Down Ampney
DOWN AMPNEY: Military aerodrome
Note: This picture was obtained from Google Earth ©
Military users: RAF Transport Command 46 Group
48 & 271 Sqdns (Douglas C-47 Dakotas)
Location: SE of Down Ampney & W of Marston Meysey villages, 7nm NNW of Swindon
Period of operation: 1944 to 1946
Runways: 03/21 1829x46 hard 09/27 1280x46 hard
15/33 1280x46 hard
NOTES: Yet another WW2 airfield barely known today? But during the D-Day invasion at least the crews based here played a vital role. Not many salute the tasks these crews undertook but it really should be remembered that the Dakota crews, be it on the D-Day or Arnhem missions, were flying into very hostile areas in unarmed aircraft, full of paratroopers and invariably towing heavy gliders full of troops and/or equipment. To not put too fine a point on it, ‘sitting ducks’ for any enemy retaliation measures.
Come to that I’m not at all sure that the obsolete bombers also used, such as Whitleys, Stirlings and Halifaxes, also carried a full crew to man the guns? I suppose it wouldn’t have mattered much if they did as the most lethal fire they encountered came from the German ground based forces?
SOMETHING HARD TO IMAGINE?
The sheer scale of these airborne assaults is something which tends to get somewhat hidden away today despite the fact they constitute an unique chapter in aviation history. Even the Nazi 'Blitzkreig' campaigns had, I believe, nothing mounted on this scale?
For operation ‘Market’ to The Netherlands for example, it appears the first lift comprised 358 gliders. And, some didn’t even make the Dutch coast. As Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork points out in his book Shot Down and in the drink, “Four were forced down in the North Sea; two of the Horsas ditched some 40 miles east of Harwich. The two had taken off from RAF Down Ampney behind Dakotas of 48 Squadron."
"Staff Sergeant Bruce Hobbs DFM in Glider 266 was carrying six men of the machine gun platoon of the 7th Battalion the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. Halfway across the North Sea the tug suddenly cast off the glider and turned away with its starboard engine on fire. Hobbs and his co-pilot, Sergeant Tommy Moore MM, warned the soldiers to prepare for ditching and turned the glider into wind. The sea was calm and the glider remained afloat after hitting the sea, allowing the eight men to scramble out and clamber on to the wing.”
They were picked up by an ASR launch almost immediately. Incredibly another Dakota suffered an engine failure very shortly afterwards and the men of that glider were quickly picked up. Which reminds me, when this aircraft type, (the C-47/DC-3) later became a mainstay of short and medium haul operations for the airlines - engine failures were, it seems, very rare.
WORTH A READ
It really is well worth reading about the history of the build-up to and the operations conducted, on and after D-Day. For military people certainly one of the finest campaigns throughout history? But, oh dear, when you look at the detail and personal accounts of those who took part - what a sorry story as often as not. Hundreds and hundreds of lives lost through utter incompetence at every level of command. But, I suppose, to be fair - nothing like this had ever been envisaged before. And hindsight is of course a most wonderful commodity - I wish I could find a way to bottle it and become a multi-millionaire.
As an aside it is well worth reading Aviation in Doncaster by Geoffrey Oakes for the previous history of 271 Squadron. These most essential roles played by Transport Command pilots and crews in WW2 tends to be forgotten today, together with the dangers they faced.
Dale Green
This comment was written on: 2019-07-06 21:28:22Hi my Dad was based at Down Ampney and was a DC3 navigator. He was for a very large number of his flights Jimmy Edwards navigator. My Dad is featured and pictured in Jimmy's book.
N Barnes
This comment was written on: 2020-06-06 20:39:41My mum was an RAF nurse and flew from RAF Down Ampney evacuating casualties after D day in Dekotas. Does much remain of the airfield infrastructure?
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