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RAF Andrews Field (also known as RAF Great Saling) in Essex was a purpose-built American-style bomber airfield whose wartime story is tightly tied to the rise of tactical air power in support of the invasion of Europe. Construction began in July 1942 and the station has a special ‘first’: it is described as the first of fourteen Type A airfields built by the USAAF in the United Kingdom. Originally called Great Saling, it was renamed Andrews Field in honour of USAAF General Frank M. Andrews, who was killed in an aircraft crash in Iceland in May 1943. The airfield’s layout reflected American operational needs: multiple runways, perimeter track, and extensive hardstanding dispersals designed to keep aircraft spread out and serviceable under wartime pressure.
Andrews Field’s best-known wartime residents were the Martin B-26 Marauders of the 322d Bombardment Group, a Ninth Air Force medium bomber group that made the station its main UK base. The 322d’s role demonstrates how medium bombers were used: not to flatten cities in area attacks, but to strike transport nodes, bridges, marshalling yards, power stations, and defended sites with speed and repeatability. The group is notable for pioneering B-26 combat from Britain: it was the first B-26 group to enter combat from the UK in May 1943, and its early performance helped prove the Marauder’s value in tactical bombing. Within the group, squadrons included the 449th, 450th, 451st and 452d Bombardment Squadrons, and the station also hosted a pathfinder element attached to the group.
By spring 1944 the airfield’s work was directly connected to the pre-invasion campaign. Beginning in March 1944, the 322d bombed bridges and other targets to isolate the battlefield ahead of the Normandy landings. On D-Day itself, 6 June 1944, the group attacked coastal defences and gun batteries. In the weeks that followed, it struck fuel and ammunition dumps, bridges, and road junctions while supporting the fighting around Caen and the breakout from Saint-L√¥. Andrews Field therefore sits firmly inside the story of air power as a tool to shape ground operations – cutting supply lines, delaying reinforcements, and creating the conditions for armoured and infantry advances.
Andrews Field also connects to specialist night operations. The 1st Pathfinder Squadron (Provisional) flew an early B-26 night mission on 1 June 1944, and later night missions employed aids such as Oboe; these were high-risk sorties, and losses could be heavy. After the Ninth Air Force moved many units closer to the continent, Andrews Field did not simply fade away. It was returned to RAF Fighter Command control in October 1944 and used by Mustang squadrons of 11 Group, reflecting another common wartime pattern: airfields were repeatedly re-tasked as the front moved and as the balance between bombing, escort, and air defence evolved.
- Main USAAF wartime unit: 322d Bombardment Group (B-26 Marauder)
- Key operational link: D-Day and Normandy tactical bombing support
- Later wartime shift: returned to RAF Fighter Command for Mustang operations