Ridgewell
| Location: | Sited to the East of the Village of Ridgewell |
| Date opened: | Exact date unknown at present |
| Operational Status: |
The airfield, sited to the East of the village of Ridgewell, was one of the earliest Class A bomber stations to be built in Essex. When finished the airfield was passed over to No 3 Group of bomber Command, which at the time mainly comprised Short Stirling Squadrons. It was just after Christmas 1942 when the first Stirling’s landed at the airfield. No 90 squadron was the first squadron to bring Stirling’s to Ridgewell. No
90 squadron moved on from Ridgewell to Wickham in Cambridgeshire shortly
after their last mission to the Ruhr. After this the base was handed over
to the Americans and the first airmen started arriving on 3rd
June 1943. B17’s began flying in from Bovingdon in Hertfordshire on the
15th June, and by the following day there were 45 standing
around, these aircraft where from the 381st Bomb Group (heavy),
this group was placed in the 1st Bomb Division. The groups 296th and final mission went out from Ridgewell on 25th April 45 to the Skoda motor works at Pilsen in Czechoslovakia, within a month the majority of the aircraft had left the airfield. There is no exact date when the airfield closed but some of the old airfield has survived, the hangers are still intact. |
| Airfield Closed: | Exact date unknown |
| Current Status: | Largely returned to agriculture |
| Relevant Squadrons | |
| Relevant Aircraft | Information to come |
| Future Action: | Visit the area and photograph |
