RAF Staplehurst

RAF Staplehurst
USAAF Station AAF-413
Staplehurst, Kent in England
Staplehurst Airfield, two weeks before D-Day on 21 May 1944. Note the blister hangar just to the west of the 19 runway. The improvised technical site and airfield station is located to the north of the 10 runway.
RAF Staplehurst is located in Kent
RAF Staplehurst
RAF Staplehurst
Shown within Kent
Coordinates51°09′42″N 000°34′18″E / 51.16167°N 0.57167°E / 51.16167; 0.57167
TypeAdvanced Landing Ground
CodeXS[1]
Site information
OwnerAir Ministry
OperatorRoyal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force (1943-1944)
United States Army Air Forces (1944)
Controlled byRAF Air Defence of Great Britain 1944-
* No. 83 Group RAF
Site history
Built1943 (1943)
In useAugust 1943 - January 1945 (1945)
Battles/warsEuropean theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation30 metres (98 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
01/19  Sommerfeld Tracking
10/28  Sommerfeld Tracking

Royal Air Force Staplehurst or more simply RAF Staplehurst is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground located in Kent, England. The airfield is located approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of Staplehurst; about 38 miles (61 km) southeast of London.

Opened in 1943, Staplehurst was a prototype for temporary Advanced Landing Grounds built in France after D-Day, and 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 September 1944.

Today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields with no recognisable remains, except a memorial now near the site.

  1. ^ a b Falconer 2012, p. 181.

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