RAF Sculthorpe

52.8470, 0.7625 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Sculthorpe, near Fakenham in Norfolk, opened in 1943 as a Bomber Command station, flying Douglas Bostons, de Havilland Mosquitoes and Boeing Fortresses with squadrons that included Free French, Australian and New Zealand units, latterly in the radio-countermeasures role of No. 100 Group. After the war it became one of the largest American air bases in Europe, the United States Air Force operating jet bombers from it through the 1950s. The Ministry of Defence still retains the airfield for special-operations training, and a heritage centre tells its story.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including RAF Sculthorpe — Wikipedia and Sculthorpe — Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Photographs

IWM caption : De Havilland Mosquito FB Mark VIs (HX965 'EG-C' leading) of No. 487 Squadron RAF, lined up at Sculthorpe, Norfolk, prior to taking off on the first Mosquito raid mounted by No. 140 Wing, No. 2 Group. 24 aircraft from No. 464 and No. 487 Squadron RNZAF successfully attacked two power stations in France without loss.
ⓘ licence & creditnot stated. Assumed British Government / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:487_Squadron_RNZAF_Mosquitoes_Sculthorpe_1943_IWM_HU_81327.jpgView source & full licence →
IWM caption : Aircrews of No. 487 Squadron RNZAF attend a final briefing in front of their De Havilland Mosquito FB Mark VIs at Sculthorpe, Norfolk, prior to taking off on the first Mosquito raid mounted by No. 140 Wing, No. 2 Group. 24 aircraft from No. 464 and No. 487 Squadron RNZAF successfully attacked two power stations in France without loss.
ⓘ licence & creditnot stated. Assumed British Government / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:487_Squadron_RNZAF_Mosquito_aircrew_briefing_Sculthorpe_1943_IWM_HU_81327.jpgView source & full licence →
Boeing KB-29P Superfortress 44-83906 of 420 Air Refuelling Squadron based at RAF Sculthorpe, Norfolk.
ⓘ licence & creditRuthAS / CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:420th_Air_Refueling_Squadron_Bell-Atlanta_KB-29P-45-BA_Superfortress_44-83906.jpgView source & full licence →

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