RAF Sudbury
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RAF Sudbury (Also known as Acton) is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 2 miles W of Sudbury in Suffolk.
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[edit] USAAF use
Sudbury airfield was opened in 1944 and was built to the standard Class A heavy bomber base with three intersecting concrete runways of standard lengths with Fifty hardstands and two T2 hangars to meet the USAAF bomber requirements. The airfield had a slight gradient towards the north-east and was constructed on what had been farmland. Most of the temporary building accommodation for some 3,000 men was situated around the village street of Great Waldingfield to the east of the airfield and accessible by crossing the B1115 road from Sudbury to Lavenham. The facility was used by the United States Army Air Force Eighth Air Force. Sudbury was given USAAF designation Station 174 (SU).
[edit] 486th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
The 486th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived from Davis-Monthan AAF Arizona during March 1944. the 486th was assigned to the 4th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code initially was a "Square-O". When the group converted from B-24s to B-17s during the summer of 1944, the Group ID was changed to "Square-W", perhaps to avoid confusion with the Square-D on B-17s of the 100th Bomb Group. The 486th was the only group to change its ID.
Its operational squadrons were:
- 832d Bomb Squadron (3R)
- 833d Bomb Squadron (4N)
- 834th Bomb Squadron (2S)
- 835th Bomb Squadron (H8)
The group flew both the B-24 Liberator and the B-17 Flying Fortress as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign and operated chiefly against strategic objectives in Germany until May 1945. Targets included marshalling yards in Stuttgart, Cologne, and Mainz; airfields in Kassel and Munster; oil refineries and storage plants in Merseburg, Dollbergen, and Hamburg; harbors in Bremen and Kiel; and factories in Mannheim and Weimar.
Other missions included bombing airfields, gun positions, V-weapon sites (total of nine "No Ball" missions beginning June 20),[1] and railroad bridges in France in preparation for or in support of the invasion of Normandy in June 1944; striking road junctions and troop concentrations in support of ground forces pushing across France, Jul-Aug 1944; hitting gun emplacements near Arnheim to minimize transport and glider losses during the airborne invasion of Holland in September 1944; and bombing enemy installations in support of ground troops during the Battle of the Bulge (Dec 1944-Jan 1945) and the assault across the Rhine (Mar-Apr 1945).
The 468th Bomb Group returned to the Drew AAF Florida during August 1945 and was deactivated on 7 November.
[edit] Postwar use
After the war, the field was closed in 1945. Today the airfield is now largely covered in vegetation or been dug up in sections so as to plant crops. Piles of concrete sit in dumps. At this airfield the 486th bomb group USAF was based. There are still some hangars to be seen but only the base of the control tower remains. Much of the perimeter track and hardstands can still be seen in their original state although some material has been removed.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Freeman, Roger A., Airfields Of The Eighth, Then And Now, 1978
- Sudbury
- mighty8thaf.preller.us Sudbury
- Maurer Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, 1983
- USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present
