Willingale Airfield (part 1)

Willingale Airfield was built by the U.S. army 831st Engineer (aviation) Battalion who started work in late August 1942 completing the work on 25th August 1943. The battalion brought with them machinery that Willingale had never seen before and tore up agricultural land to create an airfield.

The design of the airfield is what is known as ’typical ‘A’ class design’. It was built with three runways forming an ‘A’ shape. The main runway was 6000 feet with two 4200 feet secondary runways and an encircling perimeter track with 51 hard stands and 48 loops. Whilst the main runway is no longer exists, a public footpath follows its original location. Parts of the perimeter track remain and the remains of 2 hard standings. Hardcore was needed for the construction and this was brought by lorries from buildings destroyed in the East End of London during the ‘Blitz.’

The Site was built to accommodate 2770 personnel in Nissen huts, and included building a suitable sewage system, the core of which is still in use today. There were administrative buildings, bomb stores as well as an operations room, and control tower. There were at least two T-2 hangars and various workshops.

There are several different maps of the area in existence showing some buildings in differing locations. These are not a mistake but decoys in the hope that enemy bombing raids would hit the wrong targets.

This initial American influx with their accents and machinery tearing up quality farmland caused both consternation and fascination with the locals. 4 Local viewpoint The airfield was built on fertile agricultural land leased or bought from the farmers. Unfortunately, a farmhouse, ‘Minsons’, and several cottages were close to where the main runway was to be located and so of necessity were demolished.

It appears the village had little warning of the forthcoming construction of the airfield and the Americans left quite a mess.
‘One morning just before the 6 weeks holidays the Yanks arrived with bulldozers, earth movers and levellers the likes of which we had never seen before and commenced to rip the earth apart. This was all excit ing and as we got closer, they didn’t seem to mind. We spent all of our summer holidays on the base……..‘I remember the road outside our cottage being thick with mulch from their wheels for weeks.’ Bob Brown aged 7 ‘

‘My mum had to carry me to school as the roads were so mucky’ Joan Day aged 9

‘The Yanks came and Minsons farm, house and woods were all bull-dozed down. The sand lorries came and the mud! They could not slow down, so everyone got covered with mud – it was almost impossible to ride a bike. The Yanks could go anywhere over ditches and any rough ground. With them came the jeeps’
Ina Campen aged 22

There were eight bombardment groups flying B-26 Marauders in Essex. After taking off from their respective airfields, the Groups would join up at a Splasher Beacon, radio beacons strategically placed at various locations spread around the south and east of England.

B26 bombardment groups in Essex
322 BG at Gt Saling
323 BG at Earls Colne
344 BG at Stansted
386 BG at Easton Lodge
387 BG at Willingale
391 BG at Matching Green
394 BG at Boreham
397 BG at Rivenhall

The 387th was a new bombardment group which was first activated in Florida December 1st 1942 at MacDill Field, Tampa for the first phase of training. The Group drew its personnel from a variety of other squadrons, mostly from squadrons under the 21st bombardment group. Their training phases continued, firstly with a move to Drane Field also in Florida in April then Godman Field, Kentucky in May.

By this time the squadrons were well trained and ready for deployment and moved to Selfridge field, Michigan, where the air crews were given new planes and allowed two weeks to test and check them.

The journey to Willingale began on 10th June 1943. Whilst the ground crew took the Queen Mary to Scotland, the planes flew by the northern route over Iceland and Scotland. At the time the 387th completed this flight in the fastest time made by any group which was two weeks one day and was the first group to cross with no loss of life.

The 65 B-26 planes arrived at Willingale on 25th June1943. Despite the 831st working through the night, the runways were not fully complete, leading to one plane crashing on landing (2Lt. Houston N. Bartley, 556). The ground crew arrived on 1st July, and whilst the 831st continued to work hard on completing the airfield, the 387th got their planes ready and completed more training.

As the war progressed and the front advanced, so did the 387th. Leaving Willingale on 21st July 1944 they travelled firstly to France, to Holland and after VE day, Belgium, before returning to Camp Kilmer New Jersey in November 1945 and being disbanded.