Tibenham Air Force base / airfield in Norfolk from where he flew bombing raids during WW2.
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Here's a thread of colour photos from the Second World War, showing various pieces of nose art by the USAAF across a range of aircraft and airfields.
Incredible art.
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James Stewart standing near the control tower of Tibenham Air Force base in Norfolk from where he flew bombing raids during World War Two, circa August 1975.
(Getty)
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Today's Ghost WW2 Airfield
#GhostWW2Airfields
is RAF Silverstone 👻
Now better known as being the the home of British Motor Racing and the F1 Grand Prix 🏁🏎️
Then vs➡️now☑️ shown below...
Now let's take a closer look at Silverstone Airfield / Circuit in wartime...
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Exposed to the elements in the Sahara Desert and subject to decay, lies the wreck of Avro Shackelton Pelican 16, miles from civilisation.
📌 She's clearly visible on Google maps... the link of which is further down the tweet thread.
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Here's a thread of Messerschmitt Me-262s, captured on German airfields by the Allies.
13 photos in the thread (unlucky for some).
The last tweet in the thread has a link to even more.
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How's your morning going so far? ☕️
P-47 Thunderbolt of the 365th Fighter Group, aka the "Hell Hawks" having a mishap when crash landing on a French airfield.
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Ingenious ways the Japanese used decoys & visual illusions.
First, painting a B-29 to appear flying at several 1,000 ft. At altitude, gives illusion of B-29 w/ flames streaming from engine. Japanese hoped aircraft would drop to investigate and become targets for flak.
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15 September 1940.
Today is Battle of Britain day.
Here's a thread of Battle of Britain photos that originally appeared in LIFE magazine during WW2, accompanied with some original captions describing the airfield scenes.
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Here's a thread of colour photos of Bristol Blenheims on a WW2 airfield.
RAF Watton in Norfolk, 1941.
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Here's a (rather niche and short) thread of aircraft that crash landed in Switzerland during the Second World War.
P-51 Mustang.
Buchs, St Gallen, February 1945
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Good morning one and all ☕️😃
Here's a great image I saw this morning.
Spitfires arriving in Malta on a carrier.
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This is incredible... 👀
"Kee Bird" was a USAAAF B-29 Superfortress that became marooned after making an emergency landing in Greenland during a secret Cold War spying mission on 21 Feb 1947.
It's still on the ice to this day... 🧊
But sadly not how you'd want 😕
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Captured Messerschmitt Bf 110 on display outside Finsbury Town Hall, Garnault Place in London, October 1940.
I assume the net is part of the show, having been "caught in a net".
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If you ever needed context on how many airfields there were in England during the Second World War, here's just one county alone.
Lincolnshire; aka Bomber County 💣
You won't walk far in Lincolnshire without tripping over the site of a WW2 airfield.
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Here's a fantastic photo taken at HMS Fledging (Mill Meece) it was not an airfield, but a training station.
What aircraft can you spot?
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Here's a selection of crashed and trashed Luftwaffe aircraft, all of which have been colourised by RJM.
13 photos, unlucky for some🐈⬛
First up, looks like this Messerschmitt 109 is off to the scrapyard. It was shot down at Penshurst Aerodrome, Kent Oct 1940.
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Always worth a repost…
We've all had those "oh sh*t" moments...
But perhaps not quite the same as the person who took this filming gig, then realised they were in the direct path of a bouncing bomb test. © IWM MTE 3136
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Not posted many dogs on WW2 airfields recently, so here's some new ones to brighten your day. 🐶
Commanding Officer, Desmond J. Scott in the cockpit of a Spitfire with his wire haired fox terrier 'Kim', RAF Hawkinge, Kent, 1943.
Colour by Colourised PIECE of JAKE
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Morning all! Here are some colourised WW2 airfield photos. Grab a coffee, these all have a "feel good" factor to get the day started properly ☕️
First up, 609 Squadron RAF pilots in the dispersal doorway at RAF Manston, spring 1943 with some faithful hounds.
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B-17 bombers from the 401st Bomb Group, at a snow covered Deenethorpe airfield. England, 1944.
❄️🌨️
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Today's ghost WW2 airfield is RAF Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire👻
Then vs ➡️ now ☑️
You can still see a ghostly outline from the past on the English countryside.
But what remains at ground level and what happened here in wartime...?🧐
Let's take a closer look...
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RAF Lavenham in Suffolk.
➡️Then vs Now 🧐
From the ground you'd be hard pressed to tell that this huge airfield once sat on the English countryside.
Was home to the USAAF 487th Bombardment Group (Heavy).
[you might need to click to expand to see the comparison]
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You might have seen this photo before.
It's an aircraft crash landing onto the roof of East Boldre post office in the New Forest, England, circa 1915.
