Monument record 1317704000 - RAF Daws Hill

The American 8th Army Air Force had its headquarters at Wycombe Abbey School from 1942 following America's entry into the war. It was staffed by 12,000 U.S servicemen who were accommodated in huts at nearby Daws Hill House (B4).
Between 1942 and 1946 the school was requisitioned for 8th Bomber Command, then for the USAF's 8th Army Air Force. The Americans eventually left the Abbey but stayed at their Daws Hill base, which became the focus of peace marches in the 1960s and 1980s (B5).
Following the end of the war, between 1945 and 1951 the site was used by the local authority to house Londoners displaced as a result of the Blitz. From 1951 the base was used by the US Strategic Air Command, which lasted throughout the Cold War. At the height of the Cold War up to 800, mainly American, personnel were based here, but that had fallen to 350 by 1992. In 2006 residential accommodation within Doolittle Village was replaced with modern bungalows. The site was closed in 2007 (B12).
Evaluation trial trenching carried out by Thames Valley Archaeological Services in June and July 2012 identified areas particularly in the north part of the site where considerable truncation or landscaping had occurred. Elsewhere there was some local disturbance caused by services, all presumably dating from the development of the air base (B9).
Building recording (Level 1) carried out by TVAS in January 2014. The base comprises three distinct areas; the residential Eaker Estate (named after General Ira C Eaker, commander of the Eighth Air Force), the residential Doolittle Village (named after General ‘Jimmy’ Doolittle, Lieutenant General of the Eighth Air Force) and the technical and communal area. A number of the roads were named after American states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California and Florida, all located within the residential areas. In the technical and communal area, the main road, running northwest-southeast was named Kennedy Avenue with the other roads named First to Sixth Streets and other roads were named after trees: Beech, Birch and Oak Street. Buildings and structures in the technical and communal area, mainly dating from the 1950s and 1960s, include a security and military police post, communications compound with radio mast, computer tech centre, utilities, admin offices, the Naval Activity (UK) Headquarters (NAVACTUK), a visitor centre, warehousing and storage, fire station, community centre, a petrol station, shop (convenience store), post office, a day and boarding High School (built in 1987), gymnasium, tennis and racquet ball courts, chapel, theatre, bowling alley, fitness centre, bank and cafeteria. See report for detail (B10).