Sculthorpe Secrecy and Stealth E-Book

Peter B. Gunn

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 299

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

Set in the north Norfolk countryside, Sculthorpe was the hub of offensive operations until its closure in 1944 for upgrading as a base for heavy bombers, its runway ideal for US Strategic Air Command bombers like the B-29. By 1951, it was formally handed over to US control and became a prime front-line nuclear bomber base as well as a centre of intelligence gathering via secret surveillance flights over Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. There are many unanswered questions about the base during this period, not least regarding the 'RAF Special Duties Flight' which carried out two overflights of the Soviet Union in 1952 and 1954. After 1962, the airfield once again became a standby base used by the USAF, the RAF and the Army.

Leseprobe

For Janet, Elspeth and all the family who have given so much support and encouragement

CONTENTS

Title

Dedication

Introduction and Acknowledgements

Timelines

1.

Beginnings

2.

First Units (1943–44)

3.

Airfield Development (1944–49)

4.

A Second Friendly Invasion

5.

Bombers Arrive (1949)

6.

Handover to the Americans (1949–51)

7.

Airfield and USAF Expansion

8.

Secret Flights

9.

47th Bombardment Wing and the First Jet Bomber

10.

1953 Floods – Tragedy and Heroism

11.

Sculthorpe’s Heyday (1953–56)

12.

Life On and Off Base

13.

Fresh Horizons (1957–60)

14.

Deactivation to Standby

15.

Standby to STANTA

16.

Airfield Infrastructure

Appendix I

Sources and Bibliography

Appendix II

Commanding Officers

Appendix III

Units 1943–44

Appendix IV

Aircraft Losses 1943

Appendix V

Units from 1949

Appendix VI

Support Units 1953, 1955 and 1957

Appendix VII

Aircraft Losses from 1949

Glossary and Note on Currency

Copyright

INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There is much about Sculthorpe which has fascinated me since I lived at Harpley in the early 1980s, watching the American TR-1 spy planes (variant of the U-2) carrying out circuits and bumps, and the F111 bombers from Lakenheath, at the time that President Reagan was ordering the bombing raid against Colonel Gaddafi in Libya in April 1986. The airfield was in active use as a standby base but this was some years after its key role as a nuclear base at the height of the Cold War, which is the theme of this book.

April 2014 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the second secret flight over the Soviet Union from Sculthorpe by the Royal Air Force Special Duty Flight, one of the most intriguing operations in the early part of the Cold War and until recently one of the least known. There was much else that was clandestine about the history of the airfield and many unanswered questions about its role today. One fact is certain: the base has been central in the life of the local community for the best part of seventy years.

I have been very fortunate to have been able to contact some of those who recall the base in its heyday, both as servicemen and civilians. Many have been kind enough to lend me photographs and I have been endlessly entertained by their reminiscences and memories.

Barry Wells, Roger Lowe, Simon Thorpe, Tony Nelson, Verrall Grimes, Mr and Mrs John Odell and Gary Windeler have all provided valuable local knowledge. I have been exceptionally fortunate to receive help and advice from aviation historian Michael J.F. Bowyer, who generously supplied photographs and gave me permission to quote from his book Force for Freedom. Chris Lowe, a member of the Airfield Research Group, drew the three airfield plans included in the book. I am very grateful for copies of the photographs of the late Richard Jermy, who also provided much information about the airfield. Mike Hooks of Aeroplane magazine kindly sent me photographs of Sculthorpe-based aircraft. Flight Sergeant Mark Service, historian of the 67th Special Operations Squadron US Air Force (formerly the 67th Air Rescue Squadron), has been a valuable source of photographs and information. I have had several fascinating discussions with local historian Jim Baldwin about the airfield, which he has known since his boyhood. I would strongly recommend his pioneering works 40 Years of RAF Sculthorpe 1943–1983 (1986) and RAF Sculthorpe: 50 Years of Watching and Waiting (1999).

Thanks are also due to Roland Axman, Ted Barnes, Mrs K. Bygrave, Jenny Campling, Bob Collis and his colleague Kim Collinson, Mike Digby, Chris Doubleday, Mrs Joyce Doubleday, Eddie Piggott of the Green Park Centre at Sculthorpe, Allen Frary of the Wells Lifeboat Station, Graham Haynes, Cliff Howard, Donald Ketteringham, Muriel Kidd, Avril MacArthur, John Maiden, Anne Manning (née Teviotdale), R.T. Newman, Steve Nowell, Linda Nudds, Peter Pells, Sheena Riches, Steve Snelling, Bob Vigar, the late Wing Commander Ken Wallis MBE, Jim Wheeler, Allan Womack and Robin Woolven.

