Royal Air Force Bognor or more simply RAF Bognor (also known as Bognor Advanced Landing Ground (A.L.G.)) is a former Royal Air Force Advanced landing ground north of Bognor, West Sussex, England.
History Survey work on the site was undertaken in "mid-1942", with construction beginning in early 1943, completed by the Royal Canadian Engineers. Bognor was one of 82 planned Operation Hadrian sites planned with only 26 being built. The original budget for the site was £20,500. The airfield became operational on 1 June 1943 with two intersecting Sommerfield track runways. The site was under the control of RAF Tangmere located four miles further north.
The site was originally a training site for aircrews to practise operating with few facilities, however, in Autumn 1943, extra over blister hangars were installed. These provided shelter for most aircraft that were stationed at Bognor, little accommodation was provided for the aircrews who lived in tented camps. The site was used as a forward staging base for a number of fighter and ground attack units for the D-Day assault, however, these soon moved to back to Tangmere and were replaced by 83 Group and 1310 Flight. 1310 flew Ansons from Bognor in an air ambulance and medical supply capacity to the advancing forces on the French coastline.
83 Group left the site in late September 1944 and need for the airfield ceased to exist. Runway removal works were carried out during the Autumn of 1944 and by early 1945, the site had been returned to its original owners. Parts of the site have now been built over by the expanding Bognor Regis or returned to farmland with few noticeable remnants of the airfield remaining.
Units Squadron Dates Aircraft No. 19 Squadron RAF 6 Jun 1943 – 2 Jul 1943 Supermarine Spitfire No. 66 Squadron RAF 31 Mar 1944 – 22 Jun 1944 Supermarine Spitfire No. 122 (Bombay) Squadron RAF 1 Jun 1943 – 1 Jul 1943 Supermarine Spitfire No. 331 (Norwegian) Squadron RAF 31 Mar 1944 – 22 Jun 1944 Supermarine Spitfire No. 332 (Norwegian) Squadron RAF 31 Mar 1944 – 22 Jun 1944 Supermarine Spitfire No. 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron AAF 1 Jun 1943 – 1 Jul 1943 Supermarine Spitfire No. 1310 Flight RAF 25 Jun 1944 – 21 Jul 1944 Avro Anson No. 83 (Composite) Group Support Unit 25 Jun 1944 – 25 Sep 1944 Supermarine Spitfire,Mustang IV,Typhoon Additional units: No. 122 Airfield Headquarters RAF between 1 June and 1 July 1943 No. 132 (Norwegian) (Fighter) Wing RAF between 12 May and 21 June 1944 No. 2765 Squadron RAF Regiment No. 2893 Squadron RAF Regiment No. 2894 Squadron RAF Regiment No. 3205 Servicing Commando No. 3207 Servicing Commando
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