Royal Air Force Feltwell or more simply RAF Feltwell is a

Royal Air Force station The Royal Air Force (RAF) operates several stations throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. This includes front-line and training air bases, support, administrative and training stations with no flying activity, unmanned airfields used fo ...

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 ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

that is used by the

United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa The United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) is a United States Air Force (USAF) major command (MAJCOM) and a component command of both United States European Command (USEUCOM) and United States Africa Command ...

. The station is located about 10 miles west of

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

, and is in the borough of

King's Lynn and West Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk is a local government district with borough status in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in the town of King's Lynn. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 147,451. History The district was ...

at approximate

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grid reference . A former

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

bomber station, the airfield is used as a housing estate for

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 ...

personnel stationed nearby at

RAF Mildenhall Royal Air Force Mildenhall or RAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as a Royal Air Force station, it primarily supports United States Air Force (USAF) operations, ...

History

Royal Air Force use

RAF Feltwell aerial photograph WWII IWM HU 93048

The airfield was built during the period of expansion of the RAF in the late 1930s and is similar in layout to many of the other RAF airfields of the period (for example

RAF Marham RAF Marham is a Royal Air Force station and military airbase near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia. It is home to No. 138 Expeditionary Air Wing (138 EAW) and, as such, is one of the RAF's "Main Operating ...

RAF Watton Royal Air Force Watton or more simply RAF Watton is a former Royal Air Force station located southwest of East Dereham, Norfolk, England. Opened in 1937 it was used by both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) d ...

and

RAF West Raynham Royal Air Force West Raynham or more simply RAF West Raynham is a former Royal Air Force station located west of West Raynham, Norfolk and southwest of Fakenham, Norfolk, England. The airfield opened during May 1939 and was used by RAF Bomb ...

). The airfield was home to a number of heavy bomber squadrons of the RAF during the

. Post war RAF Thor Missiles were stationed here 1958–1963. After the departure of the Thor missiles in 1963, the RAF's Officer Cadet Training Unit was based on the station, transferring from

RAF Jurby Royal Air Force Station Jurby or more simply RAF Jurby is a former Royal Air Force station built in the north west of the Isle of Man. It was opened in 1939 on of land acquired by the Air Ministry in 1937, under the control of No. 29 Group, ...

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, in September 1963.

United States Air Force use

From 1989 it also hosted the US Air Force's

5th Space Surveillance Squadron The United States Space Force's 5th Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron (5 EWS) is a space electromagnetic warfare unit located at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. Mission The mission of the 5 SSS was to operate the Low Altitude Space Surveill ...

(5 SPSS) which was subordinate to the 21st Operations Group (21 OG) and the

21st Space Wing The 21st Space Wing (21 SW) was the United States Space Force's ground–based missile warning and space control wing. The 21st Space Wing was assigned to Space Operations Command and headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. The 21st ...

(21 SW), both at

Peterson AFB Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a U.S. Space Force Base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home to the No ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. These organisations in turn are subordinate to the

14th Air Force The Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF; Air Forces Strategic) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The command was responsible for the organizatio ...

(14 AF) at

Vandenberg AFB Vandenberg Space Force Base , previously Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from th ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

which reports to HQ

Air Force Space Command The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

(AFSPC), also at Peterson AFB, CO. The 5 SPSS was part of the USAF's Passive Space Surveillance Network which tracked the physical location of emitting satellites in orbit. This data along with that from other systems was used to adjust the orbits of various satellites and manned vessels (for instance the Space Shuttle and the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

) to reduce the risk of on-orbit collisions. It was deactivated in 2003 and the activity transferred to

Misawa Air Base is an air base of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy located in Misawa, Aomori, in the northern part of the island of Honshū of Japan. It is located northeast of Misawa railwa ...

in Japan. The base is used as a housing estate for United States Air Force personnel stationed nearby at

and

RAF Lakenheath Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, north-east of Mildenhall and west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon. Despite being an RAF sta ...

with new housing built in 2011. Earlier it was used for USAF unaccompanied airmen in barracks located on base, while also containing the Mathies Airman Leadership School for USAF personnel in the UK, as well as being the home of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service's sole furniture store in the country. It also houses the only Middle School for Lakenheath and Mildenhall, which covers most of the station. RAF Feltwell was administered by Detachment 4 of the

18th Intelligence Squadron The 18th Intelligence Squadron is an intelligence organization of the United States Air Force, located at Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado. The squadron delivers decision advantage through strong mission partnerships to the air component, th ...

