RAF Greenham Common
| Royal Air Force Station Greenham Common | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Characteristics | |
| ICAO code | EGVI |
| Coordinates | |
| Height above MSL | 116 m (381 ft ) |
| Transport links | |
| Distance from the city center | 3 miles southeast of Newbury |
| Street |
|
| Basic data | |
| opening | 1942 |
| closure | 1991 |
| operator | United States Air Force (last) |
The former Royal Air Force Station Greenham Common , RAF Greenham Common for short , was a military airfield of the British Royal Air Force east of the town of Greenham in the county of West Berkshire or Berkshire , England . Its main users were the United States Air Force .
history
The airfield was first opened for the RAF in 1942 during World War II.
In late 1943, however, the station was handed over to the Ninth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces . The first US user was between September and November 1942, the staff of the 51st Troop Carrier Wing , which belonged to the Twelfth Air Force , which was relocated to the Mediterranean theater of war after a few weeks. As a result, the base was used by changing US fighter groups and transport squadrons. During the Allied invasion of Normandy , transport planes lay here and on the day before the start of the invasion General Eisenhower visited a paratrooper regiment.
After the end of the war, the base was no longer used for five years, but was then reactivated as a result of the beginning of the Cold War . On April 23, 1951, RAF Greenham Common was transferred to the Strategic Air Command (SAC) of the United States Air Force . The airfield was completely rebuilt in the following period, including a jetted runway. From September 1953, RAF Greenham Common was operational again. In the following ten years, the base was used temporarily by changing SAC bomber and air refueling units from the United States, so-called short-term temporary duty deployments . The duration of these missions was usually three months until 1958 and then, to reduce aircraft noise, only three weeks, during which there was hardly any flight. The SAC left Greenham Common in late June 1964.
As a result of France's withdrawal from the military structures of NATO , the field was reactivated in 1967 and came under the control of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) in 1968 . In terms of aviation, however, the airfield was little used in the following years. The place served as an alternative place for the F-111 of the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing in RAF Upper Heyford from 1976.
As early as 1973, the "International Air Tattoo" (IAT) took place in Greenham Common every two years. From 1985 the event took place in RAF Fairford , from 1993 even annually, whereby the Queen ennobled the event in 1996 to the royal Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT).
As a result of NATO's double decision , Greenham Common was to become an American cruise missile location. From 1983, 96 BGM-109 Tomahawk - Ground Launched Cruise Missile should be stationed here. The project became known in June 1980 and subsequently the base was the main venue for demonstrations by the British peace movement ( Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament ), including a peace camp. The Swabian town of Mutlangen played a comparable role in Germany .
The airfield itself was completely rebuilt again, including the nuclear-bomb-proof shelters for the cruise missiles mounted on special articulated trucks and their mobile fire control stations. The missiles of the first squadron arrived in England in November 1983 in C-5 transporters.
As a result of the INF contract , the BGM-109s were withdrawn again by March 1991 and flight operations ceased. The Americans returned the base to the British military in 1992, which announced in 1993 that it would no longer have any further use for Greenham Common. The last Peace Camp existed until 2000.
Trivia
In September 2014, scenes from the feature film Star Wars: The Force Awakens were shot here .
