RAF Lymington

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RAF Lymington was a Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground in Hampshire, England, about 1 mile east of Lymington and roughly 80 miles southwest of London. It opened in 1944 as a prototype for temporary airfields that would be built in France after D-Day to support Allied advances into Europe.

The base was used by the Royal Air Force, Canadian forces, and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). It was known to the USAAF as Station AAF-551 with the code LY. It closed in 1946 after two years of military use and was later used by the Royal Navy for storage. Today the site is mostly farmland, with a private grass airstrip still in use on the old North–South runway, and one original blister hangar remains near Pylewell House. The runways appear closed, marked with white Xs at the ends.

The USAAF 50th Fighter Group arrived on 5 April 1944 from Orlando AAF, Florida. It was part of Ninth Air Force’s 84th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command, and flew P-47 Thunderbolts. The group finished its operations in Germany in May 1945 and returned to the United States in August 1945.