Many American veterans and their families generously supplied information and photographs via letters, Facebook, email and various websites. I am very grateful for the help of Donald Aspinall, Dr Robert Boudreau, Bill Blythe, Misha ben-David, Dan and Jan Daley, Nathan Decker and his website Forgotten Jets, Donald Hall, Herbert Kulik, Kathy Leming, Joan Sheppard Lio, John Lucero, Lou Natale, John Northcut, Jerry Paradis, Janet Duwe Ramsey, Jerry Roth, Karen Bell Ruskin, Allen Shockley, Jewel M. ‘Nip’ Smart, Bill and Jean Tollefson, Jerry Wickstrum and David S. Whitaker. Some of these contacts have been made possible through the Sculthorpe group site on Facebook, which remains a constant source of information and entertainment about life at the base over the years.

In the course of my research I consulted many archives and sources, all cited in the text and bibliography. These include the National Archives at Kew, British Library Newspapers at Colindale, the Royal Air Force Museum library at Hendon, Cambridge University Library, the Royal Air Force Historical Society, and the online resource of the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base. Local sources have included the Fakenham Museum of Gas and Local History, the Norfolk Record Office, Norfolk Heritage Centre and the Norfolk Historic Environment Record of Norfolk County Council, the 2nd Air Division (USAAF) Memorial Library in Norwich and the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum at Flixton near Diss.

My thanks are also due to the staff of the Stanford Training Area (STANTA) based in Thetford, who have given up their time on several occasions to escort me around the Ministry of Defence section of airfield site.

I am very grateful to the editors at The History Press, in particular Chrissy McMorris, who supervised the production of this book. My sister Elspeth Mackinlay once again took on the tedious but vital task of proofreading and saved me from many errors. My wife Janet has always been a source of encouragement and support in the long and laborious process of research and writing, in spite of my neglect of many household tasks.

COPYRIGHT PERMISSIONS

Extracts and photographs cited in textual notes and the bibliography are reproduced by kind permission of several publishers and authors. These include Paul Lashmar, author of Spy Flights of the Cold War (Sutton Publishing 1996), and Bruce Williamson from the website www.spyflight.co.uk.

Extracts from the books of Colonel Wolfgang W.E. Samuel (USAF, retired) are reproduced by permission of the author and Cynthia Foster, Permissions Manager of the University Press of Mississippi (see bibliography and footnotes for details). Extracts from The B-45 Tornado: An Operational History of the First American Jet Bomber by John C. Fredriksen (2009) are reproduced by kind permission of Lois Grubb, Business Manager, McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson NC.

Extracts from newspapers are reproduced by permission of Solo Syndication (the Daily Mail, a division of Associated Newspapers UK Ltd), Mirrorpix (the Daily Mirror), The Star (Sheffield Newspapers Limited, editor Jeremy Clifford), and the Lynn News (editor Nick Woodhead and photographer Paul Tibbs).

Wing Commander C.G. Jefford gave me permission to quote from ‘Air Intelligence: A Symposium’, Journal of the Royal Air Force Historical Society, in Chapter Eight (Secret Flights).

Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders but if there are any errors or omissions, I would be glad to rectify these in future editions.

Peter B. Gunn,

Docking, Norfolk, September 2013.

TIMELINES

Norfolk & Regional

National & International

1942

29–30 Apr.

First ‘Baedeker’ raid on Norwich, part of a campaign in 1942 and 1943 to bomb some of the historic cities of England, including Ipswich, Bath, Exeter and King’s Lynn.

Bombing campaign from East Anglian airfields. USAAF begins to arrive in England. Shipdham becomes first USAAF heavy bomber base in Norfolk. Operational from October.

Sculthorpe airfield built by Bovis Ltd and Constable Hart Ltd towards end of year.

Sep.

Manhattan Project begins in USA to design and build an atomic bomb.

Oct.–Nov.

Battle of El Alamein – turning point for Allies in North Africa.

1943

Jan.

Mosquitoes from RAF Marham carry out the first daylight raid on Berlin.

May

No. 342 ‘Lorraine’ Sqn first unit to arrive at Sculthorpe. Station ceases to be satellite.

Jun.

2 Gp RAF assigned to newly formed 2nd Tactical Air Force with HQ at Bylaugh Hall, Dereham.

Jul.–Sep.

Mosquitoes of Nos. 464, 487 and 21 Sqns arrive and train for invasion support. Sculthorpe designated No. 140 Airfield.

Sculthorpe opens as satellite for W. Raynham within No. 2 Gp RAF.

