Atcham
ATCHAM: Military aerodrome
Military users: RAF Fighter Command
131 Sqdn (Vickers-Supermarine Spitfires)
8th USAAF 67th Fighter Wing
495th Fighter Training Group
551 & 552 Sqdns (Republic P.47 Thunderbolts)
Location: 4nm E of Shrewsbury according to official records apparently but there is a small story attached. As far as I can make out this aerodrome was actually just NNE of Norton and the B4394 was totally disrupted in WW2 as they built the aerodrome across this road! It was just NW of Uckington too. Atcham was about 1.5nm to the WSW so why was it named after this village? The answer is that during WW2 RAF aerodromes were named after the nearest Post Office that could accept telegrams.
A WW2 map I have seen shows the A5 trunk road passing just south of the aerodrome whereas today it is routed to the north of this location. The re-routing and re-numbering of many roads has often made my job of trying to locate various aerodromes quite a difficult task at times as I’m sure you can appreciate.
Period of operation: 1941 to 1946
Runways: 05/23 1353x46 hard 18/36 1243x46 hard
11/29 1097x46 hard
NOTES: In WW2 the runway surfaces were listed as tarmac with rubber chippings. In late 1944 the USAAF had 1652 personnel on station. The truly horrible degree of death and destruction of both aircraft and airmen in this region poses many questions about how the RAF went about fighting WW2 and the suitability of their training regimes.
Also, it can be asked, why was 131 Squadron based here with their Spitfires? What exactly were they defending? And also, what was the percieved threat?
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