RAF Down Ampney

---

title: "RAF Down Ampney" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["royal-air-force-stations-in-gloucestershire", "royal-air-force-stations-of-world-war-ii-in-the-united-kingdom", "defunct-airports-in-england", "1944-establishments-in-england", "1947-disestablishments-in-england", "military-airbases-established-in-1944", "military-airbases-closed-in-1947"] description: "Former RAF station in Wiltshire, England" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Down_Ampney" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Former RAF station in Wiltshire, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military installation"]

Field	Value
name	RAF Down Ampney
ensign	Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
ensign_size	90px
partof
location	Down Ampney, Gloucestershire
country	England
image	[[File:RAF Down Ampney - 4 Dec 1943 Airphoto.jpg
caption	Aerial photograph of Down Ampney airfield, 4 December 1943. The bomb dump is to the right (east) of the airfield, the technical site and barrack sites are to the left.
image2
type	Royal Air Force Station
coordinates
pushpin_map	Gloucestershire#UK
pushpin_map_caption	Shown within Gloucestershire
pushpin_label	RAF Down Ampney
pushpin_label_position	top
ownership	Air Ministry
operator	Royal Air Force
controlledby	RAF Transport Command
open_to_public
site_other_label
site_other
site_area
code
built
used	1944 -
battles	European theatre of World War II
past_commanders
garrison
occupants
footnotes
elevation	82 m
r1-number	03/21
r1-length	1830 m
r1-surface	Asphalt
r2-number	09/27
r2-length	1280 m
r2-surface	Asphalt
r3-number	15/33
r3-length	1280 m
r3-surface	Asphalt
h1-length
airfield_other_label
airfield_other
::

| name = RAF Down Ampney | ensign = Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg | ensign_size = 90px | native_name = | partof = | location = Down Ampney, Gloucestershire | country = England | image = [[File:RAF Down Ampney - 4 Dec 1943 Airphoto.jpg|250px]] | caption = Aerial photograph of Down Ampney airfield, 4 December 1943. The bomb dump is to the right (east) of the airfield, the technical site and barrack sites are to the left. | image2 = | alt2 = | caption2 = | type = Royal Air Force Station | coordinates = | gridref = | pushpin_map = Gloucestershire#UK | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Gloucestershire | pushpin_label = RAF Down Ampney | pushpin_label_position = top | ownership = Air Ministry | operator = Royal Air Force | controlledby = RAF Transport Command | open_to_public = | site_other_label = | site_other = | site_area = | code = | built = | used = 1944 - | builder = | fate = | condition = | battles = European theatre of World War II | events = | past_commanders = | garrison = | occupants = | designations = | website = | footnotes = | IATA = | ICAO = | LID = | GPS = | WMO = | elevation = 82 m | r1-number = 03/21 | r1-length = 1830 m | r1-surface = Asphalt | r2-number = 09/27 | r2-length = 1280 m | r2-surface = Asphalt | r3-number = 15/33 | r3-length = 1280 m | r3-surface = Asphalt | h1-number = | h1-length = | h1-surface = | airfield_other_label = | airfield_other = Royal Air Force Down Ampney or more simply RAF Down Ampney is a former Royal Air Force station located 1.8 mi north east of Cricklade, Wiltshire and 3 mi south west of RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. The airfield operated during the Second World War from February 1944 until February 1947.

Down Ampney was part of a group of airfields dedicated to air transportation, alongside RAF Broadwell and RAF Blakehill Farm.

Based units

No. 48 Squadron RAF and No. 271 Squadron RAF flew Douglas Dakotas on major missions. On D-Day they dropped the main elements of the 3rd Parachute Brigade in Normandy as well as towing Airspeed Horsa gliders across the English Channel. They were also active in Operation Market Garden (Arnhem) and the Rhine crossing. The same squadrons also flew Casevac flights to bring home wounded personnel from B landing grounds and airfields after the D Day landings. These flights took about 80 minutes and included RAF nurses.

Memorial

A memorial has been erected at the southern end of what was the main runway. which reads: DOUGLAS DAKOTAS FROM 48 AND

271 SQUADRONS RAF TRANSPORT

COMMAND CARRIED THE 1ST AND 6TH

AIRBORNE DIVISIONS UNITS OF

THE AIR DESPATCH REGIMENT

AND HORSA GLIDERS FLOWN BY

THE GLIDER PILOTS REGIMENT TO

NORMANDY – ARNHEM AND ON THE

CROSSING THE RHINE OPERATIONS

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM}}

References

References

1. "Down Ampney". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust.
2. "RAF Broadwell". AeroResource.
3. "RAF Down Ampney". Ampney info.
4. "RAF Down Ampney". Down Ampney Village.
5. "RAF memorial".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::