32 Horsa gliders arrive for storage.

Sculthorpe ceases to be a satellite and becomes a station in its own right.

Nov.

No. 100 (Bomber Support) Gp RAF formed – for radio countermeasures (RCM).

Dec.

No. 140 Wing squadrons leave Sculthorpe for Hunsdon as No. 2 Gp squadrons move south.

Jan.

German surrender at Stalingrad.

Feb.–May

Rommel in full retreat in Tunisia. End of German and Italian resistance in N. Africa.

May

617 Sqn ‘Dam Busters’ raid.

Tide turns against U-Boats in Atlantic.

Jul.

Germans defeated by Soviets at Kursk.

Allied invasion of Sicily.

Mussolini falls from power in Italy.

Sep.

Allied landings at Messina and Salerno.

Italy signs armistice.

1944

Jan.–Jun.

100 Gp HQ moves to Bylaugh Hall, Dereham.

Jan.

First units of 100 Gp RAF arrive at Sculthorpe (214 Sqn RAF and 803rd Bomb Sqn (BS) USAAF.

May

Sculthorpe closes for conversion into a Very Heavy Bomber (VHB) Airfield.

Jan.

Allied landings at Anzio.

Soviet forces break siege at Leningrad.

Steady advance drives Germans back.

May

Allies break German resistance at Monte Cassino – turning point in Italy.

6Jun.

D-Day landings in Normandy.

V1 flying bomb campaign begins.

Sep.

V2 Rocket campaign against London and East Anglia.

Battle of Arnhem.

Dec.

German counterattack in Ardennes – ‘Battle of the Bulge’.

1945

8 May

Victory in Europe Day – VE Day

15 Aug.

Victory over Japan – VJ Day

Feb.

Dresden bombed.

Mar.

Allies cross Rhine.

May

Germany surrenders.

Jul.

US explodes world’s first atomic bomb in New Mexico.

Aug.

Japanese surrender follows A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

1946

Mar.

Visit of Boeing B-29A Superfortresses to Marham for joint Anglo-US bomb trials lasting 180 days in Operation ‘Ruby’.

Mar.

Churchill’s speech at Fulton, Missouri, USA:

‘An iron curtain has descended across the continent.’

The US Army Air Force creates three new combat commands: Strategic Air Command (SAC), Air Defense Command (ADC) and Tactical Air Command (TAC).

Aug.

US Congress passes the McMahon Act (Atomic Energy Act) which prohibits supply of information on atomic matters to any other nation.

1947

Jun.

First deployment of USAAF B-29 bombers to England, from 340th Bomb Sqn (BS), arriving Marham 9 June, for one week. This is the first American deployment of bombers to the UK since the end of the Second World War.

Sep.

US Air Force becomes an independent service.

Boeing B-50 bomber (upgraded and modified version of the B-29) begins to replace the B-29 in SAC during year.

1948

Aug.

In response to the international situation the US 3rd Air Div. (Provisional) sets up HQ at Marham. For the first time, US forces were being stationed in a friendly country in peacetime. USAF B-29 Bomb Groups are despatched in rotation for 90-day periods (TDYs) to various East Anglian bases, the 28th Bomb Gp (BG) to Scampton, the 307th BG to Marham with the 372nd Bomb Sqn (BS) to Waddington, and the 2nd BG to Lakenheath.

Apr.

US President Harry S. Truman announces Marshall Plan – offering economic aid to west European nations.

Jun.

Berlin crisis. Soviets blockade all land routes to city and Allies begin airlift, named Operation ‘Vittles’.

Sep.

3rd Air Div. HQ moves to Bushy Park nr London.

Oct.

Lt Gen. Curtis LeMay takes command of USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC).

1949

Sculthorpe reopens as Very Heavy Bomber (VHB) Airfield.

Feb.

92nd BG of USAF SAC becomes first unit to arrive. B-29 bombers on TDY to counter Soviet threats over Berlin. This was part of the 3rd TDY UK deployment.

SAC units continue to use airfield on 90-day rotation.

Aug.

B-50A Lucky Lady II 46-010 arrives at airfield (63rd BS, 43rd BG). (Feb. to March covered 23,452 miles in first round-the-world non-stop flight.)

18 Nov.

Crew flying a Douglas C-74 Globemaster I The Champ lands at RAF Marham after a 23-hour flight from Mobile, Alabama, USA. On board are a transatlantic-record 103 passengers and crew.

Apr.

3rd Air Div. HQ moves to South Ruislip.

May

Berlin blockade lifted. Tension remains high.

