British airfield defence diagrams/organization

[LukeFF]

Hey all,

 

Are there any good references out there that show the layout and/or organization of British airfield defenses during WWII? 

[41Sqn_Skipper]

Do you mean airfields in Great Britain or airfields of 2nd TAF on the continent (Normandy, ...)?

[LukeFF]

Just now, 41Sqn_Banks said:

Do you mean airfields in Great Britain or airfields of 2nd TAF on the continent (Normandy, ...)?

 

Either one would do.

[41Sqn_Skipper]

http://pillboxes-suffolk.webeden.co.uk/airfields-taylor-report/4581251196

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quote

As has been noted, because of innumerable variations in airfield topography it was impossible to form any standard design and layout of defence works so, as with Army-controlled defences for towns and coasts, the Local Defence Commander worked in cooperation with the airfield Station Commander to plan the design and layout of the defences for a particular airfield. This, of course, helps to explain the huge variety in design of pillboxes and any allied structures, from the ingenious to the downright dangerous! It is quite common to find a defence work that is unique to a particular airfield.

...

In May 1941, after Crete, the concept of a ring of defensive posts around the perimeter of an airfield was abandoned in favour of strategically placed strongpoints to cover the ground and approaches of the airfield, with each post “…as far as possible being mutually supporting and selfcontained…”.

...

In February 1942, much to the relief of the Army, the R.A.F. Regiment was formed and given sole responsibility for defending all R.A.F. installations on the country, thus releasing the Royal Artillery gunners from having to man airfield AA defences. 

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http://www.pillbox-study-group.org.uk/other-wwii-defensive-structures/airfield-defence/

Edited May 1, 2020 by 41Sqn_Banks

[41Sqn_Skipper]

 

 

[NZTyphoon]

I have a copy of Invasion Airfields Then and Now : unfortunately, a friend borrowed it, so I can't get it back until NZ relaxes the national lockdown to level-2.

[MarcoPegase44]

On 4/22/2020 at 10:17 PM, LukeFF said:

Hey all,

 

Are there any good references out there that show the layout and/or organization of British airfield defenses during WWII? 

Hello,

 

These 2 books by the same author deal with allied aerodromes, their construction, logistics and their organization with their units.

These 2 books are from the same author but do not duplicate, the texts are complementary and are a gold mine for information. The author lives in Normandy and is himself a pilot.

The texts are in French.

 

[Pict]

On 4/22/2020 at 10:17 PM, LukeFF said:

Hey all,

 

Are there any good references out there that show the layout and/or organization of British airfield defenses during WWII? 

 

Lot of good detail in this .pdf about RAF Culmhead. It's part of a collection of 26 .pdfs about airfield structures during WWII in all theaters and referencing most combatants. The whole file would weigh in at 136 mb and if your interested I could upload it for you?

43838d1181855673-airfield-structures-layouts-raf_culmhead-airfield-layout.zip

[unreasonable]

Might be worth reading this as well - defense of RAF stations was the responsibility of the RAF Regiment from 1942. Pages 127-146 deal with the Normandy campaign through to the end of the war.

 

In short - for forwards airfields in Europe under 2nd TAF there would be an LAA flight (or more) of 40mm Bofors each with an establishment of 12 guns.  No other gun types used.

 

UK airfields would have had a mix of 40mm and 20mm.  The higher calibre AA weapons were run by the Army and reservists and not generally assigned to airfield defense but in AA zones protecting cities, ports and on the approaches to London.

 

RAF Rgt through_adversity.zip

 

 

Edited July 1, 2020 by unreasonable