RAF Feltwell
Encyclopedia
RAF Feltwell is a Royal Air Force station in Norfolk
, East Anglia
that is currently used by the United States Air Forces Europe. The station is located about 10 miles west of Thetford
, and is in the borough of King's Lynn
at approximate Ordnance Survey
grid reference .
A former Second World War bomber station, the base is used as a housing estate for United States Air Force
personnel stationed nearby at RAF Mildenhall
and RAF Lakenheath
, 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 base.
, RAF Watton
and RAF West Raynham
). The airfield was home to a number of heavy bomber squadrons of the RAF during World War II
. Post war RAF Thor Missiles
were stationed here at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis
.
Between 1989 and 2003 it also hosted the US Air Force's 5th Space Surveillance Squadron
(5 SPSS) which was subordinate to the 21st Operations Group (21 OG) and the 21st Space Wing
(21 SW), both at Peterson AFB, Colorado
. These organizations in turn are subordinate to the 14th Air Force (14 AF) at Vandenberg AFB, California
which reports to HQ Air Force Space Command
(AFSPC), also at Peterson AFB, CO.
The 5 SPSS (initially designated "Detachment 1, 73rd Space Surveillance Group", or "Det 1 SSURGP") 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
) to reduce the risk of on-orbit collisions.
However other USAF systems and capabilities ultimately superseded DSTS and it were removed in 2002 and the unit was de-activated shortly thereafter. The 21st Space Wing now has a detachment at RAF Fylingdales
, UK, to coordinate cooperative missile warning and space surveillance with RAF counterparts.
USAAF
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
that is currently used by the United States Air Forces Europe. The station is located about 10 miles west of Thetford
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 south of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , has a population of 21,588.-History:...
, and is in the borough of King's Lynn
King's Lynn
King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....
at approximate Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
grid reference .
A former Second World War bomber station, the base is used as a housing estate for 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...
personnel stationed nearby at RAF Mildenhall
RAF Mildenhall
RAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force station located at Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as an RAF station, it primarily supports United States Air Force operations and is currently the home of the 100th Air Refueling Wing...
and RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force military airbase near Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel...
, while also containing the Mathies Airman Leadership School
Airman Leadership School
Airman Leadership School is a five week-long United States Air Force program designed to develop airmen into effective front-line supervisors. It is the first professional military education that enlisted Air Force members encounter...
for USAF personnel in the UK, as well as being the home of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service
Army and Air Force Exchange Service
The Exchange is an agency of the United States Department of Defense. Its dual missions are to provide quality merchandise and services of necessity and convenience to authorized customers at uniform low prices, and to generate reasonable earnings to supplement appropriated funds for the support...
's sole furniture store in the country. It also houses the only Middle School for Lakenheath and Mildenhall, which covers most of the base.
History
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 MarhamRAF Marham
Royal Air Force Station Marham, more commonly known as RAF Marham, is a Royal Air Force station; a military airbase, near the village of Marham in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia....
, RAF Watton
RAF Watton
Royal Air Force Station Watton is a former military airfield in Norfolk, England. The airfield is located approximately south-southwest of East Dereham....
and RAF West Raynham
RAF West Raynham
RAF West Raynham was a Royal Air Force station located west of the village of West Raynham in Norfolk, England. It opened in the 1930s and closed in 1994. During the Second World War, RAF Bomber Command operations from RAF West Raynham claimed 86 aircraft. The site was sold by the Ministry of...
). The airfield was home to a number of heavy bomber squadrons of the RAF 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...
. Post war RAF Thor Missiles
PGM-17 Thor
Thor was the first operational ballistic missile of the U.S. Air Force . Named after the Norse god of thunder, it was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate range ballistic missile with thermonuclear warheads. Thor was in height and in diameter. It was...
were stationed here at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
.
Between 1989 and 2003 it also hosted the US Air Force's 5th Space Surveillance Squadron
5th Space Surveillance Squadron
The United States Air Force's 5th Space Surveillance Squadron was a space surveillance unit located at RAF Feltwell, United Kingdom.-Mission:...
(5 SPSS) which was subordinate to the 21st Operations Group (21 OG) and the 21st Space Wing
21st Space Wing
The 21st Space Wing is a unit of the Air Force Space Command based at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. The unit is tasked with the operation of early missile warning and space object detection equipment around the world in support of NORAD and USSTRATCOM through a network of command and control...
(21 SW), both at Peterson AFB, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. These organizations in turn are subordinate to the 14th Air Force (14 AF) at Vandenberg AFB, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
which reports to HQ Air Force Space Command
Air Force Space Command
Air Force Space Command is a major command of the United States Department of the Air Force, with its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. AFSPC supports U.S. military operations worldwide through the use of many different types of satellite, launch and cyber operations....