North Atlantic Treaty signed. NATO formed.

Jul.

USSR explodes first atomic bomb.

Sept.

Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) founded.

Oct.

Communist People’s Republic of China founded under Mao.

German Democratic Republic (East Germany) founded.

1950

Mar.

First of 4 B-29 Superfortresses (named Washingtons) supplied to RAF. First equip No. 149 Sqn at Marham.

Lakenheath declared the US base in UK with the best potential – runways 1 x 9,000ft, 2 x 6,000ft.

Jan.

Mutual Defence Assistance Agreement signed with USA under the North Atlantic Treaty. B-29 bombers to be delivered to RAF.

Jun.

Korean War begins. North Korea invades South Korea. A diversionary attack by the Soviets in Western Europe is feared. Plans to increase USAF deployments in UK.

1951

Jan.

USAF formally takes over Sculthorpe as tenant.

Arrival of North American RB-45C at Sculthorpe with the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (SRW) – the first operational four-jet aircraft.

Jul.

Three Convair B-36 bombers overfly Festival of Britain London Exhibition on way to Paris Air Show.

Nov.

B-36 bombers arrive on detachment for the first time to Sculthorpe.

12–18 Dec.

Visual Bombing Competition

Joint Winners 9th Bomb Wing (BW) and 301st Bomb Wing (BW) (B-29s).

Mar.

USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC) 7th Air Div. HQ at South Ruislip nr London to take charge of all SAC bomber and fighter units visiting UK on rotation.

May

USAF 3rd Air Div. becomes Third Air Force, HQ South Ruislip.

Tactical units now added to Third AF responsibilities based at Mildenhall, Lakenheath, Sculthorpe, Wyton and Bassingbourn, and fighter jets at Manston, Kent.

First British RAF jet bomber, Canberra, in RAF service – 101 Sqn (May 1951).

First flight of Vickers Valiant prototype – to become first of RAF V-bomber force.

Oct.

Winston Churchill returns as prime minister.

US 49th Air Div. activated to supervise and control USAF operations.

1952

17–18 Apr.

First of the ‘secret flights’ over the USSR by the RAF Special Duty Flt from Sculthorpe.

May–Jun.

US 49th Air Div. HQ moves to Sculthorpe (until July 1956). Component parts the 47th Bomb Wing (BW) (at Sculthorpe) and 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing (FBW) based at Wethersfield, Essex, and Woodbridge, Suffolk.

6 Feb.

Death of King George VI at Sandringham.

Oct.

First British atomic bomb exploded at Monte Bello, Australia.

Nov.

1953

Jan.–Feb.

East coast floods. Damage and loss of life. Sculthorpe personnel assist in the crisis.

US explodes first hydrogen bomb.

Dwight D. Eisenhower elected US President.

Mar.

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin dies. Nikita Khrushchev succeeds.

Jun.

Queen Elizabeth II crowned.

Jul.

Korean War armistice signed.

Aug.

USSR explodes first hydrogen bomb.

Nov.

First RAF atomic bomb ‘Blue Danube’ into service.

1954

28–29 Apr.

‘Secret flight’ over USSR by RAF Special Duty Flt from Sculthorpe.

By the middle of the year tactical nuclear weapons were being stored here by the USAF here.

May

Sculthorpe hosts first ‘open day’.

Dec.

Daily Mail articles reveal Sculthorpe as a nuclear base for the first time.

Mar.

US tests hydrogen bomb.

1955

Alconbury becomes a satellite airfield of Sculthorpe until the end of the year, when it becomes an independent station of the Third Air Force.

29 Mar.

3 USAF RB-45C Tornados of 19th Tactical Reconn. Sqn (TRS) make secret flight over USSR military installations and cities. Soviet fighters were scrambled but unable to locate the US aircraft at night. All three aircraft return safely to their base in West Germany.

Feb.

First RAF V-bomber, the Valiant, into service.

May

West Germany becomes member of NATO.

Rearmament follows. Bundeswehr (Armed Forces of Federal German Republic – West Germany) formed.

Warsaw Pact (USSR and Allies) formed.

Jun.

Boeing B-52 enters service with USAF.

Jul.

First of the 4-Power Summits held at Geneva to open up dialogue and reduce tension in Cold War: US, Britain, USSR and France. Eisenhower had approved secret flight (of 29 March) to gain up-to-date intelligence beforehand.

1956

15 Mar.

Arrival of the first Valiant V-bomber to 214 Sqn at Marham.

Apr.

Soviet leaders Khrushchev and Bulganin visit Marham during their visit to the UK.

Jul.

49th Air Div. disbanded at Sculthorpe.

