Hello,
I am doing archaeological survey work in the area used by the 101st airborne for forming up and training in England prior to D-Day and Market Garden.
SOLE COMMON CAMP USAAF station number 424.
I have been told it was an engineers base by the only local old enough to remember, but searches have turned up nothing. The unit built a glider runway at Wickham, gliders (ground still posioned with dope), and the camp itself. The camp is halfway between RAF/USAAF Welford and Craven House (101st HQ), near Newbury, Berkshire. Nearest US neighbours at the time were Gen 'Nuts' Mcauliffe & staff billeted at Wormstall House, a Glider Field Artillery unit at Wickham House (next to Wormstall) and a parachute packing depot (503rd?) at Welford Farm.
I've looked at websites for engineers attached to the 101st, but they all say they were based at Basildon Park or Camp Ranikhet. The first is too small to accomadate all the troops (so HQ i think) and the later apears to have disapeared all together. It is possible that Ranikhet and Sole are the same because:
1) Basildon Park and Ranikhet are listed as being near Reading, but Basildon Park is near Newbury, so perhaps Ranikhet is as well.
2) Ranikhet is the name of an Himalayan base camp, and Sole Common is hilly, where as Reading is mainly flat.
Any help would be hugely appreciated,
Tanks very much,
Jim Harriss, Ridgeway Military and Aviation Research Group. (search RMARG if you want to check us out).