RAF Great Ashfield
Encyclopedia
Bury St. Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, England, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre...
and two miles south of Great Ashfield
Great Ashfield
Great Ashfield is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. According to Eilert Ekwall the meaning of the village name is Field with Ash trees. The Domesday Book records the population of Great Ashfield in 1086 to be 67....
village in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. 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 World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and before the USAF arrived the RAF had been using it for training, during that period it was known as RAF Elmswell.
USAAF 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 MarauderB-26 Marauder
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
returning from a raid over Holland on 17 May 1943.
385th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
The airfield was opened on 19 June 1943 and was used by the United States Army Air Force Eighth Air ForceEighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....
385th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
385th Strategic Aerospace Wing
The 385th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Mobility Command. It was last known to be stationed at Incirlik AB, Turkey...
. The 385th arrived from Great Falls AAF
Malmstrom Air Force Base
Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place in Cascade County, Montana, United States. It was named in honor of World War II POW Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom...
Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
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 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, Holland and Norway. The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing an aircraft factory at Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
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 Zwickau
Zwickau
Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the south-western region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau...
on 12 May 1944, being awarded another DUC for this performance. Other strategic targets included aircraft factories in Oschersleben
Oschersleben
Oschersleben is a town in the Börde district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The population in 1905 was 13,271, in 2005 about 18,000.-Geography:...
and Marienburg
Marienburg
-The historical German names of these places:*Ordensburg Marienburg , the large brick castle built by the Teutonic Knights**Malbork, Poland, site of the Ordensburg Marienburg, formerly Marienburg in Westpreußen and during World War II, Nazi Stalag XX-B for enlisted men*Alūksne, Latvia*Feldioara,...
, battery works in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, airfields in Beauvais
Beauvais
Beauvais is a city approximately by highway north of central Paris, in the northern French region of Picardie. It currently has a population of over 60,000 inhabitants.- History :...
and Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
, oil refineries in Ludwigshafen and Merseburg
Merseburg
Merseburg is a town in the south of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt on the river Saale, approx. 14 km south of Halle . It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese founded by Archbishop Adalbert of Magdeburg....
, and marshalling yards in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
and Oranienburg
Oranienburg
Oranienburg is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel.- Geography :Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin.- Division of the town :...
.
Sometimes supported ground forces and struck interdictory targets. Attacked coastline defenses in June 1944 in preparation for the Normandy invasion
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
and hit marshalling yards and choke points during the landing on D-Day. Bombed enemy positions in support of ground forces at Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô is a commune in north-western France, the capital of the Manche department in Normandy.-History:Originally called Briovère , the town is built on and around ramparts. Originally it was a Gaul fortified settlement...
in July 1944. Attacked German communications and fortifications during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
, 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 Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
hero First Lieutenant John C. Morgan), eight of the others were killed when the bomber exploded.
After V-E Day, the 385th Bomb Group hauled prisoners of war from Germany to Allied centers and flew food to Holland. The group returned to Sioux Falls AAF
Sioux Falls Regional Airport
Sioux Falls Regional Airport , also known as Joe Foss Field, is a joint civil and military use airport located three nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Sioux Falls, a city in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, United States...
South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
on 28 August 1945 and was deactivated.
Legacy
During the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
385th Strategic Aerospace Wing
385th Strategic Aerospace Wing
The 385th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Mobility Command. It was last known to be stationed at Incirlik AB, Turkey...
, based at Offut AFB Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
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 RAF 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.