RAF Thurleigh
Encyclopedia
- For the post World War IIWorld War IIWorld 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...
use of this facility, see RAE BedfordRAE BedfordRAE Bedford based near the village of Thurleigh, north of the town of Bedford in England, has been the site of major aircraft experimental development work....
RAF Thurleigh was a 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...
station located five miles north of Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
, 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...
. Thurleigh was transferred to the U.S. 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....
on 9 December 1942, designated Station 111, and used for heavy bomber operations against Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.
Origins
Thurleigh was built for RAF Bomber CommandRAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
in 1941 by W & C French Ltd. one mile north of the village of Thurleigh on farmland between the farms of Buryfields, Bletsoe Park, Manor, and Whitwickgreen. It was eventually modified to Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
Class A airfield
Class A airfield
Class A airfields were military installations originally built for the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. Several were transferred to the U.S...
specifications, with three converging runways, extended in 1942 to lengths of 6,000 feet (runway
Runway
According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
06-24) and 4,200 feet (runways 36-18 and 12-30). Thurleigh was unique among bomber bases in having four T2 type metal hangar
Hangar
A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...
s where most bases had only two.
RAF Bomber Command use
Its first use was by No. 160 SquadronNo. 160 Squadron RAF
No. 160 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force unit during World War II, when it flew for four years in a number of roles including heavy bomber, minelaying, reconnaissance, special operations and transport unit in the Middle East and South-East Asian theatre of World War II.-World War I: False start:No...
, forming on 15 January 1942, equipped with U.S.supplied B-24 Liberator bombers, known by in RAF service as the "Liberator II". 160 Squadron trained and flew operational missions from Thurleigh until 5 July, then deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater
China Burma India Theater of World War II
China Burma India Theater was the name used by the United States Army for its forces operating in conjunction with British and Chinese Allied air and land forces in China, Burma, and India during World War II...
at Ratmalana Air Base, Ceylon.
USAAF use
Thurleigh was one of 28 fields listed for use by the U.S. Eighth Air Force on 4 June 1942, tentatively designated station B-4, and was allocated on 10 August 1942. The RAF had found that the initial construction of Thurleigh was inadequate for the combat weight of B-24 bombers. After the departure of the RAF, Thurleigh's runways were lengthened, increased in thickness, and additional hardstands constructed to Class A standards so it could accommodate a USAAF heavy bomber group.From 16 September 1943 though 25 June 1945, Thurleigh served as headquarters for the 40th Combat Bombardment Wing of the 1st Bomb Division.
306th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
With the essential construction completed, the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) deployed to Thurleigh on 7 September 1942 from Wendover AAFWendover Air Force Base
Wendover Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Utah now known as Wendover Airport. During World War II it was a training base for B-17 and B-24 bomber crews. It was the training site of the 509th Composite Group, the B-29 unit which dropped the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs...
Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. The 306th was assigned to the 40th Combat Wing also at Thurleigh. The group tail code was a "Triangle H". Its operational squadrons were:
- 367th Bombardment Squadron (GY)
- 368th Bombardment Squadron368th Bombardment SquadronThe 368th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 306th Bombardment Wing stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.-History:Established as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomb group in early 1942...
(BO) - 369th Bombardment Squadron369th Bombardment SquadronThe 369th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 306th Bombardment Wing stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.-History:Established as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomb group in early 1942...
(WW) - 423d Bombardment Squadron423d Bombardment SquadronThe 423d Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 306th Bombardment Wing stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.-History:Established as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomb group in early 1942...
(RD)
The group flew the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft, and remained at Thurleigh until 1 December 1945. That was the longest tenure of any U.S. air group at a UK base.
At Thurleigh, the group operated primarily against strategic targets initially in occupied France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
, then later in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The group struck locomotive works at Lille, railway yards at Rouen, submarine pens at Bordeaux, shipbuilding yards at Vegesack, ball-bearing works 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 :...
, oil plants at Merseburg, marshalling yards at 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 ....
, a foundry at Hannover, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, aircraft factories at Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, and numerous other targets on the Continent.
The 306th led the Eighth Air Force on its first mission to bomb a target in Germany on 27 January 1943, attacking U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
yards at Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
, and suffered severe losses in attacks on Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
on 16 April 1943, and Schweinfurt
Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission
The Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission was an air combat battle in World War II. A strategic bombing attack flown by B-17 Flying Fortresses of the U.S. Army Air Forces on August 17, 1943, it was conceived as an ambitious plan to cripple the German aircraft industry...
