RAF Harrington, Military airbase museum near Kettering, England.
RAF Harrington is a former military airbase near Kettering, in Northamptonshire, England, now open to visitors as the Carpetbagger Aviation Museum. The site holds wartime structures from World War II alongside aircraft components, equipment, and documents covering different periods of its operational history.
The United States set up the base in 1943 as Station 179, initially intended for heavy bombers and special operations flights. In the 1950s, nuclear missiles were stationed here, and the launch structures built for them are still standing on the grounds today.
The 801st Bombardment Group flew covert supply missions from here to resistance fighters in occupied countries, and the museum keeps objects, uniforms, and records that make those missions tangible. Walking through the displays gives a concrete sense of how secret wartime operations were organized and carried out.
The museum opens mainly on Sundays from March through October, so it is worth checking the current opening days before planning a visit. A large part of the site is outdoors, so sturdy shoes and a layer for changeable English weather are a good idea.
The covert missions flown from here were known by the codename Operation Carpetbagger, a term that referred to agents inserted into enemy territory. Because of strict secrecy, many of these missions were barely documented at the time, and a good deal of what happened here remains only partially known.
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