WW 2 English airfields

lakenheath during ww2 had runway lights and only us flags at entrance

Until fairly recently in the RAF, on airfields without permanant lighting we used what were called 'gooseneck' lights. Imagine a metal watering can, but instead of a sprinkler rose on the end of the tube, the tube bends down by say, 30 degrees for a couple of inches. Into that & down the tube goes a large cotton? wick, & the can if filled with parafin. These things burned all night on one filling & were so low tech they couldn't go wrong, even English weather couldn't put them out!
So, a lot of the English WW2 fields would be very basic, runways, a few buildings, no hot water etc, &, probably, limited electricity. So why not put a few scale goosenecks into a diorama? Maybe they could be knocked up from resin?
The real things stood about 1 foot high, maybe ten inches across the long sides of the oval base. Galvanised metal finish or painted yellow.
Usually we only lit them when they were needed, & put them out until the aircraft came back (this was night flying on choppers in the 80's/90's) they were also used as markers for para drops back then on disused airfields around Salisbury plain.
Not what you asked really, but it could make your diorama different!
All the best
Pete

There are any number of airfields used by USAAF. Were you thinking of fighters or bombers?
Landing lights were used on most airfields but they may not have been permanent fixtures. The actual runways and perimeter tracks were all similarly built, any differences tending to be as a result of local conditions rather than design. Give me some additional info on what you require and I can certainly provide more specifiv info.

Rich,
I have a book about B-17 operating in England,in one of the photos,there is a b_17 on final to Thorpe abbotts,and the runway have landing lights on both sides,and no markings.The book is IN FOCUS B-17 Groups
Pedro