Burtonwood: 8th Air Force Base Air Depot

Burtonwood: 8th Air Force Base Air Depot by Aldon P. Ferguson. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780951111307.

Includes 6 maps and reference section. "Burtonwood was the largest military base in Europe administering and controlling over 30,000 men in 20 locations throughout the UK. The supply and maintenance of aircraft, their parts and weapons for the USAAF Eighth Air Force (and later the Ninth Air Force" were provided by the Base Air Depot Area (BADA) at Burtonwood. Known as Base Air Depot No 1 under the umbrella of BADA Burtonwood organised all supply bases especially, Warton Lanes and Langford Lodge, Northern Ireland comprising BAD Nos 2 and 3 respectively . A common sight would be over 500 aircraft on the airfield at any time being modified, repaired, painted and prepared for action. This book traces the outline of the development of the base from a small RAF Maintenance Unit airfield blossoming into a town known as "Lancashires Detroit" in little over twelve months. US airmen saturated Warrington, Liverpool and Manchester and the book also tells of the impact these men had on the lives of the locals. " "Reduced drastically after hostilities Burtonwood soon looked like a ghost town but the USAF returned in 1948 developing the base even more giving it one of the longest runways in Britain, building massive new storage warehouses and building the control tower which still dominates the M62 Motorway today." "Mining and reduced requirements of the USAF caused the demise of the airfield which closed in 1968 but the US Army came to the rescue and operate out of two of the sites today in a support capacity." "The giant is rapidly crumbling with most buildings demolished and development encroaching rapidly. This was once home to 18,000 men and this book explains why, how, when and where and will surprise most people with the scale and magnitude of the achievement. before the developers bulldozers remove all trace of this mighty base its story must be told so one can understand its importance and contribution to the defence of Freedom."