May

Vulcan enters service with RAF.

Oct.

Hungarian uprising against USSR.

Nov.

Suez crisis.

1957

Feb.

Douglas RB-66 Destroyers begin to replace the RB-45s in the 19th TRS at Sculthorpe.

Aug.

First Soviet Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launched.

Oct.

Soviet Sputnik launched (world’s first artificial satellite).

Nov.

Victor V-bomber enters RAF service.

Britain’s Operation ‘Grapple’ – first UK hydrogen bomb exploded.

Dec.

US launch Atlas missile – first American ICBM.

1958

Jan.

Douglas B-66B Destroyers begin to replace the B-45s in the 47th BW at Sculthorpe.

Sep.

Feltwell becomes first HQ base for US-built Thor ballistic missiles (ICBMs). 4 satellite bases included Mepal, North Pickenham, Shepherds Grove and Tuddenham. Eventually there would be 20 Thor launch sites in East Anglia and Yorkshire.

Jan.

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) formed.

1959

Thor deployments (as above).

Jan.

Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba.

Feb.

US launch first Titan ICBM.

Jun.

First ballistic missile-carrying US submarine launched – USS George Washington.

Summer – Gen. Charles de Gaulle orders all US nuclear weapons out of France. USAF units redistributed to W. Germany, England and USA.

1960

48th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) moves from France to Lakenheath.

Feb.

First French atom bomb test. France becomes fourth nuclear power.

May

US pilot Gary Powers shot down in U-2 spy plane over USSR.

1961

Jan.

John F. Kennedy becomes US President.

Apr.

Yuri Gagarin of USSR becomes first man in space.

‘Bay of Pigs’ attempted invasion of Cuba.

May

Alan Shepard becomes first US man in space.

Aug.

Berlin Wall erected by USSR.

1962

Jun.

47th BW deactivated at Sculthorpe and airfield becomes a standby base.

7375th Support Group to administer base until 1964.

Oct.

Cuban missile crisis.

1963

Aug.

Phase-out of Thor missiles completed.

Jan.

Britain announces building of nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines and purchase of US Polaris missiles.

Aug.

UK, USA and USSR sign limited Test Ban Treaty to end atmospheric nuclear testing.

Nov.

President Kennedy assassinated.

1964

Mar.

420th Air Refuelling Squadron leaves Sculthorpe for Edwards AFB. The last permanent flying unit at the base.

Sculthorpe returns to RAF use.

Oct.

Khrushchev ousted from power in Soviet Union.

China detonates first nuclear weapon.

1965

Mar.

US marines deploy to Vietnam. US start to bomb N. Vietnam.

Apr.

TSR2 aircraft cancelled.

1966

Mar.

Gen. de Gaulle announces that France will withdraw from NATO by 1967. US forces given notice to withdraw from France.

1967

Jan.

USAF Stores Depot reopens at Sculthorpe as result of USAF withdrawal from France. No plans to station aircraft at present.

Apr.

Sculthorpe becomes a Standby Dispersal Base for the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) based at Lakenheath. 7519th Combat Support Sqn to administer base.

Jun.

Arab–Israeli Six-Day War.

China explodes first hydrogen bomb.

Aug.

France explodes hydrogen bomb.

1968

Sculthorpe’s main runway resurfaced.

Some demolition of buildings and refurbishment of existing buildings.

Jun.

First Polaris submarine into service.

Aug.

Soviet forces crush Czech ‘Prague Spring’.

1969

Jun.

‘Strategic quick reaction’ passes from RAF to RN Polaris submarines.

Jul.

Apollo 11 lands on moon – first manned moon landing.

1970

Mar.

Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty ratified by US, UK and USSR.

1971

1972

Apr.

US Third Air Force HQ moves to Mildenhall.

Sep.

First Flintlock exercise (Flintlock V) at Sculthorpe.

May

SALT I Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement signed.

1973

Jan.

Britain joins European Union.

Vietnam Peace Treaty.

Oct.

Yom Kippur War and oil crisis.

1974

Mar.

First flight of RAF Tornado prototype.

1975

Apr.

US pulls out of Vietnam

1976

7519th CSS disbanded. Sculthorpe handed back to MOD.

Base now Detachment 1 of the 48th TFW.

Sep.

Chinese Chairman Mao Tse-Tung dies.

1977

Runways resurfaced. Base used for exercises.

Soviet SS-20 missiles deployed in Europe.

1978

Jul.

First RAF aircraft return to Sculthorpe: Victor K2 Tankers from Nos. 55 and 57 Sqns, RAF Marham.

1979

Dec.