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Here's a thread of Stirling bombers being manufactured in factories.
18 photos, so perhaps put the coffee on first. ☕️
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Captain Merle B. Nichols seated on the nose of Wilda, his Lockheed P-38 Lightning at Kings Cliffe.
Can anyone explain what the umbrellas are for...?
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A thread of colourised WW2 airfield photos to start the day.
(Credits on the watermarks, otherwise unknown).
☕️
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This is the moment the largest ever bomb to be dropped on UK soil was released.
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German WW2 airfield.
Franz von Werra with his tiger cub, Simba.
More photos of Simba on airfield in the tweet thread...
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As a dull middle aged man, I find it hard to contain my excitement when I see the ghostly outline of a WW2 airfield on Google Earth.
Particularly interesting is this one 🤓
I've only just managed to calm down.
Anybody know it?
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Here are incredible photos of a wrecked German airfield(s) in North Africa originally published in TIME magazine.
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A camouflaged aircraft hangar on a captured Luftwaffe airfield in the Netherlands. It had been elaborately camouflaged as domestic buildings by the former German occupants, at Melsbroek, Belgium.
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Interesting WW2 airfield related news on the BBC website today...
"An experimental catapult designed to launch World War Two bomber planes into the sky has been excavated."
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Photographer Margaret Bourke-White was the first woman to be allowed to work in combat zones during World War II by the US.
During WW2 she was attached to the USAAF on airfields documenting missions and life.
Grab a coffee, her are some amazing photos she took.
☕️ 🩷
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Stow Maries Aerodrome, Essex. Built in 1916 as WW1 airfield. 24 original buildings survive with grade II listed status.
Come step inside a WW1 airfield... a thread 🧵
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The crew of B-17G “Bolo Babe” of the 546th Bomb Squadron, 384th Bomber Group, poses on top of their plane after a crash landing in France.
Note the young kid behind them... son of the crash site family (name unknown).
Colourised Piece of Jake / Original in tweet 2.
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There's a theme in this thread.
See if you can spot it.
13 photos... although you might say they were lucky.
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One day someone woke up and decided to make a dream home out of a Boeing 727.
Take a look inside...
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This pub in the Woolston area (home of Spitfire development) in Southampton , is currently having its wall painted. Photo by I.Norris.
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Here's a stunning gallery of photos taken by George Rodger, an English war correspondent for LIFE magazine.
This gallery contains photos of the "Flying Tigers" in and around Mingladon Airfield, outside of Rangoon.
Burma, 1942
/🧵
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For a brief moment I thought this was a computer game. Colourisation by Druid Works.
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B-17, but RAF. No idea on the airfield. Seen on Reddit this week with this caption:
"B-17E outfitted for the RAF... note the radar aerials under each wing, most likely for anti-submarine patrols."
If anyone has more context, would love to hear it.
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There's something strangely fascinating about these huge concrete acoustic sound mirrors...
Acoustic mirrors were designed as early warning devices in sites on the UK coast, with the aim of detecting incoming enemy aircraft by the sound of engines.
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I saw this colourised photo on Facebook earlier today.
Shows two girls next to a Heinkel that crashed landed near Chester in Cheshire, on August 14th, 1940.
Great photo, but that Jack Nicholson movie popped into my head…
The Shining.
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Silverstone Circuit is the home of British Motor Racing. But here's a comparison as to how it looked from the air in 1945 as a WW2 airfield, RAF Silverstone 👀
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Perhaps bookmark this one for lunch later.
It's a gallery of photos taken at RAF Fowlmere showing 19 Sqn. The men flew Spitfires during the Battle of Britain. All images are © IWM.
First, Flight Lieutenant Walter 'Farmer' Lawson in September 1940. 🧵
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Joan Hughes, ATA pilot.
One of the first female pilots accepted into the Air Transport Auxiliary on 1 January 1940.
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When life imitates (nose) art.
B-29 Superfortress crew replicate the nose art which is a caricature of them in November 1944.
I believe the aircraft and crew was lost in action in 1945.
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The aircraft has since been shipped to the US to be restored.
But she still appears on Google Maps as a ghostly image.
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I may as well retire from Twitter now: peak WW2 airfield photo has been dug out of the vaults.
👃🎨+ 🐶
The nose of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator “Howling Wolf” looms over Frank, the group's dog mascot at an air base in southern Italy.
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Annual Gil Cohen art appreciation thread. Here are some of my favourite pieces of WW2 airfield artwork.
If you've not seen the work before...
** Return to the Bump ** 1940, Biggin Hill
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Bristol Blenheim at RAF Wattisham, Suffolk.
Colourisation by HowdiColourWork on FB.
