RAF Shepherds Grove
Encyclopedia
RAF Shepherds Grove is a former Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 base 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...

 England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 9 miles NE of Bury St Edmunds.

The base was built for the United States Army Air Force Eighth Air Force
Eighth 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....

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. However the facility was not used by the USAAF and was opened by 3 Group, RAF on 3 April 1944. The name came from a small copse nearby and the airfield is close to Walsham le Willows in Suffolk.

It was occupied by 196 squadron
No. 196 Squadron RAF
No. 196 Squadron was a Royal Air Force squadron originally formed as a training unit during World War I. It was active during World War II in Nos. 3, 4 and 38 Group RAF...

 in January 1945 as a base for Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...

, supporting the Rhine crossing.

USAF use

After World War II F-86A Sabres of 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...

 116th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron were stationed there in August 1951. The 116th FIS was a mobilized Air National Guard
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...

 squadron from Washington State assigned to the newly-activated 81st Fighter-Bomber Wing. In September the 91st and 92d FIS arrived at Shepherds Grove from Moses Lake AFB, Washington to complete the complement of squadrons assigned to the 81st FBW.

The 81st FBW however, did not stay at Shepherds Grove long, moving Wing Headquarters to RAF Bentwaters
RAF Bentwaters
RAF Bentwaters, now known as Bentwaters Parks, is a former Royal Air Force station about 80 miles NE of London, 10 miles ENE of Ipswich, near Woodbridge, Suffolk in England...

 in late September 1951, and relocating the 91st FIS with them. The 116th FIS returned to state control in November 1952 and was replaced by the 78th FIS
78th Reconnaissance Squadron
The 78th Reconnaissance Squadron is part of the Tenth Air Force, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. The 78 RS conducts operations from Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in conjunction with their active-duty associates in the Air Force Warfare Center.-Mission:The mission of the...

. With the move of the 81st FBW headquarters to Bentwaters, the 7519th Air Base Squadron was the administrative USAFE host unit.

In mid-1953, the 78th and 92d FIS upgraded their F-86A models to F-86F's, in preparation for the arrival of the F-84F "Thunderstreak" in April 1954. With the arrival of the F-84s, the squadrons names were changed to Fighter-Bomber squadron.

Markings of the 78th FIS F-84s were a three-beamed, black-trimmed red sunburst design
Sunburst (design)
A Sunburst is a design or figure commonly used in architectural ornaments and design patterns. It consists of rays or "beams" radiating out from a central disk in the manner of sunbeams. Sometimes part of a sunburst, a semicircular or semi-elliptical shape, is used...

. The 92d covered almost the entire vertical stabilizer above the horizontal stabilizer with yellow, with a diagonal line.

In March 1955 the 92d FIS was reassigned to the 406th Fighter-Interceptor Wing at RAF Manston
RAF Manston
RAF Manston was an RAF station in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site is now split between a commercial airport Kent International Airport and a continuing military use by the Defence Fire Training and Development Centre , following on from a long...

 and re-equipped with F-86Ds but remained at Shepherds Grove. In September 1955, the 87th was re-designated the 512th FIS.

The 78th FIS moved to RAF Sculthorpe
RAF Sculthorpe
RAF Sculthorpe is a military training facility for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence, situated about west of Fakenham in Norfolk, England...

 in May 1956. The 78th briefly returned to Shepherds Grove in May 1957 before leaving for good to RAF Woodbridge
RAF Woodbridge
Royal Air Force Station Woodbridge, more commonly referred to as RAF Woodbridge, is a former Royal Air Force military airbase situated to the east of Woodbridge in the county of Suffolk, England...

 in December 1958 when the USAF turned Shepherds Grove to the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

.

Nuclear weapons storage

Shepherds Grove was also used as a storage facility for nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s. The nuclear store dates from February 1957. The rectangular area was originally double fenced, and was guarded 24 hours a day. Dogs patrolled between the fences dusk to dawn and in bad weather when visibility was reduced. There are two watch towers, one inside and one outside the surviving perimeter fence, which were manned at all times, as was the gate picket.

There are two igloo type buildings for the major part of the bombs, in the case of Shepherds Grove these were first Mk7's and later Mk28 thermonuclear weapons. The third igloo building, externally identical to the bomb stores where the main casings were kept on their bomb trolleys, was used for nuclear component storage. This building is only about half as long as the main stores, and contains a huge concrete safe. The two bomb stores are reinforced concrete boxes, mounded in earth, with gravel filled steel doors. The largest building other than these is a large building on a single story, used for maintenance of the weapons. There was also a Nissen hut
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...

 for general storage, and for painting the weapon casings.

On 22 July 1956, No. 82 Squadron RAF
No. 82 Squadron RAF
No. 82 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron that was first formed in 1917 and last disbanded in 1963. It served at times as a bomber unit, a reconnaissance unit and lastly as a Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile unit...

 was activated at Shepherds Grove as a Thor missile unit. Thor launching sites were built on the main airfield and became operational in 1959.

The base was closed in 1966.

Part of the main airfield site is now an industrial estate. In 2007 the remaining runway was taken up and buildings demolished, the clearance was completed in 2008 when all remnants of the airfield were removed and crushed. The remaining site is now for sale for development as industrial land. It is proposed to site a waste incinerator on the site.

See also

  • List of RAF stations
  • United States Air Forces in Europe
    United States Air Forces in Europe
    The United States Air Forces in Europe is the United States Air Force component of U.S. European Command, a Department of Defense unified command, and is one of two Air Force Major Commands outside of the continental United States, the other being the Pacific Air Forces...

  • United States Air Force in the United Kingdom
    United States Air Force in the United Kingdom
    Since 1941 the United States has maintained air bases in the United Kingdom. Major Commands of the USAF having bases in the United Kingdom were the United States Air Forces in Europe , Strategic Air Command , and Air Mobility Command .-Origins:...


External links

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