RAF Framlingham
Encyclopedia
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal District of Suffolk, England. Commonly referred to as "Fram" by the locals, it is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. It has a population of 3,114 at the 2001 census...
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...
.
USAAF use
Framlingham airfield was built in 1942 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....
. It was built as a standard heavy bomber airfield to Class A specification. The three intersecting runways were of 2,030, 1.440 and 1,430 yards length. There was an encircling concrete perimeter track and fifty aircraft hardstands, along with two T-2 hangars, technical sites and Nissen hut accommodations for some 3,000 persons, dispersed in the surrounding countryside.
No part of the airfield fell within the boundary of Framlingham parish, the site being some three miles to the east between the villages of Great Glemham
Great Glemham
Great Glemham is a village and a civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal District, in the English county of Suffolk. It is a few miles away from the A12 road. Great Glemham has a pub and two places of worship. It is located between the towns of Framlingham and Saxmundham.- References :*...
and Parham
Parham, Suffolk
Parham is a village and civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located seven miles north of Woodbridge, in 2005 it had a population of 300.Parham Airfield Museum is located nearby.-External links:*...
, with all the technical sites, administrative buildings and living sites around Silverlace Green.
The airfield was opened in 1943 and was given USAAF designation Station 153 (FM).
95th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
The 95th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived at Framlingham on 12 May 1943 from Rapid City AAF South DakotaSouth 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...
. The 95th was assigned to the 35th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Square-B". Its operational squadrons were:
- 334th Bombardment Squadron334th Bombardment SquadronThe 334th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 95th Bombardment Wing. It was inactivated at Biggs Air Force Base, Texas on 25 June 1966-History:...
(BG) - 335th Bombardment Squadron335th Bombardment SquadronThe 335th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4130th Strategic Wing. It was inactivated at Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas on 15 September 1963-History:...
(OE) - 336th Bombardment Squadron336th Bombardment SquadronThe 336th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4138th Strategic Wing. It was inactivated at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia on 1 Feb 1963-History:...
(ET) - 412th Bombardment Squadron (QW)
The group flew the B-17 Flying Fortress as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign and entered combat on 13 May 1943 by attacking an airfield at Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer , a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais. The town is named after Saint Audomar, who brought Christianity to the area....
. After suffering disastrous losses in its daylight air attacks on the Continent, the 95th was transferred to nearby RAF Horham
RAF Horham
RAF Horham is a World War II era airfield in England. The field is located next to the village of Horham, England, and 4 miles SE of Eye in Suffolk. The large site straddled the parishes of Denham, Horham and Hoxne.-USAAF use:...
on 15 June to regroup.
390th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
The 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived at Framlingham on 4 July 1943 from Great Falls Army Air Base MontanaMontana
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,...
. The 390th was assigned to the 13th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Square-J". Its operational squadrons were:
- 568th Bombardment Squadron (BI)
- 569th Bombardment Squadron (CC)
- 570th Bombardment Squadron (DI)
- 571st Bombardment Squadron (FC)
The group flew the B-17 Flying Fortress as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign and operated chiefly against strategic objectives, flying many missions with the aid of pathfinders. The 390th began combat on 12 August 1943. Five days later, the group attacked the Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt AG was a famous German aircraft manufacturing corporation named for its chief designer, Willy Messerschmitt, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262...
aircraft complex 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...
and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for the mission.
The 390th received a 2d DUC for a mission on 14 October 1943 when the group braved unrelenting assaults by enemy fighters to bomb the antifriction-bearing plants at Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km northeast of Würzburg.- History :...
. Participating in the intensive Allied assault on the German aircraft industry during Big Week
Big Week
Between February 20–25, 1944, as part of the European strategic bombing campaign, the United States Strategic Air Forces launched Operation Argument, a series of missions against the Third Reich that became known as Big Week. The planners intended to lure the Luftwaffe into a decisive battle by...
, 20–25 February 1944, the organization bombed aircraft factories, instrument plants and air parks. Other strategic missions included attacks on marshalling yards at Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, bridges at Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, oil facilities at Zeitz
Zeitz
Zeitz is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Weiße Elster, in the middle of the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony.-History:...
, factories at Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, naval installations at Bremen and synthetic oil refineries at 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....
.
The group sometimes flew interdictory and support missions, including the following:
- Bombing the coast near CaenCaenCaen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
fifteen minutes before the landings in NormandyD-DayD-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...
on 6 June 1944; - Attacking enemy artillery in support of ground forces during the breakthrough at Saint-LôSaint-LôSaint-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; - Cutting German supply lines during the Battle of the BulgeBattle of the BulgeThe 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; - Hitting airfields in support of the airborne assault across the RhineOperation VarsityOperation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
in March 1945.
The 390th Bomb Group flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945. In over 300 missions, they dropped 19,000 tons of bombs. They lost 181 aircraft and seven hundred and fourteen airmen were killed. The group dropped food supplies to the Dutch during the week prior to V-E Day.
The unit 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...
during August and was inactivated on 28 August 1945.
Legacy
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...
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
390th Strategic Missile Wing was activated on 1 January 1962 at Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. On activation, the wing was bestowed the lineage, history and honors of the World War II USAAF 390th Bomb Group.
The activation of the 390th SMW marked the first standing up of a Titan II missile wing. Deactivation began on 1 October 1982, with the last missile coming off alert status in May 1983. In July 1983 SAC deactivated the 390th Strategic Missile Wing.
Postwar use
After the war, Framlingham became a clearing station for the rehabilitation of Polish nationals before being abandoned and closed in late 1948. The land was returned to agriculture and the runways were broken up and ground into aggregate. Buildings were allowed to dilapidate and were used for farm storage. Among them was the Control Tower which was shot up and abandoned after the Americans held a riotous farewell party there in August 1945.Today the runways and hardstands of Framlingham airfield have long since been removed for hardcore. The perimeter track has been reduced to one lane farm access roads, but remains fundamentally complete. The technical site is in use as an industrial estate, with many of the World War II nissen huts in use.
In 1976, a project was undertaken to restore the derelict control tower. The Tower was finally dedicated as the 390th Bombardment Group Memorial Air Museum of the USAAF on 13 May 1981 and, since then, has remained in active contact with, and received steadfast support from, US veterans, their relatives, supporters and Friends.