RAF Stradishall
England
About
RAF Stradishall opened in February 1938 in the gently rolling country of west Suffolk, between Haverhill and Bury St Edmunds, and was one of the established stations No. 3 Group took to war in 1939. Through the conflict it was a busy bomber base, flying Vickers Wellingtons and then Short Stirlings, and over the years it hosted a long roll of squadrons — among them Nos. 9, 75 (New Zealand), 101, 138, 148, 149, 214 and 215 — together with the heavy conversion unit work that turned crews onto the four-engined bombers. As one of the larger fields it acted as a parent station, controlling a cluster of satellite airfields including Chedburgh and Wratting Common.
Stradishall outlived the war by a generation. It served Fighter Command into the 1960s and then Flying Training Command before final closure around 1970. The site was later given over to His Majesty’s Prison Highpoint, while part of the old airfield is now a solar farm, with the open ground grazed and walked.
Photographs
The crew of ‘Sri Guroh’, a Merlin-engined Wellington II of No 214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron based at Stradishall, Suffolk, photographed in front of their aircraft before setting out for Essen.
ⓘ licence & credit
Crouch F W (Fg Off), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wellington_crew_at_RAF_Stradishall_Nov_1941_IWM_CH_3943.jpgView source & full licence →Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. Vickers Wellington Mark IC, T2470 ‘BU-K’, of No. 214 Squadron RAF, is towed into a C-type hangar at Stradishall, Suffolk, for repair and overhaul following damage sustained on operations.
ⓘ licence & credit
Daventry B J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vickers_Wellington_-_Stradishall_-_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1939-1941._CH1415.jpgView source & full licence →Vickers Wellington Bombers of the RAF at RAF Stradishall on the 10th of July 1939. Ready to fly to Brussells and Paris as a show of strength from the RAF.
ⓘ licence & credit
RAF serviceman, in the course of duties in 1939. / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Zealand_Wellington_Bombers_in_England1939.JPGView source & full licence →Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Vickers Wellington. Wellington Mark II, W5442 ‘BU-V’ “Sri Guroh”, of No. 214 Squadron RAF, at Stradishall, Suffolk. Behind W5442 is a Wellington Mark IC, ‘BU-Q’ “Kuala Lumpur”. Both aircraft were presented to the RAF by the Federated Malay States.
ⓘ licence & credit
Crouch F W (Flying Officer), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Vickers_Wellington._CH3944.jpgView source & full licence →Maintenance staff overhaul damaged Vickers Wellington Mark IC, T2470 ‘BU-K’, of No. 214 Squadron RAF, in a C-type hangar at RAF Stradishall, Suffolk.
ⓘ licence & credit
Daventry B J (Mr), Royal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:214_Squadron_Wellington_repair_at_RAF_Stradishall_WWII_IWM_CH_1416.jpgView source & full licence →Stirling Mark I, BF382 ‘BU-Q’, of No. 214 Squadron RAF on the ground at RAF Stradishall, Suffolk, at the end of its operational service.
ⓘ licence & credit
British Government / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:214_Squadron_Stirling_RAF_Stradishall_IWM_ATP_11154D.jpgView source & full licence →RAF Stradishall in 1945.
ⓘ licence & credit
Attribution for images from Google Earth require attribution to Google and the other providers identified in imagery per [1]. / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_Stradishall_1945.pngView source & full licence →Squadrons that operated here
10 RAF squadrons flew from this airfield during the Second World War.
No. 101 Sqn · No. 109 Sqn · No. 138 Sqn · No. 148 Sqn · No. 150 Sqn · No. 186 Sqn · No. 214 Sqn · No. 215 Sqn · No. 236 Sqn · No. 254 Sqn
No people are cross-referenced to this airfield yet. Links appear as squadron postings, crews and service records are added.