Description: RAF Birch is a former World War II airfield in England. It is located about 2 miles north-east of Tiptree in Essex.
Birch Airfield was assigned USAAF designation as Station 149.
Birch Airfield was allocated in August 1942 to the United States Army Air Force Eighth Air Force for development into a heavy bomber base but construction work did not get under way until well into 1943. In October 1943 the base was transferred to the Ninth Air Force.
Birch was constructed by the 846th Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army, and it was the last of the UK airfields to be completed by a unit of the U.S. Army. The airfield was built to heavy bomber standard specifications with three concrete runways, the main (08-26) being 6,000 ft, and two secondaries (02-20, 13-31) of 4,200 feet each. There were fifty hard standings of the loop type around the perimeter and two T2 hangars. Dispersed communal and domestic sites were built to provide accommodation for 2,894 personnel. |
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