RAF Great Ashfield
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Royal Air Force Great Ashfield or more simply RAF Great Ashfield is a former
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
station located east of
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and south of Great Ashfield, Suffolk, England. Great Ashfield Airfield is still in private use although much reduced in size. It was originally a Royal Flying Corps grass landing strip on this site in
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, and before the
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
arrived the RAF had been using it for training, during that period it was known as RAF Elmswell.


United States Army Air Forces use

Great Ashfield was re-built for the USAAF in 1942 and assigned designation Station 155. The first aircraft to land on the station is believed to have been a battle-damaged B-26 Marauder returning from a raid over the Netherlands on 17 May 1943. USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Great Ashfield were: * 455th Sub-Depot * 18th Weather Squadron * 31st Station Complement Squadron Regular Army Station Units included: * 1152nd Quartermaster Company * 1249th Military Police Company * 1735th Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company * 877th Chemical Company (Air Operations) * 2036th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon


385th Bombardment Group (Heavy)

The airfield was opened on 19 June 1943 and was used by the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
Eighth Air Force 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 385th arrived from Great Falls AAF
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and was assigned to the 93d Combat Bombardment Wing. The group tail code was a "Square-G". Its operational squadrons were: * 548th Bombardment Squadron (GX) * 549th Bombardment Squadron (XA) * 550th Bombardment Squadron (SG) * 551st Bombardment Squadron (HR) The group flew Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign. The 385th BG operated primarily as a strategic bombardment organization until the war ended, striking such targets as industrial areas, air bases, oil refineries, and communications centers in Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway. The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing an aircraft factory at Regensburg on 17 August 1943 after a long hazardous flight over enemy territory. The group led the 4th Bomb Wing a great distance through heavy and damaging opposition for the successful bombardment of an aircraft repair plant at
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on 12 May 1944, being awarded another DUC for this performance. Other strategic targets included aircraft factories in
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and Marienburg, battery works in Stuttgart, airfields in Beauvais and Chartres, oil refineries in Ludwigshafen and
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, and marshalling yards in
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and
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. Sometimes supported ground forces and struck interdictory targets. Attacked coastline defences in June 1944 in preparation for the Normandy invasion and hit marshalling yards and choke points during the landing on D-Day. Bombed enemy positions in support of ground forces at
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in July 1944. Attacked German communications and fortifications during the
Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...
, December 1944-January 1945. Bombed troop concentrations and communications centers in Germany and France, March–April 1945, to assist the final thrust into Germany. On 6 March 1944 raid to Berlin (the most costly mission the Eighth ever carried out) the 3rd Division commander, Brigadier General Russell Wilson, took off from Great Ashfield in a radar-equipped B-17 in a leading group of the 385th. All of the 385th aircraft returned safely ... all that is except the one carrying General Wilson which was seen to take several hits from flak setting one engine on fire. Although four of the crew managed to parachute to safety (including
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hero First Lieutenant John C. Morgan), eight of the others were killed when the bomber exploded. After
V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easte ...
, the 385th Bomb Group hauled prisoners of war from Germany to Allied centers and flew food to the Netherlands. The group returned to Sioux Falls AAF
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on 28 August 1945 and was inactivated. Legacy During the Cold War, the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
385th Strategic Aerospace Wing, based at Offut AFB
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controlled a mixture of strategic missiles and air refueling aircraft. The wing provided airborne command post services and supported SAC's global air refueling mission. The wing was active between 1962 and 1964 and was bestowed the World War II legacy and honors of the USAAF 385th Bomb Group upon activation.


Postwar Royal Air Force use

After the war, the airfield reverted to RAF control and it came under Maintenance Command as a sub-site for bomb storage before being finally abandoned and sold in 1955.


Civil use

With the end of military control, Great Ashfield was returned to agriculture. Much of the concrete has been removed and sold as aggregate, with a small section of the main runway being retained for use by light aircraft. Much of the perimeter track has been reduced to a single lane farm access road and a few wartime buildings remain in a deteriorated state. A memorial to those of the 385th who lost their lives flying from Great Ashfield can be seen in the village church.


See also

*
List of former Royal Air Force stations This list of former RAF stations includes most of the stations, airfields and administrative headquarters previously used by the Royal Air Force. The stations are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the du ...


References


Citations


Bibliography

* http://www.elmswell-history.org.uk/arch/society/airfield/airfield.html * Freeman, Roger A. (1978) ''Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now''. After the Battle * Maurer, Maurer (1983). ''Air Force Combat Units of World War II''. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers—1908 to present

Great Ashfield at mighty8thaf.preller.us


External links


Great Ashfield photo gallery

385th Bomb Group website

Replica WWII 385th BG Briefing Room
at U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Ashfield Airfields of the VIII Bomber Command in Suffolk Royal Air Force stations in Suffolk Elmswell