FELTWELL
An expansion scheme airfield, construction began in 1936 on open farmland directly south of Feltwell village on the edge of the fens. Four Type C hangars were placed outside the north-west curve of the bombing circle, with a fifth Type C behind the one furthest north. The hangars were backed by the administrative, technical and barrack area and the adjacent B1386 road. Bomb stores were on the west side of the airfield.
Opened in No. 3 Group, the Handley Page Harrow equipped No. 214 Squadron, which had been building up at Scampton, arrived in April 1937. Bomber Command planned that each of its new airfields would support two squadrons and no sooner had the squadron settled in than one flight was used as a nucleus for No. 37 Squadron, which re-formed at Feltwell the same month. Both Nos. 37 and 214 operated Harrows from Feltwell for the next two years, until Wellingtons started to arrive as replacements in May 1939. When war came, Bomber Command had a policy of retaining two squadrons in each group as reserves and No. 214 was one of those so designated in No. 3 Group. A landing ground at Methwold had recently been established as a satellite for Feltwell and No. 214 moved its aircraft there a few days before hostilities began. On the first day of the war. No. 37 Squadron attempted a raid on German naval vessels off Heligoland. It flew several daylight anti-shipping sorties in the weeks that followed, all without major incident until December 18 when six Wellingtons from Feltwell were intercepted by enemy fighters and only one returned.
In April 1940, the New Zealand-manned flight was given squadron status as No. 75 Squadron and soon expanded to give Feltwell on average two dozen Wellingtons. However, the need to bolster the RAF bomber presence in the Middle East saw No. 37 Squadron leave the airfield in the following November. Its place was taken by No. 57 Squadron, a depleted Blenheim unit from the Battle of France destined to be reequipped with Wellingtons. Eventually, the complement of the two squadrons at Feltwell was established as 36 aircraft, although, through operational commitment, there were sometimes more than 40 and at other times less than 30. Even so, part of the force was frequently dispersed on the satellite at Methwold during daylight hours or operating from Mildenhall.
Feltwell was not without attention from the Luftwaffe, the first recorded attack coming on October 27, 1940 when a hangar was hit. There were five more attacks durmg the first half of 1941 and another hangar was set on fire during a night raid in May. This could well have resulted from enemy intelligence establishing that Feltwell was one of the Bomber Command stations frequently despatching Wellingtons to attack Reich targets. On one of these raids, that of July 7, 1941 briefed for Minster, a No. 75 Squadron Wellington was set on fire and, for his action in climbing out on a wing to extinguish the flames, Sergeant James Ward was awarded the Victoria Cross.
During the first years of operation, two grass runways were established, E-W at 1,800 yards and NE-SW at 1,400 yards. By 1941, 29 pan-shape hardstandings and one square shape had been put down. They were in clusters with hard access strips; near Grange Farm and Field Farm on the south side and to the east across the B 1112. At a later date a T2 hangar was erected near Field Farm and another on the eastern dispersal cluster. Some additional domestic accommodation was built allowing for a total 1,719 males and 515 females on the whole station.
With No. 3 Group converting to Stirlings and Feltwell being of insufficient size and devoid of hard runways, it was decided to transfer the airfield to No. 2 Group for use by medium and light bombers in exchange for Downham Market, which was suitable for Stirlings. In August 1942 No. 75 Squadron moved out to Mildenhall to prepare for the arrival of its Stirlings and shortly after No. 57 was transferred to No. 5 Group to reform with Lancasters. During its years of Wellington operations 170 were missing or crashed flying from Feltwell.
No. 2 Group selected Feltwell for forming two squadrons to operate the Lockheed Ventura, an aircraft too slow and poorly armed for the low and medium level operations to which it was to be committed. The squadrons were Nos. 464 and 487, the former manned by Australian crews and the latter by New Zealanders. The first raid by Feltwell Venturas was carried out successfully on December 6, 1942, against the Philips works at Eindhoven. In April 1943, the two Ventura squadrons were moved to the up-graded satellite at Methwold leaving Feltwell hosting the Bombing Development Unit and No. 192 Squadron, which was engaged in intercepting Luftwaffe radio transmissions. By the turn, of the year No. 3 Group was set on trading its Stirlings for Lancasters and the station became the home of No. 3 Lancaster Finishing School which functioned for approximately a year. The Bombing Development Unit returned and Feltwell saw out the war in an experimental capacity. Unlike most Bomber Command stations, Feltwell was never given hard runways. A total of 167 Bomber Command aircraft were lost flying from Feltwell during the war: 152 Wellingtons, 13 Venturas, a Halifax and a Mosquito.
Surplus to the requirements of the fast contracting Bomber Command, Feltwell was passed to Flying Training Command and for 12 years No. 3 Flying Training School held sway with Tiger Moths, Harvards, Prentices and, finally, Provosts. Its use by major flying organisations terminated with the closing of the school in the spring of 1958. Feltwell returned briefly to Bomber Command when No. 77 Squadron was established as operator of the Thor medium range missile in 1958. Thereafter the station served in personnel training capacities until finally closed although part was still retained as a signals station. