Royal Air Force Station Greenham Common

RAF Greenham Common lies in Berkshire, 55 miles west of London. The flat airfield sits between the villages of Greenham and Thatcham, once home to a lodge estate that the Air Ministry took over in 1941. During the Second World War the United States Army Air Forces ran the base, first as a troop carrier hub for the 51st Troop Carrier Wing and later as a fighter airfield for the 354th and 368th Fighter Groups. The 438th Troop Carrier Group arrived in January 1944 with Douglas C-47 Skytrains, moving to France the following year. Bomb stores stood east of Bowdown House, a mansion at the north-eastern edge of the field. After the war the airfield became a Strategic Air Command base, hosting Boeing B-47 Stratojets of the 310th Bombardment Wing. In 1958 a B-47 accident released fuel tanks that started a fire, prompting later studies of possible contamination. The base later served as a mail facility and hosted the International Air Tattoo airshow from 1973. In 1980 it became the main British site for cruise missiles under the 501st Tactical Missile Wing, drawing the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp that lasted until 1999. Today the common is open parkland and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The restored Cold War control tower now holds a visitor centre with displays and a community café. Local cattle graze the grassland, sometimes wandering onto nearby roads. Broad paths cross the flat expanse, offering views of the Berkshire Downs and the old runways still visible beneath the turf.