RAF Welford

RAF Welford is an active Royal Air Force station in Berkshire, England. The airfield is located approximately 6 mi northwest of Newbury; about 50 mi west-southwest of London

Opened in 1943, it was used during the Second World War by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used primarily as a transport airfield. After the war it was closed in 1946 and placed in reserve status. As a result of the Cold War, the station was reopened in 1955 as a munitions depot by the United States Air Force

Today it is one of the largest ammunition compounds for the United States Air Force in Western Europe for heavy munitions.

Current Units
Welford is now under the command of the 420 Munitions Squadron, and comes under the command of the 501st Combat Support Wing, with headquarters at RAF Alconbury, which provides support to the Geographically Separated Units (GSU)s in the United Kingdom.

Location
RAF Welford is located in West Berkshire with a now disused dedicated access road leading to the station from the eastbound M4 motorway to the west of the A34 junction with the M4. There is no access from the westbound motorway, so traffic leaving the station for the west must first travel east to the A34 junction before heading west.

The access road from the M4 is enigmatically signposted "Works Unit Only", but has the distinctive Red Border of a Defence Establishment.

USAAF use
In October 1943 the airfield was allocated to Ninth Air Force IX Troop Carrier Command (TCC). While under USAAF control, Welford was known as USAAF Station AAF-474 for security reasons during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its Station-ID was "WF".

315th Troop Carrier Group
The 315th Troop Carrier Group arrived at Welford on 6 November 1943 from RAF Aldermaston flying C-47s and C-53s. Its squadrons and fuselage codes were:


 * 34th Troop Carrier Squadron (NM)
 * 43d Troop Carrier Squadron (UA)
 * 309th Troop Carrier Squadron (M6)
 * 310th Troop Carrier Squadron (4A)

The 315th TCG was part of the 52nd Troop Carrier Wing. On 7 February 1944 the group was transferred to RAF Spanhoe].

435th Troop Carrier Group
As part of the IX Troop Carrier Command's desire to have its C-47 groups commence training with paratroops of the 101st Airborne Division deployed in the Salisbury Plain area, the squadrons of the 435th Troop Carrier Group arrived at Welford on 25 January 1944 from RAF Langar flying C-47s and C-53s. Its squadrons and fuselage codes were:


 * 75th Troop Carrier Squadron (SH)
 * 76th Troop Carrier Squadron (CW)
 * 77th Troop Carrier Squadron (IB)
 * 78th Troop Carrier Squadron (CM)

The 435th TCW was assigned to the 53rd Troop Carrier Wing. In early February 1945 the group was moved to an Advanced Landing Ground at Breigny France (A-48).

USAF use
In 2009 USAF staffing at Welford was reduced as part of USAF wide budgetary adjustments.