Design © Stephen Robson and
Content © RAF Ibsley Airfield Heritage Trust 2024
RAF Ibsley was built on farmland belonging to the Somerley Estate, two miles north of Ringwood in Hampshire. It was the first airfield to be built in the Avon Valley.
It was designed as a Fighter Command Station and construction work started in late
1940; the main contractors were Mowlem. The airfield was near enough operational
within six months and was officially opened on Saturday 15th February 1941, although
building work carried on for most of the rest of the year. RAF Ibsley provided a
much-
A great deal of the hardcore foundation for the three runways was rubble from bombed-
Until the control tower was ready a large house at the northern end of the airfield was used to oversee flight operations. To provide accommodation for the more than 2000 personnel that were needed to keep it operational, seven 'quarters' sites and two 'communal' sites were built to the north and east of the airfield. Officers lived in very much more comfortable conditions in nearby requisitioned houses.
The arrival of 32Sqn RAF with its Hurricane Mk1s, two days after RAF Ibsley opened, put the airfield at operational status. The increasing activity drew the early attention of the Luftwaffe, which bombed the airfield within a month. A suggested explanation for this raid is that the spy ring William Joyce had set up in the area had reported the opening. Joyce, better known as 'Lord Haw Haw', had lived a couple of miles from Ibsley in the 1930s. He announced the imminent bombing of Ibsley in one of his radio broadcasts from Germany.
Other squadrons to arrive in early 1941 included 118 Sqn and 501 Sqn RAF, with their Spitfire Mk IIs. A number of the leading aces from these squadrons provided the flying sequences for the film 'The First of the Few', using the Mk IIa Spitfires of 501 Sqn. The film is the story of the development of the Spitfire and is told through Squadron Leader Geoffrey Crisp, a fictional Battle of Britain RAF station commander (played by David Niven). He recounts how his friend, RJ Mitchell (played by Leslie Howard, who also directed the film), set out to build the fastest and deadliest fighter aircraft in the world after a visit to Germany in the late 1930s, and a chance meeting with leading aircraft designer, Willy Messerschmitt.
In all, 19 RAF fighter and fighter-
After America joined the war, RAF Ibsley was allocated to the USAAF 8th Air Force
in June 1942. It became the headquarters of the 1st Fighter Group in late summer,
with the arrival of the 71st and 94th Fighter Squadrons, flying P-
In July 1943, the north/south runway was extended by 1,800ft to just under a mile long, and the airfield became available as a base for tactical fighters when needed. By November, RAF Ibsley had been transferred to the USAAF 9th Air Force.
In early 1944, the last RAF units moved out and squadrons from the 48th, 367th and
371st Fighter Groups of the USAAF 9th Air Force took over RAF Ibsley for short periods
in the months running up to, and after, the D-
By November 1944, the airfield had been transferred back to Fighter Command, but having little need for it, RAF Ibsley was loaned to Training Command, and Oxfords from No. 7 Flying Instructors School based at Upavon took up residence until early 1945.