39-547: Sutton Heath is a civil parish on the former site of RAF Woodbridge , in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk , England. The parish was formed on 1 April 2012 from part of the parish of Sutton . The new parish was created following petitioning by residents to Suffolk Coastal District Council who believed it was more urban than its surrounding area in Sutton and therefore had different needs. Sutton Heath has
78-455: A Ferrari . The RAC steward requested the fourth race be red-flagged (stopped) as spectators had encroached into a restricted area; but some drivers declined to obey the flag and were reprimanded for their colour blindness! Further race meetings were held in 1952 but at the end of the season, the RAC requested that certain improvements be carried out which would have cost £10,000. This being beyond
117-423: A base for Operation Aphrodite , a plan to strip all interior equipment and armament from well-used B-17s, pack them with explosives, and fly them to difficult targets using radio-control equipment. In early July, several B-17s, modified into BQ-7 drones, from the 562d Bomb Squadron of the 388th Bomb Group arrived at Woodbridge. No Aphrodite mission was ever flown from Woodbridge because, after one aborted attempt,
156-638: A power station at Oldenburg : both drones missed their targets by several miles. After this last effort, the Aphrodite concept was abandoned as being unfeasible. One of the RAF's most secret operations, Operation Carthage , was launched from Fersfield on 21 March 1945. The target was the Gestapo HQ in Copenhagen , and de Havilland Mosquitos from No 21 Sqn , No 464 Sqn RAAF and No 487 Sqn RNZAF made
195-566: A shop and primary school . The parish incorporates the military installation of MoD Woodbridge . RAF Woodbridge Royal Air Force Woodbridge , or more simply RAF Woodbridge , is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Woodbridge and around 7 miles north-east of Ipswich , in the county of Suffolk , England. Constructed in 1943 as a RAF military airfield during the Second World War to assist damaged aircraft to land on their return from raids over Germany it
234-562: A single code for all squadrons within a wing, such that all 81st TFW squadrons now displayed the same tail-code, "WR". In 1972, construction began on Woodbridge American High School and classes began in 1973. With the arrival of the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II in USAFE in 1979, the 81st TFW was expanded to six squadrons. Three of these were stationed at Woodbridge. It was decided to expand
273-457: A single runway, 9,000 ft (2,700 m) long and 750 ft (230 m) wide. (5 times the normal width) There was a further clear area of 1,500 ft (460 m) at each end of the runway. At each of the three airfields, the runway was divided into three 250 ft (76 m) lanes. The northern and central lanes were allocated by flying control, while the southern lane was the emergency lane on which any aircraft could land without first making contact with
312-424: Is a former Royal Air Force station located 16 miles (26 km) southwest of Norwich, Norfolk , England . Built in 1943/1944, the airfield was originally a satellite of RAF Knettishall . It was constructed to Class A bomber specifications , with a main 6,000 ft (1,800 m) runway (08/26), and two secondary runways (02/20, 14/32) of 4,200 ft (1,300 m). Accommodation for about 2,000 personnel
351-1021: Is used by Army Air Corps aircraft for training and Rock Barracks are home to the newly formed 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault) of the Royal Engineers . In 1943, RAF Woodbridge (initially called RAF Sutton Heath) was one of three airfields constructed along the east coast of England, set up to accept distressed aircraft returning across the North Sea from raids over Germany, and was therefore laid out with extra-long, extra-wide runways (the other two sites being at RAF Manston in Kent and RAF Carnaby in Yorkshire). These ELG (Emergency Landing Ground) airfields were intended for use by returning bombers suffering from low-fuel and suspected damage to their pneumatic (wheel brake) and/or hydraulic (undercarriage lowering) systems. All three airfields were equipped with
390-460: Is used by Army Air Corps aircraft for training and Rock Barracks are home to the newly formed 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault) of the Royal Engineers . The airfield is also regularly used to host track days, managed by companies such as Javelin Track Days. During August 2016 a 1700m length of rough scrubland was cleared and a compacted earth runway created at MOD Woodbridge, for testing
