Full WW2 control tower details and photos for this wartime airfield are coming soon. Please check back later as this is work progress. If you would like to contribute information or photos please get in touch.
RAF Westhampnett, now better known as Goodwood Aerodrome near Chichester, played a front-line supporting role on the south coast during a period when every serviceable fighter strip mattered. Constructed before the war and brought into use in July 1940, it operated primarily as a satellite station – initially under RAF Fighter Command and No. 11 Group – supporting nearby sector stations such as RAF Tangmere. In practical terms, ‘satellite’ meant Westhampnett could absorb dispersals, host squadrons rotating through the Tangmere wing, and keep aircraft in the air even if the parent station was under pressure or damaged.
Its early wartime operations were tied to the Battle of Britain and subsequent offensive sweeps across the Channel. Fighter squadrons operating from Westhampnett included Hawker Hurricane units such as No. 145 Squadron during 1940, and a notable Polish presence with No. 302 (Polish) Squadron during 1940-41. The airfield then became heavily associated with Spitfire operations, hosting a long list of squadrons and detachments including No. 41 Squadron (Spitfire Vb), No. 43 Squadron, No. 65 Squadron, No. 91 Squadron, No. 118 Squadron, No. 124 Squadron, No. 129 Squadron, No. 131 Squadron and others at different times. This constant turnover reflects how fighter strength was managed in a dynamic, threat-driven environment.
Westhampnett’s location made it well suited to coastal defence, convoy cover, interception and ‘Rhubarb’ or ‘Ranger’ style fighter sorties over occupied France. It also became part of the broader evolution from purely defensive operations to increasingly aggressive air activity as RAF Fighter Command gained strength and began to contest the skies over northern France more frequently. The station’s grass runways and dispersed facilities were typical of many Fighter Command satellites: designed for speed of operation, rapid refuelling and re-arming, and the ability to hide aircraft in pens and dispersals to reduce vulnerability to air attack.
As the war moved towards the invasion of Europe, Westhampnett’s role shifted again under the RAF Second Tactical Air Force, which focused on supporting ground operations and the liberation campaign. In that later phase, aircraft types associated with the station extended beyond Hurricanes and Spitfires to include machines such as the Hawker Typhoon, reflecting the increasing importance of low-level strike and close support. The airfield also had a brief USAAF connection as a designated station in 1942, illustrating how Allied air forces shared and adapted airfield infrastructure as requirements changed.
For visitors today, Westhampnett offers a strong ‘Fighter Command at war’ narrative: a busy satellite in 11 Group’s area, hosting a wide range of squadrons, and representing the practical, hard-worked airfields that sustained Britain’s air defence and then helped push the air war outward. Its story is written in the sequence of squadrons and aircraft that passed through – Hurricanes, Spitfires and later Typhoons – each reflecting a different phase of the conflict along the Channel Front.
Because Westhampnett functioned as a satellite, its unit list reads like a snapshot of the air war’s shifting needs: emergency dispersal in 1940, increasingly offensive sweeps as the RAF gained confidence, and then tactical air power for the 1944-45 campaign. That constant repurposing is part of what made the station valuable.