RAF Welford 80th Anniversary

RAF Welford opened in 1943 and, during WWII, was used primarily as a transport airfield by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces.

Following the war, the base was placed in reserve status until 1955 when it was re‑opened as a munitions depot by the United States Air Force (USAF).

Today it is one of the largest munitions storage areas for the USAF in Western Europe.

The USAF 420 Munitions Squadron (420 MUNS) hosted an 80th Anniversary Commemoration on Friday 23rd June including a welcome from USAF leadership, a presentation on the history of RAF Welford and a variety of displays including the RAF Welford Museum and WWII military vehicles (pictured).

RAF Welford

From the beginning it was a shocking day in August 1940 when Mr and Mrs Meredith–Hardy were visited by a Government Representative and an RAF Officer to be told that their farm and land was to be requisitioned for the ‘War Effort’ (this is an important designation as you will see further on). They were given 21 days to get out! All the farm workers had to be laid off, all the livestock and farm equipment was to be sold in ‘pretty short order’. As you can imagine they didn’t get a fair price for any of it and the compensation from the Government came many years later on a ‘take it or leave it basis’.

The airfield itself took 3 years to build and came into service in 1943. It was used from that year and a huge number of allied gliders were towed for the D Day landings, the WACO (USAF) gliders were taken by Douglas C-47 Skytrains (‘Dakotas’) and the Horsa’s (UK) by mainly Halifax and Albermarles converted from ‘bomber duties.

Pictured: Horsa glider at Welford, May 1944 and Welford Farm House.

The Meredith-Hardy’s (MH) bought the property as a more or less derelict farm in 1918. They set about modernising it and Mrs MH created a beautiful garden over 10 years. In those far off days Welford was amazingly remote hardly anyone had a car and the bus went into Newbury once per week on Market Day. Otherwise you had to rely on the ‘local carrier’ who trawled around the farms once a week. Orders were placed the week before and you would get them, depending on availability the next week.

The farm was designated as being in Poughley and the nearest habitation was Chaddleworth. Mr MH was a barrister in the ‘Temple’ and drove down from London at the weekends to be ‘on the farm’.

Some parts of the house were sold off before the MH’s bought it and some of the medieval stained glass was bought by Mr Palmer of ‘Huntley and Palmers’ biscuit fame in Reading. Going way back when the house/farm was a monastery (during the reformation) a lot of the stone was carted off to build Christchurch College in Oxford and some was used to repair St Andrews Church in Chaddleworth.

An interesting feature of the house is the very real ghost (according to the MH’s son Michael who wrote to us about it). There is a monk who wanders about the house and has been seen and heard by the MH’s. During the 1920’s, he tells us, when carrying out repairs the skeleton of a chicken was found in the wall of a room at the top of the stairs, it had laid an egg before it died (which they still have!) In the 16th/17th centuries there was a belief that if you had a ‘troublesome ghost’ you ‘walled up a laying pullet’ when it laid an egg before it died then the ghost would be laid too. This is too cruel to imagine and thank goodness it doesn’t happen any more.

A very pertinent point about RAF Welford is that it was ‘requisitioned’ and if the station ever becomes de-commisioned the land will revert to the original owners and all the buildings and runways will need to be removed. Bassdown Copse would then become part of Chaddleworth common land as it was before 1940. James Puxley’s (Welford Park/snowdrops) father wrote to me in the early eighties and he was at the time still very bitter about how a lot of his land had been requisitioned and looked forward to getting it back some day!

Grahame Murphy (member of the Ridgeway Military and Aviation Research Group (RMARG) and Friends Families and Veterans of Welford (FFVW) )

June 2021:

My brother John has a barrister colleague who lives in your area and spotted the Meredith-Hardy name in your Welford airfield article. Extraordinary how these things get about.

My father Michael Meredith-Hardy died in 2014 but my mother Penelope is still going strong. I attach a photo of an embroidery map of the Poughley estate as it was owned by my grandparents. If the base were ever to close I'm not sure it would be as simple to recover as your article suggests, but it's a nice idea. And we still have the egg. Regards, Richard Meredith-Hardy