Sandridge RLG, Herts

I would say both locations maybe correct but for different reasons. The most likely spot for a landing are is a NE/SW strip north of Langley Wood as anything south east of that line is a slope and probably too steep for most flying. The Sandridgebury location maybe a small admin site and possibly the reason it was given as a location. The trees in that area also suggest there was no landing strip there and the attached photo from the late forties shows the trees to be reasonably mature. There was a building on the NE corner of Langley Wood but looks to have been demolished with only a rectangle of shrubs in its place today. I noted it on maps from the fifties and appears to be there in the seventies, however aerial photos from the seventies show it to be relatively tall but it may just be a hay shelter.

The photo does not show any likely landing strip marks but if it was lightly used or fell out of use mid war such traces would have been quickly erased by farming use. The photo should be viewed in conjunction with a map showing contours as the vertical shot is deceiving.

Sorry nothing conclusive but if the ever expanding Luftwaffe coverage from NCAP eventually shows the site it may be more obvious. This coverage is mainly 1940 but does extend in some areas to 1943 but tends to be sortie runs so luck is a main factor in getting such coverage.

Just East of Sandridge, the "Wireless Station" was an important Y Service site with lots of antenna so that would restrict any landing ground around there.

peerlessg wrote:

The radio station was (and still is) about 1.5 miles south east of the RLG and so should not have been a problem.

OK, it was just a warning in case there were level fields which looked promising. There would have been many more radio masts around it at that time.