WWII Canadians Airforce Sedgwick and Dunsfold

I am trying to find out anything about the Canadians at Dunsfold in Surrey and especially Sedgwick, Near Horsham West Sussex, Any information would be much be much appreciated.

 

Every RAF Bomber Command base in England mapped
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/raf-bomber-command/9361471/Every-RAF-Bomber-Command-base-in-England-mapped.html

Edit. Hmmm. Website is not working very well any more.

RCAF 400, 414 and 430 Squadrons were stationed at Dunsforld.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunsfold_Aerodrome

I do not recall any airfields at Sedgwick.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_Royal_Air_Force_stations

 

(no title)

"For decades, staff at the Dunsfold Aerodrome in southern England talked of the dead Canadian beneath the runway. Clifford Davies heard the story when he started working there in the 1960s, 20 years after the Royal Canadian Engineers built the airfield during the Second World War.

The story, as Davies recalled, was about a Canadian accidentally killed by a machine during construction of one of the runways. Under war-time pressure to finish the aerodrome on schedule, the Canadian serviceman’s comrades kept working, leaving him entombed in the cement.

The Canadians at Dunsfold


The 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Engineers was called in to construct the bomber airfield in May 1942, after civilian contractors said they couldn’t finish the job in only three months, according to the 1966 volume “The History of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers.”

Detachments from the Mechanical Equipment Company, the Road Construction Company and the Canadian Forestry Corps and the Canadian Army Service Corps Reinforcement Unit were enlisted to help. They finished by Aug. 15, 1942, two weeks ahead of schedule.

The airfield currently operates as a private airport and business park. It has also been used in film and television productions, including the BBC series Top Gear.



“It was just general knowledge, really,” Davies said, adding that he had never seen any evidence of the claim. “It was a very strong rumour.”.........."

 

More on the history of the building of Dunsfold Aerodrome:

https://dunsfoldairfield.org/men-built-dunsfold/

Plus: https://dunsfoldairfield.org/rcaf-1942-1943/ The RAF also operated out of Dunsfold

RCAF 1942-1943
December 1942 – August 1943: Royal Canadian Air Force Dunsfold

Aerodrome was HQ for four squadrons of RCAF: 168, 400, 414, 430, together known as No.39 (RCAF) Wing. They were flying Tomahawks initially, superseded by Mustangs.

Their activities were largely training and reconnaissance. But Dunsfold also acted as an emergency landing place for damaged aircraft returning from the continent (11). There were many accidents ( see Appendices).

400 Squadron Serials:

Tomahawk I: AH747, AH748, AH749, AH756, AH758, AH761, AH767, AH768, AH776, AH777, AH781, AH786, AH787, AH789, AH796, AH806, AH810, AH812, AH817, AH818, AH823, AH824, AH825, AH827, AH831, AH839, AH840, AH841, AH844, AH845, AH848, AH850, AH851, AH853, AH855, AH857, AH861, AH862, AH863, AH865, AH880,

Tomahawk IIA: AH882, AH884, AH885, AH889, AH891, AH895, AH909, AH946, AH997

Tomahawk IIB: AK105, AK120, AK124, AK165,

Mustang I: AG355, AG392, AG395, AG404, AG488, AG521, AG528, AG531, AG538, AG540, AG558, AG577, AG583, AG587, AG589, AG591, AG615, AG629, AG641, AG645, AG658, AG659, AG660, AG661, AG662, AL962, AL971, AL973, AL992, AM102, AM104, AM114, AM126, AM129, AM151, AM158, AM173, AM176, AM184, AM187, AM212, AM225, AM237, AM240, AM256, AP173, AP176, AP191, AP202, AP211, AP222, AP237, AP259, AP261,


RCAF 400 Sqn. Tomahawk (History Hanger Society)

RCAF 400 Sqn. Tomahawk (History Hanger Society)

RCAF 400 Sqn. Tomahawk (History Hanger Society)

RCAF 400 Sqn. Tomahawk (History Hanger Society)

RCAF 400 Sqn. Tomahawk (History Hanger Society)

RCAF 400 Sqn. Tomahawk (History Hanger Society)


Further info:

400 Squadron photographs

 

The Derelict Miscellany :: RAF Dunsfold outliers

Construction of the Royal Canadian Airforce Station, Dunsfold was begun on the 11th May 1942 by the the 2nd Battalion Royal Canadian Engineers using explosives and heavy-duty earth-movers to clear the land. Completed in just twenty weeks, Dunsfold entered service as a 'Class A' bomber airfield, home to 3 RCAF Squadrons: the 400, the 414 and the 430. In 1943, the base was transfered to RAF control and the Canadian Mustangs and Tomahawks were replaced by the Mitchell MkII medium bombers of the 98, 180 and 320 (Netherlands) Squadrons. After D-Day, the bomber squadrons moved to the Continent and were the base was used by 83 Group Support Unit RAF to train new pilots and supply replacement aircraft to squadrons now based in Europe.

In April 1945, Dunsfold became a repatriation centre for 47,529 liberated Allied Prisoners of War returning from camps across Europe and shortly afterwards was re-designated 83 Group Disbandment Centre, receiving returning squadrons and their equipment. In September 1946, following the disbandment of all 83 Group units, the Aerodrome was declared inactive.


For more information on WWII in Sussex:
World War Two in Sussex – East Sussex County Council