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Chepstow Racecourse; 7 Satellite Landing Ground

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NPRN407791
Map ReferenceST59NW
Grid ReferenceST5237095660
Unitary (Local) AuthorityMonmouthshire
Old CountyMonmouthshire
CommunityChepstow
Type Of SiteAIRFIELD
PeriodModern
Description
Chepstow racecourse was a Satellite Landing Ground (SLG) for aircraft from 19 Maintenance Unit (19 MU) based at St Athan from 3 May 1941. Shields were made of wire wool and netting to protect and camouflage the aircraft, but these were replaced in 1942 by bays created by clearing areas within the surrounding woodland. Some of the original racecourse buildings were used by personnel. Of the waritme buidlings, the Watch Office (now an abandoned residence) and walls that once formed the latrine block are still extant

Event and Historical Information
The racecourse was given the designation 7 Satellite Landing Ground (SLG) and protected by local Home Guard reinforced from time to time with available army units. On 21 February 1942, the landing ground was handed over to 38 Maintenance Unit (MU), Llandow. The aircraft stored included Supermarine Spitfires, North American P51 Mustangs, Havoc Bostons and Armstrong Whitworth Ablemarles. The landing ground and storage areas were declared closed by December 1944 and were returned to the landowner on 31 March 1945.

Sources include:
Defence of Britain Project
Jones, I, 2007, Airfields and Landing Grounds of Wales: South, pg9-13
Phillips, Alan, 2006, Military Airfields Wales, pg63-3
Smith, David J, 1982 Action Stations 3: Military Airfields of Wales and the North West, pg63

RCAHMW, June 2008.