Ramsbury Airfield, for a long time a site with an old runway and little else hides a great deal of history. Between 1942 and 1946 it played an active role, famously where the the American 101st Airborne Division (known as the ‘Screaming Eagles’) trained, whilst based in Aldbourne. On 10 February an information board will be erected by the runway Memorial, to provide a brief timeline of those who served at the airfield.
This notice board is funded by “The Capricorn Foundation in association with the Ramsbury Manor Foundation in memory of the late Mr H J Hyams”.
It was from Ramsbury Airfield – and the ill-fated attempt to return with a stranded glider – from where the Dakota that crashed into the River Kennet at Axford took off.
There are now two Memorials at Ramsbury Airfield, the one on the runway, dedicated to the men and women who served at RAF Ramsbury 1942 (pic above) – 1946 and the other – in the pic here – dedicated to the fallen of Two World Wars and situated in Burnt Wood.
These were installed in 2019 after a successful project to raise the necessary funds. Some of the older locals knew and one lamented there was no memorial. But the funds raised enabled the two memorials, one to commemorate the fallen of two World Wars and one to honour “All who served at RAF Ramsbury” during WW2. A small part of the huge War effort that links American, British, Commonwealth servicemen and women as well as those from the occupied countries who trained as pilots with the RAF 1942/43 or served in the USAAF 1942/45 at the airfield.
The Information Board will provide a very brief timeline of those who came to train or carry out missions and were accommodated in the surrounding villages. For some it was a few months before moving on to front line duties. And finally the carrier group airlifting troops from Ramsbury as part of the D-Day landings in 1944 and later Market Garden. In 1945 the Americans handed back the airfield to the RAF and following the end of hostilities in 1946/47 the airfield was returned to agricultural use. Click the pics below to enlarge:
In this 80th year since the end of WW2 the Custodians encourage visitors to the site, via the public right of way, and to pause at the Memorial and remember “All Those Who Served.”
For more information about Ramsbury Airfield and its history, and the part played by the local villages who welcomed those servicemen and women click here to visit ‘Ramsbury at War’.