NATO deploys 572 Pershing missiles and ground launched cruise missiles (GLCMs).

USSR invades Afghanistan.

1980

Jul.

Britain announces purchase of US Trident system.

1981

MAP Project (Mutual Military Assistance Program) at Sculthorpe. Danish and Norwegian Air Forces fly in surplus North American F-100s, Lockheed Starfighters and T-33s for conversion to Turkish Air Force. Also ex-French Air Force aircraft arrive for scrapping.

1982

Apr.– Jun.

Falklands War.

Jun.

Tornado enters service with RAF.

1983

Mar.

President Reagan announces Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) – ‘Star Wars’.

Nov.

First cruise missiles arrive at RAF Greenham Common.

1984

CND starts ‘Snowball’ campaign, demonstrating at a number of US bases including Sculthorpe. Symbolic wire cutting of perimeter fencing. Arrests made.

1985

‘Snowball’ campaign continues in spring.

Mar.

Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader.

1986

15–16 Apr.

US 48th TFW based at Lakenheath take part in raid on Libya.

Apr.

Operation ‘Eldorado Canyon’ – US attack on suspected terrorist targets in Libya.

1987

Dec.

US and USSR sign Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty – Pershings, GLCMs and Warsaw Pact SS-20s to be withdrawn from Europe.

1988

Apr.

Last Lightning fighter withdrawn from RAF .

1989

Year of collapse of Soviet power in Eastern Europe.

Nov.

Berlin Wall taken down.

1990

Aug.

Iraq invades Kuwait.

Oct.

Germany unified.

1991

Sculthorpe tasked with supplying Medivac role. Not required in the end.

Jan.

First Gulf War – Operation ‘Desert Storm’.

May

GLCM wing (cruise missiles) deactivated at Greenham Common.

Jul.

Warsaw Pact dissolved.

Sep.

Royal Observer Corps disbanded.

Dec.

USSR dissolved.

1992

2 Oct.

US Air Force finally departs from Sculthorpe.

Base handed over to MOD.

1. BEGINNINGS

RAF West Raynham in Norfolk had opened in April 1939 as a grass field, and with the start of the war in September began to operate within No. 2 Group Bomber Command. By July 1940, a satellite airfield had been established 2½ miles to the east at Great Massingham.

By 1942 an enormous expansion of the air war was taking place, with the RAF bomber offensive against Germany building up and the anticipated arrival of units from the United States Army Air Force (USAAF). The Air Ministry had an insatiable requirement for further airfield building and East Anglia was in the front line of the expanding air war. Existing airfields were developed with concrete runways, and new sites were found to act as satellite airfields.

Concrete runways were being laid at West Raynham during 1942 (and soon at Great Massingham) and a second satellite airfield was planned at a site 4 miles to the north. The airfield at Sculthorpe took its name from the small village to its east. The place name originates from an Old Norse personal name, Skúli, + thorp, an ‘outlying settlement’ or ‘hamlet’. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book as having 60 acres of glebe land. As airfields were usually named after the parish in which they were situated, the site found itself straddled between the parishes of Dunton and Tattersett, which were actually nearer to what became the airfield than the village of Sculthorpe. Close by, just to the north-west, lay the village of Syderstone.

Work began in the spring of 1942 and the airfield was laid out as a standard RAF Class A bomber airfield with concrete runways, dispersals, mess facilities and accommodation. Brazen Hall Farmhouse, which stood at the planned centre of the airfield, had to be demolished.

Much of the work was completed by Irish labour. Local residents Peter Pells and Muriel Kidd recalled the bulldozers moving in during 1942 and the arrival of Irish labourers, who had to live in tents in the area which later became Blenheim Park. The labourers did not seem to venture much outside the camp because the work went on day and night and they had their own bars and facilities, although at least one Irishman was known to have married a local girl.

The airfield construction was to involve the closure of two country roads (see Chapter Three). The runway lengths were 2,000 yards and 1,400 yards for the two subsidiaries. The usual thirty-six hardstandings were provided, all loops, while the technical area with two T2 hangars lay on the west side of the airfield, with two communal and seven domestic dispersed sites, for 1,773 males and 409 females further to the west. There were two more T2 hangars. Bomb stores were situated on the south of the technical site. The contractors were John Laing, Bovis Ltd and Constable Hart & Co. Ltd, which had completed the station by October 1943.

In May 1943, the station ceased to be a satellite of West Raynham and became an independent RAF station, ready to receive the first units.

2. FIRST UNITS (1943–44)

‘Sculthorpe was a bleak, windswept collection of Nissen huts, very unlike the cosy permanent buildings of Swanton.’

