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RAF Andover, west of the town of Andover in Hampshire, entered the Second World War with two characteristics that made it unusually significant: it was a flying station, but it was also deeply embedded in the RAF’s organisational machinery. At the start of the war, Andover was home to No. 59 Squadron flying Bristol Blenheims and it also hosted the headquarters of RAF Maintenance Command. That combination mattered. Maintenance Command sat at the centre of repair, supply, and the flow of aircraft and equipment that kept the RAF operating. In other words, Andover was not simply about sorties; it was also about the system behind the sorties.
The opening months of the war show how fast events moved. No. 59 Squadron deployed from Andover to France in October 1939, operating from Poix-de-Picardie, and then returned to Andover in May 1940 after the defeat in the Battle of France. During that turbulent period, Andover became connected to the reshaping of Allied air power: French Air Force aircraft and crews going into exile were initially directed to Andover on arrival, a reminder that airfields in southern England also functioned as gateways and sorting points during crisis. The station’s later war years saw it used by operational training units and as a practical base for the constant movement of men and aircraft that wartime administration demanded.
Andover also had a short but notable operational front-line phase connected to the American build-up for the invasion of Europe. From February through July 1944, it was used by squadrons of the US Ninth Air Force’s 370th Fighter Group – the 401st, 402nd, and 485th Fighter Squadrons – flying Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. These were not defensive patrols over England but offensive tactical sorties tied to the pre-invasion campaign: dive-bombing and strafing against radar installations and flak positions, and escort work for bombers attacking bridges and marshalling yards in France. The choice of the P-38 is significant in itself. In a European theatre dominated by single-engined fighters, the Lightning’s twin-engine configuration offered range and performance characteristics that suited specific operational needs, and its presence at Andover gives the station a direct link to the Allied effort to isolate the battlefield ahead of D-Day.
In many ways Andover’s wartime value is best understood as flexibility. It could support a bomber squadron, host high-level maintenance headquarters, handle exiled Allied arrivals, and then switch to an American tactical fighter role when required. That blend makes it an excellent case study in how Britain’s wartime airfield network worked: stations were not always single-purpose, and the same location could be drawn into the war at multiple levels – strategic administration, training, and front-line combat support – depending on what the moment demanded.
- Early war: No. 59 Squadron (Blenheim) and HQ RAF Maintenance Command
- 1944: US Ninth Air Force P-38 operations (370th Fighter Group squadrons)
- Key theme: a station that combined flying with high-level support and organisation