RAF Wendling
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Royal Air Force Wendling or RAF Wendling 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) and ...
station located north west of East Dereham,
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Opened in 1942 it was used by both the
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) and ...
(RAF) and
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 ...
(USAAF). During the war it was used primarily as a bomber airfield, being the home of 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 The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...
392nd Bombardment Group. After the war, it was used by the RAF as a standby airfield before being finally closed in 1961 and returned to agriculture. With the end of military control the airfield has become a turkey farm.


History

RAF Wendling (Wendling airfield) was originally planned for
RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...
use, however in 1942 was assigned as a
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 ...
heavy bomber installation. It was the most northerly placed of
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...
heavy bomber fields and was built by Taylor-Woodrow Ltd in 1942. The airfield featured a long main runway angled on a NE-SW axis and two intersecting long secondary runways, all within a perimeter track and constructed of reinforced concrete. Another twenty hardstands (loop type) were added to the thirty of the frying-pan type when the airfield was rescheduled as an
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...
heavy bomber station. Two T2-type hangars were provided plus the usual full technical facilities, Mark II airfield lighting and dispersed accommodation for some 2,900 persons. The domestic sites were in the parish of Beeston to the west of the airfield and the bomb dump and ammunition stores were in Honeypot Wood to the south-east.


United States Army Air Forces use

Under USAAF control, RAF Wendling was designated as Station 118.


392nd Bombardment Group (Heavy)

The airfield was opened in 1943 and was used by the 392d Bombardment Group (Heavy), arriving from
Alamogordo Army Airfield Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...
,
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
in the south west of the US, on 18 July 1943. The 453rd was assigned to the 14th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Circle-D". Its operational squadrons were: * 576th Bombardment Squadron (CI). * 577th Bombardment Squadron (DC). * 578th Bombardment Squadron (EC). * 579th Bombardment Squadron (GC). The group flew
Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...
s as part of the
Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...
's strategic bombing campaign. The 392d BG entered combat on 9 September 1943 and engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic objectives on the Continent until April 1945. The group attacked such targets as an oil refinery at
Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...
, a marshalling yard at
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
, a railroad viaduct at
Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...
, steel plants at Brunswick, a tank factory at
Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
, and gas works at Berlin. The group took part in the intensive campaign of heavy bombers against the German aircraft industry during
Big Week Big Week or Operation Argument was a sequence of raids by the United States Army Air Forces and RAF Bomber Command from 20 to 25 February 1944, as part of the Strategic bombing during World War II#US bombing in Europe, European strategic bombin ...
, 20 – 25 February 1944, being awarded a
Distinguished Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enem ...
(DUC) for bombing an aircraft and component parts factory at
Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...
on 24 February. The unit sometimes supported ground forces or carried out interdictory operations along with bombing airfields and V-weapon sites in France prior to the
Normandy invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...
in June 1944 and struck coastal defences and choke points on D-Day. The group hit enemy positions to assist ground forces at
Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...
, December 1944 – January 1945. Dropped supplies to Allied troops during the air attack on Holland in September 1944 and during the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945. The 392nd Bomb Group flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945, then carried food to the Dutch. The unit returned to Charleston Army Airfield South Carolina, in the north east of the USA on 25 June 1945 and was inactivated on 13 September 1945.


Royal Air Force use

When the Americans left, Wendling RAF was returned to the Air Ministry and transferred to
RAF Maintenance Command RAF Maintenance Command was the Royal Air Force command which was responsible for controlling maintenance for all the United Kingdom-based units from formation on 1 April 1938 until being renamed RAF Support Command on 31 August 1973. History ...
and was used by No. 258 Maintenance Unit RAF as a stand-by airfield, later becoming an inactive station before being finally closed on 22 November 1961. The airfield was also home to No. 4249 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment. It was used between June 1960 and April 1964 by the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air 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 of the United States Army Signal ...
as a radio facility before being finally closed and sold in 1964.


Current use

With the end of military control the airfield has become a turkey farm, with large coops built along its runways. Most of the buildings and hardstands have been torn down and the concrete removed. Also much of the perimeter track has been reduced to a single lane road. A granite obelisk monument to the men of the 392nd Bomb Group and stands well maintained and cared for in a small plot just off the airfield on the road to Beeston. The monument was dedicated in September 1945.


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

* * * Freeman, Roger A. (1991) ''The Mighty Eighth: The Colour Record''. Cassell & Co. *


External links


Wendling Airfield Photo Gallery

392d Bomb Group Website

Wendling @ www.b24.net

mighty8thaf.preller.us Wendling


{{DEFAULTSORT:Wendling Airfields of the VIII Bomber Command in Norfolk Royal Air Force stations in Norfolk