| RAF Winkton USAAF Station AAF-414 | |
| Location: | Bransgore, Hampshire |
| Country: | England |
| Type: | Advanced Landing Ground |
| Pushpin Map: | Hampshire#UK |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Shown within Hampshire |
| Pushpin Label: | RAF Winkton |
| Ownership: | Air Ministry |
| Operator: | Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces |
| Controlledby: | RAF Fighter Command |
| Code: | XT |
| Built: | /44 |
| Used: | March 1944 - January |
| Battles: | European theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 |
| Elevation: | 12m (39feet) |
| R1-Surface: | Sommerfeld Tracking |
| R2-Surface: | Sommerfeld Tracking |
Royal Air Force Winkton, or more simply RAF Winkton, is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground previously in Hampshire but now, due to County boundary changes, in Dorset, England. The airfield is located approximately 3miles north of Christchurch; and is named after the nearby hamlet of Winkton.
Although complete by September 1943 Winkton opened in March 1944 with Sommerfeld Mesh runways and pierced steel planking perimeter tracks, and was the prototype for the type of temporary Advanced Landing Ground type airfield that would be built in France after D-Day, when the need for advanced landing fields would become urgent as the Allied forces moved east across France and Germany. It was used by British and the United States Army Air Forces. It was closed in July 1944, when the mesh runways were lifted for use on the Continent, and immediately returned to agriculture.
Today the airfield is a mixture of agricultural fields with no recognizable remains.
While under USAAF control, Winkton was known as USAAF Station AAF-414 for security reasons, and by which it was referred to instead of location. Its Station-ID was "WT", Radio-Callsign "Drainsink"
RAF Winkton saw the arrival of the USAAF 404th Fighter Group on 4 April 1944, the group arriving from Myrtle Beach AAF, South Carolina. The 404th had the following operational squadrons:
The 404th was a group of Ninth Air Force's 84th Fighter Wing, IX Tactical Air Command. It flew the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. On 6 July the 404th moved across the Channel to its Advanced Landing Ground at Chippelle (ALG A-5), France.
With the Americans moving to France, Winkton airfield was closed down and returned to agricultural use in July 1944. In January 1945, the airfield was officially closed. Today, the land is unrecognizable as a former airfield, and can only be located by comparing the road network on aerial photographs taken when the airfield was active to the current network.
In 2009, there exists a private grass runway owned by Mr.I.C.Reid, who hangars his Tiger Moth biplane there.