(Arthur Eyton-Jones, No. 21 Squadron,1943)

By 1943, Allied planning for Operation ‘Overlord’, the invasion of Europe, began to filter down to individual airfields and units. In common with many airfields in the eastern counties, space had to made available at Sculthorpe for the storage of thirty-two Horsa gliders from February 1943 until March of the following year.

Another aspect of strategic planning was the reorganisation of RAF Bomber Command. West Raynham, and now Sculthorpe, came within the ambit of No. 2 Bomber Group, equipped with light bombers, but on 1 June 1943 the group was assigned to the newly formed Second Tactical Air Force as part of the preparations for the invasion of Europe and the support of the forces in the field. The group was commanded by the legendary air commander Air Vice-Marshal Basil Embry who, from his headquarters at Bylaugh Hall near Dereham, began the uphill task of welding his motley collection of squadrons and crews into an effective fighting force.

NO. 342 (LORRAINE) SQUADRON (FFAF)

The first flying unit to arrive at Sculthorpe was No. 342 (Lorraine) Squadron, Free French Air Force (FFAF). The squadron had originated in Damascus in Syria as The Lorraine Squadron during September 1941. After service in the Middle East campaign the personnel were posted to England and the squadron reformed at West Raynham on 7 April 1943 with the motto ‘Nous y sommes’ (‘Here we are’). With their Douglas Boston Mark IIIA bombers the Frenchmen moved to Sculthorpe on 15 May organised in two flights, ‘A’ or Metz Flight and ‘B’ or Nancy Flight, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henri de Rancourt.

Many of the personnel of the squadron were to become household names after the war. They included Pierre Mendès France who, like many of his countrymen, had escaped from Vichy France to take up arms with General Charles de Gaulle’s Free French Forces. He was eventually to become French Prime Minister from 1954–55. Possibly better known was Bernard Citroën, the eldest son of André Citroën, founder of the car company of that name. Bernard became a pilot in the squadron during 1944, after the unit had left Sculthorpe. His fame rests on his distinguished war record and his prominence as a poet and writer in later years.

No. 342 (Lorraine) Squadron badge. The first flying unit at Sculthorpe. Motto ‘Nous y sommes’ – ‘Here we are’.

The short period spent at Sculthorpe was taken up mainly by training, for example, in bombing exercises at the Grimston Warren range, but this did not leave the squadron unscathed. On 22 May, all four of the crew of Boston AL285 were killed in a crash at low-level near Rougham. They included Lieutenant Le Bivic (pilot), Observer Sous-Lieutenant Jacouinot, Sergent-Chef L. Cohen and Caporal-Chef Desertiaux.

On 12 June, the squadron mounted its first operation when three aircraft, along with nine from 107 Squadron, were detailed to attack Rouen power station. Shortly after this, one aircraft from a formation of three failed to return from a low-level raid to Langerbrugge in Belgium: Boston BZ366 with Sous-Lieutenant Pineau (pilot) and crew.

The French National Day parade on 14 July (Bastille Day) at Sculthorpe had to be cancelled due to a squadron standby for a diversionary raid on Abbeville aerodrome. Six aircraft from the squadron accompanied twelve from 107 Squadron in what appears to have been a successful attack. Later that day Lieutenant Colonel Rancourt was able to host a dinner and dance by way of celebration. The stay at Sculthorpe was nearly over, for on 19 July the order came through for the squadron to move to nearby Great Massingham.

NOS. 487 (RNZAF), 464 (RAAF) AND 21 SQUADRONS – NO. 140 WING

Basil Embry, AOC 2 Group, had been lobbying hard to obtain Mosquito Mark VI fighter-bombers (FBVIs) to replace the Lockheed Venturas, Douglas Bostons and North American Mitchells in his squadrons. On 20 and 21 July 1943, Nos 464 and 487 Squadrons moved from Methwold to Sculthorpe with their Venturas, eager to begin conversion to the new type and abandon their ‘pigs’, as they called them. The problem with the Ventura was that it proved far too slow and vulnerable for daylight operations while the Mosquito was more than proving its worth, for example in the daylight raids on Berlin from nearby Marham on 30 January. Embry had been anxious to move his newly formed 140 Wing to a base further south nearer to the invasion targets, but with no suitable airfields available at the time and Sculthorpe now vacant due to the French move, Sculthorpe it had to be.

