RAF Polebrook: Тарихы мен әскери маңызы

Royal Air Force Polebrook or more simply RAF Polebrook is a former Royal Air Force station located 3.5 mile (6 km) east south east of Oundle, at Polebrook, Northamptonshire, England. The airfield was built on Rothschild estate land starting in August 1940. It was from Polebrook that the United States Army Air Forces' Eighth Air Force carried out its first heavy bomb group (Boeing B 17 Flying Fortress) combat mission on 17 August 1942, and from which Major Clark Gable flew combat missions in 1943.

RAF Polebrook was the first airfield to be completed out of a number in the Northamptonshire/Huntingdonshire area which were laid down for RAF Bomber Command during late 1940 and early 1941. Like other airfields in the construction program at the time, Polebrook was built by George Wimpey & Co., Limited. The initial construction was of three runways, the concrete runway lengths were 08 26 at 1,280 yards, 14 32 at 1,200 yards and 02 20, 1,116 yards. In addition, thirty square hardstands most on the eastern side, were reached by very long access tracks. The weapons store was unusual in that it lay within the perimeter track at the southern end. One Type J and two Type T 2 hangars were erected on the technical site outside the northern perimeter with the domestic sites dispersed in woodland beyond.

One of the first units to operate from the airfield was No. 90 Squadron RAF, which carried out operational trials from June 1941 to February 1942. Several of the hardstands and taxiways were still under construction when the squadron arrived. No. 90 Squadron was equipped with the American B 17C, called "Fortress I" by the RAF. Although the US Army Air Forces did not consider the B 17C as being combat ready (the E version was already under procurement as the result of combat reports from Europe), the RAF was sufficiently desperate in 1941 that these planes were immediately pressed into front line service. The Fortresses were used for very high altitude attacks in daylight, the first operation from Polebrook being flown on 8 July 1941 when three Fortresses were dispatched on a raid to Wilhelmshaven. Engine trouble forced one of the planes to divert to a second target, but the other two went on to attack the naval barracks at Wilhelmshaven from an altitude of 30,000 feet. Unfortunately, the planes were not able to hit anything from such extreme altitudes. In addition, their crews found that the temperatures at this altitude were so cold that their defensive machine guns froze up when they tried to fire them. However, all planes returned safely to base. Their last raid launched from Polebrook was on 2 September 1941. RAF Fortresses had flown 22 attacks against targets such as Bremen, Brest, Emden, Kiel, Oslo, and Rotterdam. A total of 39 planes had been dispatched, out of which eighteen planes had aborted and two had been forced to bomb secondary targets because of mechanical problems. Eight Fortresses had been destroyed in combat or lost in accidents. Discouraged by these losses, the RAF decided to abandon daylight bombing raids over Europe. Although two Fortresses were missing from operations, the only loss resulting from a raid flown from Polebrook involved a badly battle damaged aircraft that crash landed at a south coast airfield. As a result of RAF experience with the Fortress, it was determined that there was a need for vast improvements in defensive gunnery, a need for operating the Fortresses in greater numbers in tighter formations for better defensive firepower, and a need for better and more intensive crew training. Nevertheless, their British crews generally were quite pleased with the Fortress I, regarding it as easy to fly, very maneuverable, and aerodynamically stable in the bomb run. While at Polebrook, No. 90 was then the sole operational squadron assigned to No. 8 Group RAF and, before it was disbanded on 12 February 1942, its remaining aircraft and crews were only involved in experimentation and training. The short runways at Polebrook were found to be unsatisfactory for the operation of the heavy loaded, four engine B 17. In 1942 the airfield was improved to Class A airfield standards. The main runway was extended to 1,950 yards and the secondary runways to 1,400 yards each. In addition, additional hardstands were constructed, increasing the total number from 30 to 50. This enlargement resulted in the unusual situation that the ammunition storage area was inside the extended perimeter track. The living and communal sites were dispersed in woodlands north of the airfield. They provided accommodations to about 2,000 personnel.

From 12 December 1943 to 12 June 1945, Polebrook served as headquarters for the 94th Combat Bombardment Wing of the 1st Bombardment Division. It was designated USAAF Station 110.