We took a small detour today from a journey west along the M4 to visit Ramsbury Airfield. It was opened in 1942 and used by both RAF and USAAF during the course of WWII mainly in a transport capacity and this included, early in the morning of 6th June 1944 52 C47s with gliders in tow setting off for Normandy carrying 82nd airborne division in support of D-Day. Three months later the 101st airborne were carried from Ramsbury in support of Operation Market Garden.
Following USAAF operations the airfield was returned to the RAF in June 1945 and closed the following year thereafter returning to agricultural use. No war time buildings remain although it is possible to establish where the runways and some of the perimeter tracks once were. A memorial has been erected at the intersection of the main and a secondary runway with an information board on a perimeter track and an RAF centenary memorial in adjacent woodland. A Spitfire passing overhead was a bonus that caught me by surprise!
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