RAF Thruxton

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Former Royal Air Force station

title: "RAF Thruxton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["airfields-of-the-ix-fighter-command-in-the-united-kingdom", "military-airbases-established-in-1942", "military-airbases-closed-in-1946", "parachuting-in-the-united-kingdom", "royal-air-force-stations-in-hampshire", "royal-air-force-stations-of-world-war-ii-in-the-united-kingdom"] description: "Former Royal Air Force station" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Thruxton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Former Royal Air Force station ::

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

FieldValue
nameRAF Thruxton
USAAF Station AAF-407
ensign[[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg
partof
locationThruxton, Hampshire
countryEngland
image[[File:Thruxton-may45.jpg
captionThruxton Airfield - May 1945. Already large numbers of combat aircraft being stored at the airfield, parked wingtip to wingtip on the grass areas, prior to their being returned to the United States.
image2
typeRoyal Air Force station
coordinates
pushpin_mapHampshire#UK
pushpin_map_captionShown within Hampshire
pushpin_labelRAF Thruxton
ownershipAir Ministry
operatorRoyal Air Force
United States Army Air Forces
controlledbyRAF Fighter Command
Ninth Air Force
open_to_public
site_other_label
site_other
site_area
code
built
used1942 -
battlesEuropean theatre of World War II
past_commanders
garrison
occupants
footnotes
elevation90 m
r1-number02/20
r1-length900 m
r1-surfaceConcrete
r2-number08/26
r2-length1360 m
r2-surfaceConcrete
r3-number13/31
r3-length1040 m
r3-surfaceConcrete
h1-length
airfield_other_label
airfield_other
::

| name = RAF Thruxton USAAF Station AAF-407 | ensign = [[File:Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg|90px]] [[File:Patch9thusaaf.png|60px]] | ensign_size = | native_name = | partof = | location = Thruxton, Hampshire | country = England | image = [[File:Thruxton-may45.jpg|250px]] | caption = Thruxton Airfield - May 1945. Already large numbers of combat aircraft being stored at the airfield, parked wingtip to wingtip on the grass areas, prior to their being returned to the United States. | image2 = | alt2 = | caption2 = | type = Royal Air Force station | coordinates = | gridref = | pushpin_map = Hampshire#UK | pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Hampshire | pushpin_label = RAF Thruxton | pushpin_label_position = | ownership = Air Ministry | operator = Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces | controlledby = RAF Fighter Command Ninth Air Force | open_to_public = | site_other_label = | site_other = | site_area = | code = | built = | used = 1942 - | builder = | fate = | condition = | battles = European theatre of World War II | events = | past_commanders = | garrison = | occupants = | designations = | website = | footnotes = | IATA = | ICAO = | LID = | GPS = | WMO = | elevation = 90 m | r1-number = 02/20 | r1-length = 900 m | r1-surface = Concrete | r2-number = 08/26 | r2-length = 1360 m | r2-surface = Concrete | r3-number = 13/31 | r3-length = 1040 m | r3-surface = Concrete | h1-number = | h1-length = | h1-surface = | airfield_other_label = | airfield_other = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/P-47-366fg-thruxon.jpg" caption=""Jenny Rebel", Republic P-47D-15-RE Thunderbolt 42-76347 of 389th Fighter Squadron shown taking off on runway 25 from Thruxton airfield"] ::

Royal Air Force Thruxton or more simply RAF Thruxton is a former Royal Air Force station located 5 mi west of Andover, Hampshire.

Opened in 1942, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces.

During the war Thruxton was used primarily as a combat fighter airfield.

However, paratroops who participated in the Bruneval raid (Operation Biting) in which German radar technology was captured took off from here in Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bombers on the evening of 27 February 1942. Also, gliders used in the D-day landings operated from here.

After the war it was closed in 1946.

Today the site is occupied by the Thruxton Circuit. It remains an active aerodrome at the same time, now named Thruxton Aerodrome.

History

While under United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) control, it was known as USAAF Station AAF-407 for security reasons, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its station-ID was "TX".

Thruxton was transferred to the USAAF Ninth Air Force on 3 January 1944. On 1 March the 366th Fighter Group with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts were transferred to the airfield from RAF Membury. Operational squadrons of the group were:

The 366th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 71st Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command. The group moved to its Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at St. Pierre du Mont, France (ALG A-1) on 17 June 1944 .

Units

The following squadrons were here at some point:

Current use

Upon its release from military use, in 1947 the field was leased by the Wiltshire School of Flying, whose engineering arm designed and built numbers of the Thruxton Jackaroo - a four-seat conversion of the de Havilland Tiger Moth. Over the next few years their training fleet was joined at Thruxton by substantial numbers of light aircraft.

Flight training at the airfield is now provided by Western Air (Thruxton) Ltd at what is now known as Thruxton Airport. The southwest end of the former 02/20 secondary runway is now used as an aircraft parking ramp with the airport facilities also being built on the former runway. The northeast end of the runway still exists, but is largely abandoned, with parts of it also used for aircraft parking. The airport uses part of the former main 07/25 wartime runway for takeoffs/ landings. A grass runway was built parallel to the 12/30 secondary runway, the wartime concreted runway being in a deteriorating state and unused.

Thruxton airfield is also the operational airfield for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance service.

Motorcycle racing started in 1950 with the famous Thruxton 500 motorcycle endurance race, followed by cars in 1952. The runway and perimeter roads formed the original circuit until a new track was laid in 1968 utilizing the former airfield perimeter track At 2.356 miles (3.792 km), the new circuit uses only the perimeter road with the addition of a chicane called Club and a series of three tight corners called Campbell, Cobb and Seagrave. All of the loop and pan dispersal areas have been removed.

There is no flying on race days but the airfield is used for flying during practice and test days on the motor circuit.

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle
  • Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle
  • Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
  • Thruxton Airfield at www.controltowers.co.uk
  • USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers—1908 to Present

References

  1. "Thruxton". [[Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust]].

::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. ::

airfields-of-the-ix-fighter-command-in-the-united-kingdommilitary-airbases-established-in-1942military-airbases-closed-in-1946parachuting-in-the-united-kingdomroyal-air-force-stations-in-hampshireroyal-air-force-stations-of-world-war-ii-in-the-united-kingdom