Work commenced on the construction of this airfield (one of 10 similar airfields in Essex), which lies in the Essex parishes of Little Waltham and Boreham in May 1943 and it was handed over to the American's of the 394th BG in March 1944 who flew 99 combat missions from there until July 1944. On 24th March 1945, 81 Dakotas of the 315th Troop Carrier Group of the 9th USAAF used the airfield to ferry 1300 paratroopers of the 6th British Airborne Division to the drop zone on the Rhine crossing (Operation Varsity) at Wesel and later that year the airfield was closed. Subsequently after the 2nd World War it had a brief history in the early 1950s as a motor car and motor cycle racing circuit. The Ford Motor Company subsequently used the airfield for testing cars and commercial vehicles in a variety of surfaces. The area of the airfield has been subjected to extensive gravel extraction and the remains of the former airfield is now used by the Essex Police Helicopter Unit and the Essex Air Ambulance. |  |
