RAF Balderton



Royal Air Force Station Balderton or more simply RAF Balderton is a former Royal Air Force station located 2.0 mi south of Newark-on-Trent, sandwiched between the now extinct Great Northern Railway (GNR) Bottesford-Newark line and the A1 road in Nottinghamshire, England. Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used primarily as a troop carrier transport airfield and after for munitions storage before it was closed in 1957.

Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields.

Initial RAF Bomber Command
The airfield was assigned to No. 5 Group RAF and received No. 408 Squadron RAF and its Handley Page Hampdens from RAF Syerston in December 1941.

USAAF use
The airfield was officially taken over by Ninth Air Force on New Year's Day 1944. Balderton was used as a reception center for C-47 troop carrier groups arriving from the United States that were subsequently located at other UK airfields. Balderton was known as USAAF Station AAF-482 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. It's USAAF Station Code was "BD".

437th Troop Carrier Group
The first USAAF transport unit to arrive was the 437th Troop Carrier Group during January 1944 from Baer Army Airfield, Indiana. The group's squadrons and fuselage codes were:


 * 83d Troop Carrier Squadron (T2)
 * 84th Troop Carrier Squadron (Z8)
 * 85th Troop Carrier Squadron (90)
 * 86th Troop Carrier Squadron (5K)

The 439th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 53d Troop Carrier Wing, IX Troop Carrier Command.

The first aircraft arrived on 21 January. On 5/6 February 5 it was moved south to RAF Ramsbury in Wiltshire.

439th Troop Carrier Group
On 21 February, the 91st and 92d Troop Carrier Squadrons for the 439th Troop Carrier Group also arrived from Baer Army Airfield. Two other squadrons, the 93d and 94th TCS arrived on 6 March. The group's squadrons and fuselage codes were:


 * 91st Troop Carrier Squadron (L4)
 * 92d Troop Carrier Squadron (J8)
 * 93d Troop Carrier Squadron (3B)
 * 94th Troop Carrier Squadron (D8)

The 439th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 50th Troop Carrier Wing, IX Troop Carrier Command.

Intensive training with paratroops of the 82nd Airborne Division was conducted until the 439th was moved to RAF Upottery in Devon on 26 April, although all elements did not move until May.

Subsequent RAF use
Balderton was returned to No. 5 Group RAF Bomber Command, at the end of September and the re-formed No. 227 Squadron RAF with Avro Lancasters flew its first mission from the airfield on 11 October 1944. The squadron (code 9J-) moved to RAF Strubby on 5 April 1945.

Having no operational usefulness to the RAF, from June 1945, bombs were stored on the runways. Like many wartime airfields, it languished unused with a little demolition until gradually disposed of in the 1950s. A notice in The Times for 20 May 1957 lists the airfield as one of those no longer needed by the RAF. Balderton was then sold by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Current use
With the facility released from military control, Balderton was returned to agriculture, the runway concrete disappearing as hardcore under the A1 road improvements of the 1960s. At that time, the developed Al was routed west of the original road, over the eastern perimeter track of the airfield, before coming back to the east to bypass Balderton village and Newark.

Gypsum open-pit mining has also taken its toll where quarrying has completely obliterated the airfield, with single track roads all that remain of the runway and perimeter track, and the occasional concrete runway end or pile of rubble. However much still remains of the support station, including the MT sheds and the Sergeants' Mess still complete with its brick fireplace.