Society of Friends of the Fleet Air Arm Museum Saturday Talk
D-Day Launch Pad - RAF Needs Oar Point Advance Landing Ground by Marc Heighway
Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944 saw RAF Second Tactical Air Force Hawker Typhoons and USAAF IX Tactical Air Command P-47D Thunderbolts operating from south coast bases opposite the Normandy battle area.
The CAS requirement to maximise sortie time over the five assault beaches resulted in a support network of 23 two-runway Advance Landing Grounds being constructed that stretched from Hampshire to Kent. Four ALGs were sited in the New Forest and Needs Oar Point on the Solent shoreline was the last built.
Operational from 10 April 1944, by D-Day it was home to RAF 146 Wing comprising four Hawker Typhoon ground attack squadrons, including 257 (Burma) Squadron pictured.
The story of these temporary wartime AEAF fighter-bomber airstrips – that were activated for D-Day only – is rarely told and Marc will bring Needs Oar Point's to life.
A valid museum ticket is required alongside a ticket for this talk.