US Army Temporary Landing Grounds

Help needed. Is the tower similar to other airfield structures or is it merely agricultural? Landowner's family thought it was a silage tower. The landowner was away and will contact me if it was anything different. My photos are all from public vantage points, I've not yet secured permission for an up close look. It is sited off a road that even those who lived there needed a pass to get through in the months prior to D-Day.

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CornwalPhil ~ very interesting as I've never seen one of those in the UK.

It does remind me of the pre fabricated small farm concrete corn silo that were once common place on the farms in the mid west.

The farmers could generate additional income by allowing them to be used for road side advertizing.

The ones used to advertize beer were the most impressive that I can recall and they were located on capitol drive in Wisconsin.

I understood that once the foundations were in place they could be assembled in a day.

Dave.

I'm looking for sources of information about Cwrt-y-Gollen camp near Abergavenny - specifically it's use as a landing strip by US Army units during WW2.

I'm aware of a mention in the book "Airfields and Landing Grounds of Wales" by Ivor Jones. Also the article by Ken Wakefield in "After the Battle" magazine no. 73.

I'm especially interested in anything relating to the loss of an aircraft in a crash at a nearby location. Sounds like it was a Piper L-4 as used for spotting by US Field Artillery units.

So far I've confirmed the presence of the following units at different times in the run up to D-Day:
174th Field Artillery Battalion
258th Field Artillery Battalion
512th Field Artillery Battalion
991st Field Artillery Battalion

The National Monuments Record of Wales online database mentions the 248th Field Artillery Battalion (citing I. Jones as source) but this seems to conflict with other info that I've found from US mil sources.

Have you tried Joe Baugher's webpage on USAAF serials? It could give you a lead on L-4 production:

www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/usafserials.html

Also, this one for crashes important enough to write-off the craft/ kill or injure the pilot:

www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AFrptsMO.htm

I have ordered a few from him, you will have to wait a week or two, but whatever you get from him is priceless!

MCottle wrote:

I'm looking for sources of information about Cwrt-y-Gollen camp near Abergavenny - specifically it's use as a landing strip by US Army units during WW2.

I'm aware of a mention in the book "Airfields and Landing Grounds of Wales" by Ivor Jones. Also the article by Ken Wakefield in "After the Battle" magazine no. 73.

I'm especially interested in anything relating to the loss of an aircraft in a crash at a nearby location. Sounds like it was a Piper L-4 as used for spotting by US Field Artillery units.

So far I've confirmed the presence of the following units at different times in the run up to D-Day:
174th Field Artillery Battalion
258th Field Artillery Battalion
512th Field Artillery Battalion
991st Field Artillery Battalion

The National Monuments Record of Wales online database mentions the 248th Field Artillery Battalion (citing I. Jones as source) but this seems to conflict with other info that I've found from US mil sources.

As of March 31, 1944
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 174 Field Artillery Battalion, Headquarters Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 174 Field Artillery Battalion, Headquarters Battery Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 174 Field Artillery Battalion, Battery A Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 174 Field Artillery Battalion, Battery B Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 174 Field Artillery Battalion, Battery C Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 174 Field Artillery Battalion, Medical Detachment Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 174 Field Artillery Battalion, Service Battery Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 258 Field Artillery Battalion, Headquarters Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 258 Field Artillery Battalion, Headquarters Battery Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 258 Field Artillery Battalion, Battery A Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 258 Field Artillery Battalion, Battery B Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 258 Field Artillery Battalion, Battery C Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 258 Field Artillery Battalion, Medical Detachment Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 258 Field Artillery Battalion, Service Battery Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 258 Field Artillery Group (Motorized), Headquarters Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 258 Field Artillery Group (Motorized), HQ Battery Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 744 Tank Battalion, Headquarters Company Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 744 Tank Battalion, Company A Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 744 Tank Battalion, Company B Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 744 Tank Battalion, Company C Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 744 Tank Battalion, Medical Detachment Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 744 Tank Battalion, Service Company Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 991 Field Artillery Battalion (155mm), Headquarters Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 991 Field Artillery Battalion (155mm), HQ Battery Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 991 Field Artillery Battalion (155mm), Battery A Brecknockshire VO6838
Location Unit Pre 1974 County Coordinates
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 991 Field Artillery Battalion (155mm), Battery B Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 991 Field Artillery Battalion (155mm), Battery C Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 991 Field Artillery Battalion (155mm), Medical Det Brecknockshire VO6838
Court Collen (Cwrt-y-gollen?) 991 Field Artillery Battalion (155mm), Service Battery Brecknockshire VO6838

There was a lot of WWII US Army activity at Cwrt y Gollen and also the adjacent Dan y Parc, (I note from various maps the OS are very inconsistent re the spelling of these two locations, regarding capitalisation and hyphenation).

The former was is use until 1999.

www.beacons-npa.gov.uk/wp-content/upload...-Brief-12th-may1.pdf

LOCATION

Also: www.francisfrith.com/dan-y-parc/american...y-parc_memory-289881