Royal Air Force Gosfield or more simply RAF Gosfield is a former Royal Air Force station in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately north of Braintree; about north-northeast of London Opened in 1943, it was used by both the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. During the Second World War it was used primarily as a combat airfield, with several fighter and bomber units stationed at it. After the war it was closed in 1955 after being held in reserve for many years. Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields. History Gosfield was also one of the airfields where the main construction work was carried out by US Army engineers. The 816th Engineer Battalion (Aviation) arrived at Gosfield on 16 August 1942 where they began setting up tented accommodation. Shortages of construction equipment and other problems caused delays in the early months. By December 1942, the overall airfield building program was in crisis and falling further behind schedule due to the lack of labour and resources. By March 1943, most of the 816th's men were transferred to the more advanced site at RAF Andrews Field. Full-scale construction of Gosfield was resumed in August and by mid-October 1943 the main elements of the landing area had been completed. The 833rd Engineer Aviation Battalion arrived in October 1943 and helped complete Gosfield, including buildings and the drainage system. However, by the time it was completed the Eighth Air Force no longer required the airfield and it was passed to the control of the US Ninth Air Force. USAAF use Gosfield was known as USAAF Station AAF-154 for security reasons by the USAAF during the war, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its USAAF Station Code was "GF". 365th Fighter Group The first combat flying unit to occupy Gosfield was the 365th Fighter Group, arriving on 22 December 1943 from Richmond AAF, Virginia flying Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. Operational squadrons of the group were: 386th Fighter Squadron (D5) 387th Fighter Squadron (B4) 388th Fighter Squadron (C4) The 365th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 84th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command. Early missions were flown in support of Eighth Air Force Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber operations and on one of these on 2 March, On 5 March, with only nine missions