(AFSPC), also at Peterson AFB, CO.
The 5 SPSS (initially designated "Detachment 1, 73rd Space Surveillance Group", or "Det 1 SSURGP") 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
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
) to reduce the risk of on-orbit collisions.
However other USAF systems and capabilities ultimately superseded DSTS and it were removed in 2002 and the unit was de-activated shortly thereafter. The 21st Space Wing now has a detachment at RAF Fylingdales
RAF Fylingdales
RAF Fylingdales is a Royal Air Force station on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Its motto is "Vigilamus" . It is a radar base and part of the United States-controlled Ballistic Missile Early Warning System...
, UK, to coordinate cooperative missile warning and space surveillance with RAF counterparts.
Operational units and aircraft
RAF- No. 37 Squadron RAFNo. 37 Squadron RAF-History:No. 37 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed at Orfordness, Suffolk, on 15 April 1916 but ceased to exist a month later. In September of that year, it was re-formed, with headquarters at Woodham Mortimer, in Essex. It responsibilities included defending London against aerial attack...
(1937–1940) - Handley Page HarrowHandley Page H.P.54 Harrow|-See also:-Bibliography:* Barnes, C.H. Handley Page Aircraft since 1907. London: Putnam Publishing, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-803-8.* Clayton, Donald C. Handley Page, an Aircraft Album. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd., 1969. ISBN 0-7110-0094-8....
, Vickers Wellington IVickers WellingtonThe Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a... - No. 57 Squadron RAFNo. 57 Squadron RAF-History:57 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps was formed on 8 June 1916 at Copmanthorpe, Yorkshire. In December 1916 the squadron was posted to France equipped with the FE2d. The squadron re-equipped with Airco DH4s in May 1917 and commenced long range bombing and reconnaissance operations near...
(1940–1942) - Vickers Wellington I - No. 75 Squadron RAFNo. 75 Squadron RAFNo. 75 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operated as a bomber unit in World War II, before being transferred to the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1945.-First World War, Royal Flying Corps, Home Defence Squadron :...
(1940–1942) - Vickers Wellington I - No. 77 Squadron RAFNo. 77 Squadron RAFNo. 77 Squadron RAF was formed on 1 October 1916 at Edinburgh, and was equipped with B.E.2 and B.E.12 aircraft. The squadron disbanded at RAF Turnhouse on June 13, 1919....
(1958–1963) - Thor IRBMPGM-17 ThorThor was the first operational ballistic missile of the U.S. Air Force . Named after the Norse god of thunder, it was deployed in the United Kingdom between 1959 and September 1963 as an intermediate range ballistic missile with thermonuclear warheads. Thor was in height and in diameter. It was... - No. 192 Squadron RAFNo. 192 Squadron RAFNo. 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 Intelligence role, until disbanded.-Formation in World War...
(1943) - Handley Page Halifax II & VHandley Page HalifaxThe Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing... - No. 214 Squadron RAFNo. 214 Squadron RAF-History:No 214 Squadron was formed from No. 14 Squadron Royal Naval Air Service , itself formerly No. 7A Squadron RNAS only taking on the new number in 9 December 1917. With the creation of the RAF from the Royal Flying Corps and the RNAS on 1 April 1918 it received the number 214. It was later...
(1937–1939) - Handley Page Harrow, Vickers Wellington I - No. 464 Squadron RAAFNo. 464 Squadron RAAFNo. 464 Squadron RAAF was a Royal Australian Air Force bomber squadron during World War II.-History:The Squadron was officially formed on 1 September 1942 at RAF Feltwell, Norfolk in the United Kingdom, under the Empire Air Training Scheme. No...
(1942) - Lockheed Ventura I & IILockheed VenturaThe Lockheed Ventura was a bomber and patrol aircraft of World War II, used by United States and British Commonwealth forces in several guises... - No. 487 Squadron RNZAFNo. 487 Squadron RNZAFNo. 487 Squadron was a Royal New Zealand Air Force bomber squadron, formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme. It served in the European theatre during World War II, under the operational command of the Royal Air Force.-History:No...
(1942–1943) - Lockheed Ventura I & II - No. 651 Squadron RAFNo. 651 Squadron RAFNo. 651 Squadron RAF was a unit of the Royal Air Force in Italy and North Africa during the Second World War and afterwards in Egypt. Numbers 651 to 663 Squadrons of the RAF were Air Observation Post units working closely with Army units in artillery spotting and liaison. A further three of these...
(1955–1957) - Auster AOP6
USAAF
See also
- List of RAF stations
- United States Air Forces in EuropeUnited States Air Forces in EuropeThe 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 KingdomUnited States Air Force in the United KingdomSince 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:...