429-871: The Airbus A400M Atlas . In November 2016 the Ministry of Defence announced that the site would close by 2027. On 28 February 2019, defence minister Tobias Ellwood announces that MOD Woodbridge (Rock Barracks) would remain open, altering previous closure plans. RAF Woodbridge features as a setting in the 2017 video game Bomber Crew . RAF Woodbridge features as setting and plot element in Julian Simpson 's BBC4 2019 The Lovecraft Investigations The Whisperer in Darkness series. RAF Fersfield Royal Air Force Fersfield or more simply RAF Fersfield (originally known as RAF Winfarthing )
SECTION 10
#1732783934411468-763: The Blind Landing Experimental Unit (BLEU) was located at Woodbridge. Eventually it was closed on 14 March 1948 and put into 'care and maintenance' status. As a result of the Cold War United States Air Force (USAF) buildup in Europe, Woodbridge was made available to the Americans by the Air Ministry in early 1952. Expansion of the facility to bring it up to NATO standards commenced on 16 April 1952, with
507-613: The Republic F-84G Thunderjet . Markings for the F-84s at Woodbridge consisted of yellow lightning flashes on the fuselage and on the external wing tip tanks. The mission of the 79th was to provide escort for Strategic Air Command (SAC) Boeing B-47 Stratojet rotational deployments from RAF Sturgate . These deployments generally involved about 45 aircraft, together with about twenty Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighters , which were maintained at English bases for 90 days. At
546-554: The 562nd Bomb Squadron, 388th Bomb Group stationed at RAF Knettishall , along with two Consolidated B-24 Liberators from the United States Navy (PB4Y-1), to be used in Aphrodite missions. Originally RAF Woodbridge was going to be used, however Fersfield was chosen for to its relative remoteness. The plan was to use these stripped-down war-weary bombers as explosive packed, radio-controlled flying bombs. Pilots would take off manually and then parachute to safety, leaving
585-684: The 79th from the 20th TFW, the 78th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron operated from the station, being transferred from RAF Shepherds Grove when the USAF turned Shepherds Grove over to the Air Ministry. Initially flying F-84F Thunderstreaks, in December they were replaced by the McDonnell F-101A/C Voodoo , and redesignated as a Tactical Fighter Squadron. Markings of the 78th TFS were a red tail with silver star pattern design on
624-465: The 81st with six A-10 squadrons distributed over both Woodbridge and Bentwaters as follows: All the A-10 squadrons were tail-coded "WR". The 91st was transferred to Woodbridge from Bentwaters on 1 February 1980. The 509th was reactivated as an A-10 squadron, previously being an F-102 unit at Clark Air Base , Philippines . At Woodbridge, USAFE activated the 509th Tactical Fighter Squadron . The 509th
663-466: The Cold War, the USAF presence at Woodbridge was gradually phased down. It was announced that the airfield would be closed, and the 81st TFW would be inactivated. Woodbridge-based squadrons were phased-down as follows: The last A-10 aircraft departed Woodbridge on 14 August 1993, and the airfield was closed as a US military facility. The 81st Tactical Fighter Wing was inactivated on 1 July 1993. With
702-518: The United States Navy for operational use. The airfield is most notable as the base for Operation Aphrodite , a secret plan for remote-controlled Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers (redesignated as BQ-7s) to be used against German V-1 flying bomb sites, submarine pens , or deep fortifications that had resisted conventional bombing. From July 1944 to January 1945, approximately 25 high-time Fortresses (mainly B-17Fs) were assigned to
741-540: The airfield. The site at Woodbridge was chosen as it was 'nearly fog-free and had no obstructions for miles', although more than a million trees had to be cleared from Rendlesham Forest to take the new base. Its first use, however was in July 1943, when it was used by a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber of the United States Army Air Forces . In the spring of 1944, Woodbridge was considered as
