Royal Air Force Hurn or more simply RAF Hurn is a former Royal Air Force station located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) north west of Christchurch, Dorset, England

RAF Hurn USAAF Station AAF-492
Bournemouth, Dorset in England
Hurn airfield photographed in May 1947 still showing its Second World War configuration
RAF Hurn Shown within Dorset
Coordinates	50°46′54″N 001°50′23″W
Type	Royal Air Force station
Code	KU
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces 1944
Controlled by	RAF Fighter Command 1941-44
Site history
Built	1940 (1940)/41
In use	July 1941 - 1946 (1946)
Battles/wars	European theatre of World War II
Airfield information
Elevation	10 metres (33 ft)[1] AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Concrete 00/00  Concrete 00/00  Concrete

Opened in 1941, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used primarily as a transport and fighter airfield.

Hurn was the final airfield in England for aircraft flying to Morocco for the North African and Italian campaigns, avoiding France, Spain and Portugal airspace.

Since 1969, it has also been called Bournemouth Airport. The RAF have returned to Hurn in the form of a temporary Outsourcing Contract for Multi-Engine Pilot Training to cope with limited capacity through normal Training Provisions using L3 Harris Airline Academy (2018 -).

RAF use

The following squadrons were here at some point[2]

Units:[2]

USAAF use

Hurn was known as USAAF Station AAF-492 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its USAAF Station Code was "KU".

422nd Night Fighter Squadron

On 28 June 1944, Northrop P-61 Black Widow night fighters of the 422nd Night Fighter Squadron arrived from RAF Scorton, where their crews had been tutored in this particular aspect of air combat by the RAF. The detachment commenced operational flying on 3 July only to return to Scorton a week later.

397th Bombardment Group

On 5 August the 397th Bombardment Group arrived from RAF Rivenhall, equipped with Martin B-26 Marauders. The group consisted of the following operational squadrons:

• 596th Bombardment Squadron (X2)
• 597th Bombardment Squadron (9F)
• 598th Bombardment Squadron (U2)
• 599th Bombardment Squadron (6B)

The group's identification marking was a yellow diagonal band across both sides of the vertical tailplane. It moved the Advanced Landing Ground at Gorges, France, (A-26) on 19 August

The airfield was closed by the RAF in October 1944 and turned over for civil use.

See also

• List of former Royal Air Force stations

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website https://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Freeman, Roger A. (1994) UK Airfields of the Ninth: Then and Now 1994. After the Battle ISBN 0-900913-80-0
• Freeman, Roger A. (1996) The Ninth Air Force in Colour: UK and the Continent-World War Two. After the Battle ISBN 1-85409-272-3
• Falconer, J (1998). RAF Fighter Airfields of World War 2. UK: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2175-9.
• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
• ControlTowers.co.uk http://www.controltowers.co.uk/H-K/Hurn.htm
• USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to RAF Hurn.

• Photographs of Bournemouth International Airport from the Geograph British Isles project