Second World War airfield, Little Walden (EHER 16573)

A former World War Two military airfield, opened in 1944 after construction began the previous year.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Construction of Little Walden commenced in 1943 and the station opened in March 1944 under the US 9th Air Force. n December 1944 the base was used by the 8th USAAF 361st Fighter Group. The station closed in January 1946. <1> <2> Little Walden (Hadstock) Airfield opened in 1944 after construction began the previous year, on land previously belonging to Little Walden Park. It was built to "Class A" standard: that is to say it was provided with long concrete runways suitable for bombers and appropriate hangar space, two aircraft hangars Type T2. An annotated reproduction montage of RAF photographs taken in 1946 included in the source show that the technical site was located on the east side of the airfield with bomb stores and ammunition dumps to the west side. During the war it was used by the United States Army 8th Air Force, mainly the 409th Bomb Group, and was known as Station 165. The site closed in 1958 after being used to store War Department vehicles after the war (these are visible on the 1946 photograph). <3> The airfield is typical of American constructed wartime examples being equipped with 3 runways linked by a perimeter track around which were 50 loop dispersals. The bomb stores extended to TL546 434 on the west side of the airfield and the dispersed sites extended to the sewage works at TL576 425 on the east side. Two T-2 hangars were built; one at TL5557 4393 accompanied by approximately 3 Nissen huts, this site remains in use as a grain store; the second T-2 is built on the main technical site at TL5596 4315 and remains in use by a haulage firm. The main site survives to a great extent with Romney huts, Blister hangar (TL5608 4340), Parachute store (TL5606 4324) and brick huts, standing around the hangar. 10 buildings are extent in total although the original number would have been approximately 40. 1960 aerial photographs show 8 air shelters spread amongst the buildings. The control tower (type 12779/41, 343/43) stand in front of the main site at TL5583 4336 and is in use by an architectural practice. The Operations Block survives in industrial use at TL5632 4316 and although altered externally , the interior contains the station 'sortie board' along one wall for displaying aircraft crew and sortie details. On the airfield site itself, the perimeter track and short sections of the runways survive at reduced width forming field boundaries and the B1052 public highway. The dispersals and bomb stores have been removed. SITE ASSESSMENT: Well preserved airfield site comprising hangars, control tower, main site Ops Block: buildings of individual merit and collective group value. Importance - **** <4> 1960. Aerial photography. <5> The former Little Walden Airfield, Hadstock, Essex, TL 558 430. A section of runway, perimeter track and prefabricated military buildings of the type known as Romney huts and one modified type T2 aircraft hangar were noted as surviving in 2003. There is also a particularly well preserved example of a typical World War Two control tower. <6> See also: <7>