780-534: The bomber under the control of another aircraft to be flown to its target in Europe. The first mission took place on 4 August 1944 against a V-1 site in Pas-de-Calais . In the first phase of the mission, two motherships and two drones took off. One of the drones went out of control shortly after the first crewman had bailed out. It crashed near the coastal village of Orford , destroying 2 acres (8,100 m ) of trees and leaving an enormous crater. The body of
819-539: The club’s first race meeting took place at Fersfield, which is situated near Diss in Norfolk. That the first was a ‘closed-to-club’ affair, but just two months later an invitation meeting (to which seven clubs were invited) was organised for 17 June, at which nine races were run, with an estimated crowd of 8,000, was a great success. Cars taking part included pre-war racers such as Bentleys , Frazer-Nash , MG and Bugattis plus Jaguars , Connaughts , Healeys and even
SECTION 20
#1732783934411858-578: The club’s resources, Fersfield was abandoned. However, the ECMC was not to be outdone and turned its attention to another Norfolk airfield, Snetterton Heath (which become Snetterton ) where it successfully ran the Eastern Counties 100 meeting for many years. According to folklore, the RAC steward once insisted that everyone present at Fersfield should sweep the track clean of rubbish before he would allow racing to continue. As with most circuits there
897-554: The end of the Temporary Duty (TDY), they were relieved by another SAC wing that was generally stationed at a different airfield. These missions continued until 1964. In 1955, the 79th was upgraded to the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak , with the older "G" models being transferred to other NATO countries or to the Middle East. Lightning flashes were not painted on the "F" models, but the yellow squadron colour band around
936-447: The establishment of the 3928th Air Base Squadron . The first operational USAF unit to reside at Woodbridge was the 79th Fighter-Bomber Squadron which arrived on 1 October 1952. The 79th FBS was a component of the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing based at RAF Wethersfield . Restricted space at Wethersfield compelled the 79th Squadron to move initially to nearby RAF Bentwaters on 6 June, then to Woodbridge, on 1 October. The 79th FBS flew
975-562: The extreme rear of the fuselage remained a squadron marking. The 79th flew the F-84F only until 1958 when the 20th was re-designated a tactical fighter wing (20th TFW), and the squadron (now 79th TFS) was re-equipped with the North American F-100 Super Sabre . In January 1970 the parent unit (20th TFW) was reassigned from RAF Wethersfield to RAF Upper Heyford , allowing the 79th TFS to leave Woodbridge and re-join
1014-527: The inactivation, the USAF returned control of Woodbridge to the UK Ministry of Defence (The 81st was reactivated as the 81st Training Wing at Keesler Air Force Base , Mississippi on 1 July 1993). On 1 September 2006, RAF Woodbridge became Ministry of Defence (MOD) Woodbridge . The site is operated by the British Army and incorporates both Rock Barracks and Woodbridge Airfield. The airfield
1053-452: The other components at the new larger base. It has been reported that the U.S. stored nuclear missiles at this site without the UK public knowing and that it was also the scene of a UFO sighting in 1980 . Beginning on 8 July 1958, Woodbridge was operated as "twin base" (twin airfield) with RAF Bentwaters , and as a single unit with Bentwaters under the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing . Along with
1092-469: The other crewman was never found. The second drone was successfully dispatched toward the Pas-de-Calais. However, clouds obscured the television view from the nose just as the drone approached the target site, and the plane missed the target by 500 ft (150 m). The second phase of the mission fared little better. One robot BQ-7 had a control malfunction before it could dive onto its target and
1131-466: The trip across the North Sea and back. The raid was led by Group Captain R.N. Bateson , and was ranked as a success in spite of many civilian casualties, mostly children. The Eastern Counties Motor Club (ECMC) was formed early in 1950 and was soon turning its attention to organising competitive motoring, the first being a speed trail at RAF Bentwaters on 23 April. One year later, on 22 April 1951,
