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 Weston Zoyland (often written Westonzoyland) in Somerset had a long military flying history before the Second World War, but its wartime importance is best remembered through two contrasting roles: specialist training and, later, American troop-carrier operations connected to the liberation of Europe. The airfield was active from the 1920s, hosting summer camps and units that used the site for periodic training, before being drawn fully into wartime service as Britain mobilised for a global conflict.
During the war, Weston Zoyland became a base for anti-aircraft co-operation and related training work. This was the world of towing targets, simulating attacks, and giving gunners and searchlight units realistic practice against aircraft profiles. One of the best-known examples is No. 587 Squadron RAF, formed at Weston Zoyland on 1 December 1943 from several flights for anti-aircraft co-operation duties. Units of this type often operated an eclectic mix of aircraft – chosen not for glamour, but because they could perform the tasks needed: tugging sleeves, providing radar or visual targets, and flying repeatable patterns so ground units could learn their trade. In wartime Britain, effective air defence depended on that training as much as it depended on fighter squadrons.
In 1944, the station’s role changed dramatically as Allied preparations for D-Day gathered pace. The airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces as Station AAF-447, and from June 1944 it became home to the 442nd Troop Carrier Group, part of Ninth Air Force’s IX Troop Carrier Command. Flying Douglas C-47 Skytrains, the group comprised operational squadrons including the 303rd, 304th, 305th and 306th Troop Carrier Squadrons. Troop carrier groups were central to airborne operations: delivering paratroops, towing gliders and supplying forward forces, often at low altitude and under fire. Weston Zoyland’s location in the west of England also made it a useful dispersal and staging point as the complex airborne and logistical plan unfolded.
The presence of C-47s would have transformed the airfield’s atmosphere. Unlike bomber stations focused on long-distance raids, troop carrier bases revolved around timed drops, formation flying in darkness or dawn light, glider-tow procedures and rapid turnaround for resupply sorties. The 442nd group later moved to the Continent as advanced landing grounds became available in France, a pattern typical of units whose mission followed the front line.
After the troop carrier period, Weston Zoyland’s earlier functions reasserted themselves, with RAF activity returning to training and support roles. For visitors, the airfield’s story is therefore about adaptability: from a pre-war training site, to wartime anti-aircraft cooperation and gunnery support, and then to a key staging base for American transport aircraft supporting the liberation of Europe. The mix of RAF squadron activity and USAAF troop carrier operations makes Weston Zoyland a particularly interesting case study in how Britain’s airfield network was shared and repurposed as the war’s needs changed.