Geedee & Rocketeers USAAF B-24 Base Tour - UK

[Rocketeer]

Gary is having issues with his PC so you'll have to suffer me! B-24 Stop 9 was USAAF Station 123 Horsham St Faith.
The airfield opened as an RAF Bomber Command base in June 1940. It was a pre-war airfield that had five C-type hangars. A variety of aircraft types served at the airfield; Blenheims, Spitfires from Duxford including the first ever RAF Spitfire squadron No.19.

Boulton and Paul Defiant were based there in May 40. Several Blenheim bomber squadrons were based at Horsham St Faith.

When Battle of Britain ace Douglas Bader was shot down and became a POW, replacement legs were dropped by Horsham Blenheim bombers during a bombing raid.
In May 1942, the airfield was taken over by the USAAF. The first units to arrive were 319th BG with their B-26 Marauders then the 56th FG with their P-47 Thunderbolts.
After airfield modifications, in Jan 1944 the 458th BG arrived from Tonopah AF in Nevada with their B-24s. The first op was 24 Feb. The last op was 25 April 1945. The BG flew 240 operations losing 47 aircraft.
After the war, the airfield was used by many RAF units including Spitfires, meteors,canberras. It closed in 1963 and was developed into Norwich airport. There is a good museum on part of the old airfield, though it was closed when we visited. Apparently many buildings remain as well as several hangars. The airport has seen more airline use.
There were not many opportunities to photo on our visit so we will have to go back!

 

[Rocketeer]

Ok part 1 of Rackheath. We will include photos from the visit and two of the best memorials you can get...the control tower in Pt 1 and the last Flying B-24 Witchcraft in Pt 2.
Rackheath USAAF Station 145. The airfield was built as a heavy bomber base starting in 1943. It featured the standard 3 runways (a main of 2,000 yards and two auxiliary runways of 1,400 yards) and with peritracks. Two hangars were erected for major aircraft maintenance, and dispersed temporary building accommodation provided for some 2.400 men in the woods.

The airfield opened in March 1944 and the 467th BG arrived from Utah (Wendover AAF). The group tail code was a "Circle-P". The 467th consisted of four squadrons: the 788th BS, 789th BS, 790th BS and 791st BS.

On the 10th April 1944, the BG conducted its first operation agaisnt the airfield at Bourges in France. Other targets included Kiel harbour, Bonn chemical plants, Stuttgart textile factories, Hamm power plants, the Osnabruck steel works and the aircraft industry at Brunswick. The group, like other B24 BGs supported the DDay and Normandy invasion with bombing of shore defences and supply routes. This moved on to aiding the allied push through Europe and into Germany.

Notable aircraft based with the BG included Witchcraft. The only true flying B24 today with the Collings Foundation is painted up as Witchcraft.

So what is there now? The technical site is now the Rackheath Industrial Estate with several of the wartime buildings being modified or extended, and used for light industry. The access road to the estate is named Wendover Road to commemorate the 467th airbase in the US. One estate road is named after the base commander (Albert Shower), another after the Liberator and one after Witchcraft.

The control tower has been restored into a wonderful building for a software company. Gary and I were very lucky to be allowed inside and up onto its icy roof! The reuse of this historic building is brilliant. The view towards the steps should be compared to some of the other towers we visited. One of the original hangars is modified.

There is memorial. The main runway is mostly gone but you can see where it went. Two friendly motorcyclists chatted to us. When we spied the control tower, we ran across a beet field like excited school kids in the diminishing light!

 

[Rocketeer]

Pt 2 Stop 10 Rackheath
Jack Weyler was a pilot at Rackheath and flew many missions. I was lucky to video him inside the Collings Foundation B-24 painted as the famed Witchcraft in 2016.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ4SqA_VB90


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OKPz7rRZF7M


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3PhbrTByduQ

 

[Airframes]

Brilliant !
Rackheath was one of the first airfields I visited in Norfolk, back in 1968, so great to see the tower restored and in use, and good of the company to let you in.
Also good to know that The Green Man pub, on the main road opposite the airfield, is still trading..... er ..... not that I would know, of course !!

 

[fubar57]

Great stuff

 

[Crimea_River]

Excellent. great that you got up on the tower.

 

[Wayne Little]

Sweet!

 

[Gnomey]

Excellent stuff guys!

 

[Geedee]

Hey chaps, apologies for the delay but I've been having major issues with my home PC and nearly lost my pics !
I won't add too many pics as Tony has done a great job and covered the location pretty well. The Tower is in spotless condition and kudos to the guys that are based there as they have without doubt, recognised the importance of what happened 75 + years ago and the fact that it was the base of the Rackheath Aggies and also 'Witchcraft.
You more than likely know that I have a soft spot for a certain airworthy B-24 that is currently painted up to represent 'Witchcraft', so I make no apologies for adding a few pics of yours truly getting up close and personal (With thanks to my buddy 'Ven for the shot of me up thru the top hatch while looking out as FE !. The shot of me in the right seat was taken on a move flight when we had no passengers, just crew on board.
When I get some more Ali in for upgrades on my '51, I'm going to have a go at making a copy of the weathervane

 

[Gnomey]

Nice shots Gary!

 

[Geedee]

Rackheath was the last stop of day two and a brilliant stop it was too
Day three dawned bright and early...well, for us it did anyway...and we jumped in the car and headed of to the first stop of the day which was Metfield.
Metfield was built as a standard, Class-A bomber design airfield, with 3 runways, and 50 dispersal points. It was built for the 8th AAF and was known as known as Station 366 and it was known as one of the most isolated 8th AAF stations in Suffolk.
First on the scene was the 353rd Fighter Group with the mighty Jug and they moved in, in Aug '43 and where assigned to the 66th Fighter Wing. The Group consisted of the following Squadrons and the Group markings were black, yellow, black, yellow spinners, and a black and yellow check band around the cowling to the end of the exhaust stubs.

• 350th FS (LH)
• 351st FS (YJ)
• 352nd FS (SX)

Here's a link to the website 353rd FG...353rdFighterGroup
In April '44 the 353rd moved to RAF Raydon and the 491st Bombardment Group (Ringmasters) started moving in in May '44
Welcome
On 15 July 1944 at 7:30pm, the bomb dump at Metfield exploded.
One bomb mysteriously went-off causing a chain reaction and 1,200...yes twelve hundred !...tons of bombs 'cooked-off !. There were 5 personnel killed in the resultant blast that wrote of 5 '24's and very badly damaged a further 6.
As you can see in the googlemaps pic, there is virtually nothing left of the base except some single track remnants. The memorial is set-back from the main road and I have put a red circle on the map to show where it is. We stopped just before the Memorial site and looked at an untouched Pill-Box on the airfield boundary. Tony made friends with a Robin here and left it some he-man food as it was cold and frosty. Tony will fill you in on the details .
The Memorial itself is very well designed with the airfield layout inscribed in the concrete at the base.
On with the Pics.

 

[Airframes]

Marvelous Gary.
Tony been chatting up birds then ?

 

[Crimea_River]

He was tweeting.

 

[Airframes]

Yer coat's over there ....................

 

[Crimea_River]

...got it.....

 

[Crimea_River]

...got it.....

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely shots guys!

 

[Wayne Little]

Excellent pics.

 

[T Bolt]

Wonderful guys, keep them coming.

 

[Geedee]

Cheers guys, next stop to follow tomorrow eve !