Former RAF Kings Cliffe

 Second World War 1939-1945, abandoned / shut down, RAF - Royal Air Force, draw only border, Army Air Field US, closed / former military, historical layer / disappeared object, former air force base

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RAF Kings Cliffe is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located near Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, 12 miles west of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. Originally the airfield was grass-surfaced but hard-surfaced runways and a perimeter track were laid down early in 1943.

USAAF use
USAAF Station 367

Kings Cliffe was assigned USAAF designation Station 367. It was the most northerly and furthest west of all Eighth Air Force fighter stations. It was in the 1st Air Division heavy bomber base area and more than fifty miles west of any other fighter bases. In spite of the reduced range of escort flights operating from such a westerly airfield, there does not appear to have been any attempt to move the Group to another site nearer the coast

347th Fighter Squadron
While still under construction, Kingscliffe received its first American units in December 1942 when a few P-39 Airacobras of the 347th Fighter Squadron of the 350th Fighter Group based at RAF Duxford were briefly based there.

56th Fighter Group
In January 1943 the 56th Fighter Group of the U.S. Army Air Force's Eighth Air Force arrived at Kings Cliffe from Bridgeport AAF Connecticut with the 347th FS returning to Duxford. The group was under the command of the 67th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command.The group consisted of the following squadrons:

61st Fighter Squadron (HV)
62d Fighter Squadron (LM)
63d Fighter Squadron (UN)

20th Fighter Group
On 26 August 1943, the 20th Figher Group arrived from March AAF California. The group was under the command of the 67th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command. Aircraft of the 20th were identified by a black/white stripes along their cowlings and tails.
The group consisted of the following squadrons:

55th Fighter Squadron (KI)
77th Fighter Squadron (LC)
79th Fighter Squadron (MC)

Glenn Miller played his last airfield band concert in the big hangar at Kings Cliffe. This final concert took place on Tuesday 3 October 1944 as it was getting too cold to play in unheated hangars. A memorial was placed on a Callendar Hamilton hangar base.

After the war, the field was used by the RAF for armament storage until being sold and returned to agriculture in January 1959. Today Kings Cliffe airfield has largely returned to agriculture, however the outlines and concreted areas of the runways are readily identifiable. The technical site and hangars have been razed, however an abandoned control tower still exists. Dispersed buildings in Bedford Purlieus included the theatre, gym and chapel for the airbase.

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