Left-right: No. 487 Squadron (RNZAF) badge. Motto ‘Ki te mutunga’ – ‘Through to the end’; No. 464 Squadron (RAAF) badge. Motto ‘Aequo animo’ – ‘Equanimity’; No. 21 Squadron badge. Motto ‘Viribus vincimus’ – ‘By strength we conquer’. Squadron was reformed at nearby Bircham Newton in December 1935. In the Second World War the squadron was unofficially named ‘Norwich’s own squadron’.

Embry was anything but an armchair commander and he was keen to appoint a like-minded individual to command the Wing, whom he found in the person of Group Captain Percy C. ‘Pick’ Pickard DSO, DFC. Pickard, at the age of 28, already had an outstanding operational record behind him as the Wellington pilot ‘star’ in the 1940 RAF propaganda film Target for Tonight. He had received a bar to his DSO for his part in transporting the commandos in the Bruneval raid of February 1942, and a second bar for clandestine work from RAF Tempsford conveying secret agents of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to France. He was about to be posted to a non-operational post but made use of his network of contacts to have this changed to the command of No. 140 Wing towards the end of July.

Pickard wasted no time in making his presence felt at Sculthorpe although the surroundings left much to be desired. Mike Henry, a wireless operator/air gunner with 487 Squadron and newly arrived from Methwold, recalled entering the Nissen hut which was the Officers’ Mess and making for the bar. Standing by it was the new station commander Group Captain Pickard with his grizzled old sheepdog, Ming. Pickard watched in silent amusement as he ordered three large bitters. It turned out that there was no bitter, Scotch or gin. This seemed to confirm Mike’s first impressions of the camp: empty and uninteresting.

Wing Commander Percy ‘Pick’ Pickard as CO of No. 161 Squadron at Tempsford, with Lysander in background. ‘Ming’, the old English sheepdog, in foreground left.

The group captain butted in at that stage: ‘I’m afraid that we have caught the staff unawares. The Free French left here a few days ago and left us nothing but a hogshead of red biddy. We’ll have to make the best of it until supplies arrive.’

The best on offer turned out to be potions of undrinkable cheap wine and Mike Henry ‘spent the rest of the evening trying to untie my tongue’. A bar with no beer was hardly a good start to the posting.1

Another drawback was that the Mosquito had a crew of two, pilot and navigator, and not four as in the Ventura, so it was farewell to a few dozen wireless operators and air gunners who had been with the squadrons for some time. By early August, the training programme was starting in earnest, with physical training and unarmed combat for the crews. Then the first Mosquitoes began to arrive from the de Havilland factory in Hatfield and the serious conversion began. There was general delight with the new aircraft – the squadrons were as pleased as children with a new toy, but Pickard worked them hard and hated to see a Mosquito on the ground. After a very hot July with some thundery weather, there was constant cold wind and rain towards the end of August which made life more difficult for the ground crews who had only one hangar on the airfield to maintain the aircraft. The rest of the work had to be done in the open dispersal areas, across roads and into wheat fields. The problems got worse in what turned out to be a very cold winter, the first signs of which appeared in early November.

On 27 September the third squadron, No. 21, had moved in and the Wing was now complete and ready for operations. The personnel of the squadrons included Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, a Frenchman, a South African and four Americans who had joined the Canadian Air Force before the United States declared war (and consequently lost their American citizenship). The remainder included a good sprinkling of Scots, Welsh and Irish, many from neutral Southern Ireland.2

A newcomer to 21 Squadron in October was Arthur Eyton-Jones, freshly posted from Swanton Morley where he had been a navigator on B-25 Mitchells with 226 Squadron. He had already survived being shot down off the Dutch coast and spending six days in a dinghy awaiting rescue after his aircraft was attacked by German fighters. His pilot, Dick Christie, was killed but Arthur and his two fellow crew members were finally picked up by a Royal Navy rescue launch. On this occasion there was a rare moment of chivalry, when a Junkers Ju88 spotted the craft but the pilot realised it was a rescue launch and waved before departing the scene.3

Arthur’s first impressions of Sculthorpe were not flattering after the permanent and comfortable quarters at Swanton. He found a bleak and windswept collection of Nissen huts and the mess was so cold at early breakfasts that he had difficulty holding a knife and fork. However he soon appreciated the challenge of the Mosquito, with its Gee set device, a radio navigation system which greatly assisted navigation at low-level. In addition, the aircraft carried a powerful punch, with four 500lb bombs, two in the bomb bay and one under each wing. There were four .303 Browning machine guns mounted in the nose and four 20mm cannon, which when fired would vibrate the aircraft violently and fill the cockpit with smoke. The speed and manoeuvrability of the aircraft, even with one engine cut, was a revelation to the young navigator.4

THE FIRST OPERATIONS OF THE WING