Spot the good boy 🐶
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Here's a stunning colourisation of Short Sunderland at RAF Calshot by RJM).
Last year I walked around Calshot and documented what remains to this day. You can see my photo tour in the second tweet below.
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Here's a bird's eye view of the factory roof and fake town.
Cunning.
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Wing Commander Ian “Widge” Gleed, sat in his Spitfire at RAF Ibsley, Hampshire. Sadly, he was killed during a fighter sweep in French Tunisia, 16th April 1943 Colour by
@colour_dan
(Photo: © IWM CH 5908).
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This wartime hut near Dunmow airfield in Essex was put up for sale for £1.45 million after being converted into a luxury 5 bedroom home.
Conversion photos in the thread... 🧵
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A bunker on the site of RAF Ringstead, a former Royal Air Force radar station at Ringstead Bay, Dorset, has been converted into a holiday home.
Pics in the thread 🧵
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Here's a thread of German aircraft that never quite made it back to their own airfields.
First up, a Heinkel in the back garden of a house at Hale near Fordingbridge in Hampshire.
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As you wait for the to kettle boil or the machine warms up for the first coffee of the morning, here's a short thread of colourised WW2 photos with airfield connections. ☕️☕️☕️
Sunderland of No 10 Squadron RAAF at Mount Batten, Plymouth, January 1943.
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Look at the teeth on this
🦈
Flying Officer Raymond Newton (from Wellington, NZ), serving in 112 RAF squadron, stands next to a Mustang III on an airfield in Italy.
Colourised by RarityColor
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Good morning all... ☕️
Here's a handful of photos from an airfield.
A snapshot in time from 1945.
Captioned as: USAAF ground crew fill up a B-29 with gasoline in the Marianas (LIFE Magazine Archives - J R Eyerman Photographer).
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Colourised version as requested.
Spitfire pilots of No. 43 Squadron RAF keeping warm in their dispersal hut at Drem airfield, East Lothian.
There is some amazing detail in the photo, such as the posters to help with enemy aircraft identification.
One of the best airfield photos... © IWM H 9191
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A Halifax of No 77 Squadron roars low over an audience during air tests at RAF Elvington, Yorkshire, in 1943.
Colourised by Rarity Colour.
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How your morning going? 🧐
This is Lt Edwin "Lucky" Wright, so called as this is the 6th time he'd been hit by flak.
Just 19 years old when the photo was taken, he had 5 and a half months of combat to his credit and 39 missions in his P-47 Thunderbolt.
📸Roger Freeman
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Two years ago on a crisp January morning, I walked around the site of RAF Kenley... one of the Battle of Britain airfields.
Here's a photo thread showing what remains from those days of uncertainty...
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Following on from the Me262s on airfields gallery I shared late last week, just saw this on the World War Aviation Facebook page.
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Here's another abandoned airfield walk...
RAF Holmsley South in Hampshire, last summer.
Once home to RAF Typhoons, RCAF Spitfires and USAAF B-26 Marauders.
It's almost been scrubbed from the New Forest landscape, but I still managed to find relics from the past...
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This could have contributed to UFO sightings in England in the 1970s 👽
It's Skyship No.1 at Cardington Airfield, 1975.
There's a video of it in action in the second tweet.
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Good morning all ☕️
It's 1988, and this guy just got given the job of mowing the lawn on top of Hangar 88 at RAF Hullavington.
🧵/
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Here's a thread of images showing a RAF Lancaster being pulled from Lake Constance, Switzerland in 1954.
She ditched there in April 1944 after a raid on Germany.
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RNZAF F/O Geoffrey Fisken by his P-40M 'Wairarapa Wildcat’. Fisken is credited with shooting down 11 Japanese aircraft. By Rarity Colour.
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#OTD
Operation Chastise, the Dambusters Raid, started 80 years ago today, using the 'Upkeep' bouncing bomb.
Here's a flashback to a camera operator getting out the way of (what I think is) a 'Highball' test... the other bouncing bomb.
100% 💩 your pants moment.
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US servicemen standing in a field with a crash-landed RAF Spitfire in the Loiano Area of Bologna, Italy.
November 22, 1944.
RAF pilot F/S William Henry Bundock of Colchester Essex had been forced to crash land and suffered just scratches.
By Colourised PIECE of JAKE
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Lancaster Bombers nearing completion in Avro’s Assembly Plant at Woodford near Manchester, 1943.
© IWM TR 1386
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Here's a thread of colour photos from airfields in WW2 to brighten up your day. All images from the National Air & Space Museum website.
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Here's another almost intact aircraft crash site you can see on Google maps.
Copy and paste this into Google maps:
65.778260, -169.066789
It's Lisunov Li-2 from the early 1970s on Big Diomede, a remote island between Alaska and Russia.
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