Ramsbury Airfield, home of the 437th Troop Carrier Group

[jonesy1275]

This airfield is only 18 miles away from me and I take the jeep to Ramsbury quite often but it's only been quite recently that I've started researching the airfield due to my interests in IX Troop Carrier Command.

 

Not much remains of the airfield and the dispersed domestic sites but if you look hard enough, there are clues of its past.

 

I'll start off with a photo I posted in uniforms last month. It's a photo of me holding the uniform 1st Lt Jacob W Buch Jr who was a C-47 pilot in the 83rd TCS at Ramsbury throughout the war. I'm standing on the remains of one of the taxiways at Ramsbury Airfield. It's been nearly 70 years since this uniform was last here and I felt honoured to bring it home.

 

Lt. Buch 437th TCG at Ramsbury Airfield by jonesy1275, on Flickr

 

On my next visit to the airfield, I concentrated on the dispersed domestic sites situated in woodland about half a mile from the airfield. During the war, the dispersed areas would have been full of Nissen huts and assorted buildings. None of these are there now but I did find these:-

 

The operations block still stands and is the grounds of a house so I could only take a photo from a distance.

 

Ramsbury Airfield Ops block by jonesy1275, on Flickr

 

Into the woods, I found four Air Raid shelters.

 

Ramsbury Airfield Air Raid Shelter 1 by jonesy1275, on Flickr

 

Ramsbury Airfield Air Raid Shelter by jonesy1275, on Flickr

 

Ramsbury Airfield Air Raid Shelter by jonesy1275, on Flickr

 

Ramsbury Airfield Air Raid Shelter by jonesy1275, on Flickr

 

Ramsbury Airfield Air Raid Shelter by jonesy1275, on Flickr

 

Ramsbury Airfield Air Raid Shelter by jonesy1275, on Flickr

 

My eagle eyed wife was great at spotting the shelters.

 

Ramsbury Airfield Air Raid Shelter by jonesy1275, on Flickr

 

The original concrete roads connecting the dispersed sites remains.

 

Ramsbury Airfield Concrete road by jonesy1275, on Flickr

 

Looking forward to heading back that way soon.

 

Neil.

 

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Neat pics, thanks for posting. I am surprised that the shelters are in such good shape after all these years-- no graffiti or piles of trash and broken liquor bottles. Perhaps the glowing-eyed demon dog pictured in the series guarded them well. Just kidding, of course.

[zippy144]

Neat pics, thanks for posting. I am surprised that the shelters are in such good shape after all these years-- no graffiti or piles of trash and broken liquor bottles. Perhaps the glowing-eyed demon dog pictured in the series guarded them well. Just kidding, of course.

 

Hi

 

 

What you do have to remember is that Ramsbury is in the middle of nowhere...

 

I spend a day last year visiting all the old airfields and related villages near by. It is a beutiful part of the word and compared to alot of the UK still very untouched.

 

I love Ramsbury as you can still see the end of the runway, that now has a farm built on top of it... It is a win win situation for me WW2 history and tractors....

 

Great pictures, Thanks for posting.

 

Regards

 

Tom