complement of station personnel with little or no infrastructure other than tents. As the ground forces moved east, wounded would be sent to the airfield to be picked up by C-47s and taken to hospitals in England or other rear areas. Also supplies would be airlifted to the fields and unloaded, to be quickly transported to the front line units. These were normally known as S&E Fields (Supply and Evacuation). Once completed, airfields were usually utilised by the combat groups or squadrons within a day or so of being declared operational for military use by the IX Engineering command engineers. They would be used for perhaps a few days to a week, to several months, depending on the location, use, and operational requirements. Once the combat units moved up to the next assigned ALG, they could be utilised as S&E Fields, or deconstructed quickly and abandoned, with the land being released back to the landowners or civil authorities in the area. Construction The mission for constructing ALGs was placed in the hands of the Airfield Construction Service of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force, whilst the USAAF's Ninth Air Force and its specially created engineering arm, the IX Engineer Command, were responsible for ALG's in the US sector of operations. Each aviation engineer battalion in the command (of a total of sixteen) was composed of sufficient men and equipment to quickly construct an airfield or landing ground for a single tactical fighter or bomb group unit. ALGs were selected in two ways. First, existing enemy military or civilian airfields which were captured as the ground forces advanced were noted by engineers assigned to ground units. Second, engineers noted areas in grid locations where an airfield was desired, that had flat terrain, good land drainage, and where an airfield could be constructed quickly. Captured airfields could be restored for use as advanced landing field in one to three days depending upon the amount of damage and the number of mines and booby traps encountered. Dry-weather advanced landing fields were constructed by a single battalion at a favourable site in flat terrain in from one to three days, including time for reconnaissance. At less favourable sites, where more clearing and grading were required, or all-weather fields which also needed additional infrastructure, the time varied from three to ten days. ALGs were equipped with an access road that was connected to the existing