​​RAF Ibsley​

​​​From the eastern side of the former airfield, you can see the Moyles Court School, which used to be the Station Head Quarters. Following the road north takes you past the area of the Control Tower which is still standing. It is on private property and cannot be accessed. This road continues and leads to the RAF Ibsley Memorial on the junction. Further trails can then be followed east to the Ibsley Battle Headquarters.

​After its opening in 1941, the RAF operated from the airfield that consisted of three concrete runways. Up to 26 separate squadrons or units were accommodated here at certain times. The capacity of the airfield allowed for over 100 fighter aircraft to be located here at one time. The RAF Squadrons included those of the Royal Canadian Air Force and men from Poland and Czechoslovakia.

​In 1943, the RAF departed and the USAAF took over. In the run-up to D-Day and Operation Overlord from 6 June 1944, the 48th Fighter Group, consisting of three squadrons equipped with P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft, were stationed here. Their task was to target bridges, airfields and aircraft during the run-up to D-Day, to limit the German Army’s response to the Allied landings once they took place. ​From 6 June, missions protecting convoys and targeting German defences and inland movements of the German Army were flown from here.

​After the war, the land was handed back to the landowner. The airfield was then converted to a motor racing circuit. When the circuit closed down, the land was first put into agricultural use for a few years, and then transformed into what today is known as the Blashford Lakes nature reserve.