1170-641: The unit moved up to RAF Fersfield , near Diss, Norfolk . On 13 July 1944, a Luftwaffe Ju 88 G-1 night fighter of 7 Staffel / NJG 2 , bearing aircraft code 4R+UR , on North Sea night patrol landed at Woodbridge. This aircraft carried recent versions of the FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar, Naxos-Z and FuG 227 Flensburg homer which were being successfully used to intercept RAF bombers. The German crew had only just completed 100 hours of flight training, and had flown by compass heading, but had proceeded in exactly
1209-589: The vertical stabilizer. In November 1965, the 78th TFS received McDonnell F-4C Phantom IIs to replace the Voodoos, with red fin caps as their squadron marking. In October 1969 the F-4C aircraft began to be replaced by the F-4D. In February 1970, USAF units adopted two-letter tail codes, with "WR" being used by the 78th, "WS" by the 91st, and "WT" by the 92nd. In 1972 this system was refined in accordance with AFM66-1, using
Sutton Heath - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-530: The wrong direction and thought they were over their own airfield. Within days, the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) had analysed the radar equipment and devised countermeasures . About 30% of the emergency landings were caused by bad weather, especially fog which could be dispersed by Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) where up to 450,000 litres (99,000 imp gal; 120,000 US gal) of petrol per hour
1287-461: Was always a lighter side and Fersfield was no exception, for the story goes of the road sweeper which did two laps to clean the track without the brushes working. Today, much of the concreted areas of the airfield have been removed for hardcore, with the airfield area being returned to agricultural uses. A surprising number of buildings exist, some on the former airfield, which are being used by agriculture, along with one of T-2 hangars. Others are in
1326-405: Was assigned an air rescue and special operations mission. The 67th ARRS participated in the rescue efforts of the capsized Townsend Thoresen ferry Herald of Free Enterprise outside of Zeebrugge Harbour on 6 March 1987. On 1 June 1988, they were redesignated the 39th Special Operations Wing . On 1 April 1992 they moved to RAF Alconbury as part of the closure of RAF Woodbridge. With the end of
1365-588: Was in Nissen huts , along with an operations block and two T-2 hangars . The facility was originally named Winfarthing when it was allocated to the United States Army Air Forces in 1942. Assigned to the VIII Bomber Command , it was renamed Fersfield when used by the Americans. Winfarthing was assigned USAAF station number 140; Fersfield was reassigned 554. Not used by the USAAF, it was transferred to
1404-668: Was later used by the United States Air Force during the Cold War , being the primary home for the 79th and 78th Tactical Fighter Squadrons and squadrons of the 81st Fighter Wing under various designations until 1993. For many years, the 81st also operated from nearby RAF Bentwaters , with Bentwaters and Woodbridge being known as the "Twin Bases". Since 2006, it has been known as MOD Woodbridge , incorporating Woodbridge Airfield and Rock Barracks. Woodbridge Airfield
1443-501: Was previously an F-102 squadron at and the 91st was moved to Woodbridge from Bentwaters. On 1 June 1988, the 509th was transferred to RAF Alconbury when the 10th transitioned from a Tactical Reconnaissance to a Tactical Fighter Squadron. The 67th Air Rescue and Recovery Squadron (ARRS) moved to RAF Woodbridge from Morón Air Base , Spain, on 15 January 1970. The 67th ARRS operated Lockheed HC-130H/N/P Hercules fixed wing aircraft, and heavy duty HH-53 Jolly Green Giant helicopters, and
1482-549: Was pumped through a system of pipes along the side of the runway and burnt to produce a wall of flames which would lift the fog. Fuel was transported to Melton railway station before being piped to the airfield. By the end of the Second World War 4,200 aircraft had made emergency landings at RAF Woodbridge. After the war the airfield was used for some experimental work by the RAF with Avro Lancasters being based there, dropping Grand Slam bombs on Orford Ness , and
1521-428: Was shot down by German flak ; the other missed its target by 500 yd (460 m). Several subsequent missions were attempted, one of them being a United States Navy PB4Y -1 which exploded over the village of Blythburgh, Suffolk , killing LT Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. , who had presidential ambitions and was the brother of future President John F. Kennedy . The last Aphrodite mission was on 20 January 1945, against
#410589