RAF Burtonwood - <>

Royal Air Force Burtonwood or more simply RAF Burtonwood is a former Royal Air Force station northwest of Warrington, Cheshire (formerly in Lancashire), England. It was also known as USAAF station 590.OverviewBurtonwood airfield was opened on 1 January 1940 as a servicing and storage centre for modifying British aircraft. It was operated by No. 37 Maintenance Unit RAF until June 1942.United States Army Air Forces useThe facility was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces in June 1942 to become a servicing centre for the United States Eighth, Ninth, Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces aircraft. Burtonwood was also known as Base Air Depot 1 (BAD 1), although an RAF presence continued until October 1943.Burtonwood was the largest airfield in Europe during the war with the most USAAF personnel and aircraft maintenance facilities. The roar of the engines in the test beds could be heard for miles around, especially at night. By the end of the war 18,000 servicemen were stationed at Burtonwood. According to some sources Burtonwood was placed strategically so that it was out of range of Luftwaffe bombers, but this is not true, as several Nazi air-raids were made on the facility. In any case the Luftwaffe bombed Belfast in 1941, which was much further away from Occupied Europe than Burtonwood. During their leave periods, American servicemen from Burtonwood virtually took over the centre of nearby Warrington.

Tags: Armed Forces