Somersham
SOMERSHAM: Q-site and military airstrip/airfield
Note: All three of these pictures were obtained from Google Earth ©
Military user: RAF
Lysanders on practice for clandestine operations
Location: E of the B1086, SW of Somersham village, 8nm NE of Huntingdon, 10nm WSW of Ely, 12nm NW to NNW of Cambridge
Period of operation: Q-site 1940 to 1941. Practice Landing Ground 1942 to 1946
NOTES: It appears that SOMERSHAM was very top secret and used by 161 (Special Duties) Squadron on SOE (Special Operations Executive) exercises for training agents and Lysander pilots from RAF TEMPSFORD for practice in laying out and marking clandestine landing grounds in German occupied France and beyond. Plus how to make very quick turnarounds when the Lysander was on the ground. In the event, although mostly successful, many of these missions were fraught with danger, and often went wrong in one way or another.
For a better understanding of the subject, reading 'We Landed By Moonlight' by Hugh Verity, first published in 1978, is highly recommended.
MORE INFORMATION
In May 2022 I was kindly contacted by Mr Dave Ruddlesden who has this to tell us: "The 161 Sqn practice landing/pickup ground was south of the former Bishop's Palace gardens at Park Farm. It has appeared in a late wartime photo published in Flypast possibly in the June 06 issue IIRC, and another more recently. However, the decoy - more specifically Drem Q36(b) for RAF Wyton - is shown in Fields of Deception (Dobinson, 2000) on page 151/Fig 35. This extends from about 52.36362, -0.05700 to 52.37514, -0.03537, with the approach dunnel at the NE end, just across the road leading north to Pidley."
Simon Rymills
This comment was written on: 2019-12-22 17:26:41The airfield was used by 161 SOE for practice pickups, but also training SIS officers in laying out landing fields in France as this was the greater amount of pickups and involved far more flights than SOE planned and more successful.
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