, 17 August 1943.
On 11 January 1944, without fighter escort and in the face of strong opposition, the 306th was part of a 1st Bombardment Division mission against aircraft factories in central Germany in which all groups were awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. The 306th Bomb Group received a second DUC 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...
, the intensive campaign against the German aircraft industry, when it effectively bombed an aircraft assembly plant at Bernberg on 22 February 1944, after poor weather forced other groups to abandon the mission.
The 306th Bomb Group flew its 342nd and final mission on 19 April 1945, the most of any Eighth Air Force B-17 unit except the 303rd Bomb Group. It compiled 9,614 sorties; dropped 22,575 tons of bombs; and had 171 B-17's fail to return from missions.
Twelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock HighTwelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High is a 1949 American war film about aircrews in the United States Army's Eighth Air Force who flew daylight bombing missions against Nazi Germany and occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II. The film was adapted by Sy Bartlett, Henry King ...
was a 1949 film
1949 in film
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
and book about bomber crews of the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
who flew the initial daylight bombing missions against Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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...
. Twelve O'Clock High is frequently cited by surviving bomber crew members as the most accurate depiction by Hollywood of their life during the war. This film is used by the U.S. Navy as an example of leadership styles in its Leadership and Management Training School. The Air Force's College for Enlisted Professional Military Education also uses this film as an education aid in its Non-commissioned Officer Academies.
The protagonist of the story, Brigadier General Frank Savage, group commander of the fictional 918th Bomb Group, was modelled on Colonel Frank A. Armstrong
Frank A. Armstrong
Frank Alton Armstrong, Jr. was a brigadier general in the United States Army Air Forces and the inspiration for the main character in the novel and subsequent film, Twelve O'Clock High. After the war he became a lieutenant general in the United States Air Force.Armstrong was born in Hamilton,...
, a group Commander of the 306th BG. The fictional counterparts of Thurleigh and the 306th Bomb Group were "Archbury" and the "918th Bomb Group".
RAE Bedford
Starting in 1946, construction work began on the airfield to turn the site into what became known as the Royal Aeronautical Establishment, BedfordRAE Bedford
RAE Bedford based near the village of Thurleigh, north of the town of Bedford in England, has been the site of major aircraft experimental development work....
. The runway was extended in the post-war period to accommodate the Bristol Brabazon
Bristol Brabazon
The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon was a large propeller-driven airliner, designed by the Bristol Aeroplane Company to fly transatlantic routes from the United Kingdom to the United States. The prototype was delivered in 1949, only to prove a commercial failure when airlines felt the airliner was too...
aircraft (which required a very long runway) that ultimately never went into production. One local road was dropped into a cutting so that it would not sit above the level of the runway.
The airfield was decommissioned in February 1994 after a lengthy study determined that flight operations should be centralised at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
.
Due to the cost and impracticality of relocating the Advanced Flight Simulator system the site retains some of its development work (under the banner of QinetiQ
QinetiQ
Qinetiq is a British global defence technology company, formed from the greater part of the former UK government agency, Defence Evaluation and Research Agency , when it was split up in June 2001...
from mid-2001 onwards). As of early 2007, QinetiQ have sold their remaining stake in the Bedford Airfield site (as well as the nearby 'Wind Tunnel' site) and are planning to relocate the remaining staff to Farnborough in early 2008, finally ending the site's long association with military aviation.
The airfield was closed in 1997 with the RAE having become the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency
The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence until July 2, 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation...
(DERA). DERA consolidated its experimental flying operations at Boscombe Down, moving aircraft from Farnborough
Farnborough Airfield
Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...
as well as Bedford.
Civil use
With the end of military control, the airfield has been divided into two parts. The southern part is now known as Thurleigh Business Park, and includes the runway, which is currently used for the mass storage of new cars, although it remains intact for possible future use. The northern part houses the Bedford AutodromeBedford Autodrome
Bedford Autodrome is based just north of Bedford, England, in the village of Thurleigh. It is owned by former Formula One driver Jonathan Palmer.-The autodrome:...
, as well as Thurleigh Museum which is dedicated primarily to the airfield and life in the area during World War 2.