RAF Greenham Common
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RAF Greenham Common is a former WWII and NATO Cold War airfield located in Berkshire.
During WWII it was used by the U.S. Army Air Force and the RAF. During the Cold War. It was used by the U.S. Air Force for Strategic Air Command (SAC) Bombers and later for BGM-109G Cruise missiles.
Originally intended for use as an RAF Bomber Command Operational Training Unit (OTU) its role changed with the outbreak of War and it became a satellite base to RAF Aldermaston.
In 1943 the U.S. 9th Airforce Group arrived which included troop carriers and fighters.
.Greenham Common was one of the air bases used in the D-Day operations and carried paratroop and glider landings deep into Nazi occupied Europe.
After the war Greenham reverted back to RAF use until 1946 when the base was placed on care and maintenence status.
The airfield was inactive for the next five years, but when the Cold War started it was reinstated and put back to active duty.
On 23 April 1951, RAF Greenham Common was made available to the U.S.Air Force by the MOD as a Strategic Air Command base.
In the 1980s and Nuclear War looking imminent. The U.S. 501st Tactical Missile Wing arrived with Gryphon Ground Launched Cruise Missile, and GAMA (GLCM Alert and Maintenance Area) was built. GAMA was a maximum security QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) area with 6 large above ground shelters in which fully operational Cruise Missiles were stored.
Each shelter contained 2 LCC Launch Control Centers and 4 TEL Transporter Erector Launchers. Each unit was mobile and supposed to leave the base in convoys to secret preset dispersal sites. This would happen within minutes after an alert and the movement was via local roads and the surrounding villages.
During this time the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) set up camps at the base and it became known world wide as the Greenham Common Peace Camp. The camp stayed for years protesting against the use of Nuclear Warheads until the earlier 2000s.
The last Ground Launched Cruise Missiles at RAF Greenham Common were removed in March 1991. The 501st Tactical Missile Wing was inactivated on 4 June 1991. The site now serves as a nature reserve with the only thing that now remains is the control tower which is sealed shut and the GAMA site fenced off and awaiting approval of becoming a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