, which was a space control intelligence organization of the

, located at Wright-Patterson AFB,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and which has one other geographically separated detachments: Detachment 2,

Osan AB Hanja:) , partof = , location = , nearest_town = Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province , country = South Korea , image = Osan Air Base 51 FW F-16 A-10 Flyby.jpg , alt = US Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon and A-1 ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

.Richelson, Jeffrey. The United States Intelligence Community, 3rd edition However, the 18th IS was deactivated during September 2020 and then reactivated as the US Space Force's 73rd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron, which is assigned to

Space Delta 7 Space Delta 7 (DEL 7) is a United States Space Force unit responsible for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) for the United States Space Force. The delta provides actionable and time-sensitive intelligence for space domain oper ...

Former units

Former units include: *

No. 37 Squadron RAF No. 37 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron of the First and Second World Wars. History First World War No. 37 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at RFC Orfordness, Suffolk, on 15 April 1916 as an experimental squadron, but i ...

(1937–1940) – Handley Page Harrow, Vickers Wellington I *

No. 57 Squadron RAF Number 57 Squadron, also known as No. LVII Squadron, is a Royal Air Force flying training squadron, operating the Grob Prefect T1 from RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire. History First World War No. 57 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed fr ...

(1940–1942) – Vickers Wellington I * No. 75 Squadron RAF (1940–1942) – Vickers Wellington I *

No. 77 Squadron RAF No. 77 Squadron RAF was a squadron of the Royal Air Force which was active in various incarnations between 1916 and 1963. History No. 77 Squadron was formed on 1 October 1916 at Edinburgh, and was equipped with B.E.2 and B.E.12 aircraft. The squ ...

(1958–1963) – Thor IRBM and the USAF 672d Technical Training Squadron and 99th Munitions Maintenance Squadron *

No. 192 Squadron RAF No. 192 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron operational during the First World War as a night training squadron and during the Second World War as a radar countermeasure unit. After the war the squadron served again in the Electronic Intell ...

(1943) – Handley Page Halifax II & V *

No. 214 Squadron RAF No. 214 Squadron is a former unit of the Royal Air Force. History World War I No 214 Squadron was formed from No. 14 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), itself formerly ''No. 7A Squadron RNAS'' only taking on the new number on 9 December ...

(1937–1939) – Handley Page Harrow, Vickers Wellington I * No. 464 Squadron RAAF (1942) – Lockheed Ventura I & II * No. 487 Squadron RNZAF (1942–1943) – Lockheed Ventura I & II *

No. 651 Squadron RAF The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, using the numero sign, t ...

(1955–1957) –

Auster AOP6 The Auster AOP.6 was a British military air observation aircraft produced by Auster Aircraft Limited to replace the numerous wartime Taylorcraft Auster aircraft then in-service. History The Auster AOP.6 (Auster Model K) was designed as a succ ...

* No. 3 Lancaster Finishing School (1943–1945) –

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

* No. 3 Flying Training School RAF *

No. 3 Service Flying Training School RAF 03 may refer to: __NOTOC__ Dates The years 1803, 1903, or 2003 Music * ''03'' (Twelve album), 2007 * ''03'' (Son of Dave album), 2008 * ''03'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2013 Other uses * 3 (number) * 3, Triq ix-Xatt, a nineteenth-century buildin ...

* No. 7 Temporary Depot Station * No. 20 Heavy Glider Maintenance Section * No. 76 (Bomber) Wing RAF *

No. 1519 (Beam Approach Training) Flight RAF This is a List of Beam Approach beacon system Units of the Royal Air Force. The first system to guide RAF aircraft safely down onto a runway was called the Standard Blind Approach (SBA) system and was trialled in the late 1930s. It was also being ...

No. 2724 Squadron RAF Regiment This is a list of units of the Royal Air Force Regiment. The RAF Regiment is the ground fighting force of the Royal Air Force and is charged mainly with protecting military airfields, among other duties. First formed in 1942 to protect the airfi ...

* No. 2736 Squadron RAF Regiment *

No. 2807 Squadron RAF Regiment This is a list of units of the Royal Air Force Regiment. The RAF Regiment is the ground fighting force of the Royal Air Force and is charged mainly with protecting military airfields, among other duties. First formed in 1942 to protect the airfi ...

* No. 4194 Anti-Aircraft Flight RAF Regiment * Bomber Command Radar School * Bomber Command Strategic Missile School * Bombing Development Unit * Central Bomber Establishment * Gee-H Training Flight * Midland Area Flying Instructors School * New Zealand Flight * Northern Area Flying Instructors School * Radio Training Squadron * RAF Officer Cadet Training Unit * School of Instructional Technique

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feltwell Installations of the United States Air Force in the United Kingdom

Feltwell Feltwell is a village which holds an RAF base 10 miles (16 km) west of Thetford, Norfolk, England, and is in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. Landmarks and facilities Feltwell has the largest area of any parish in Norfolk. It is ...

Royal Air Force stations in Norfolk Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom

RAF 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 ...

History

Royal Air Force use

United States Air Force use

Former units

See also

References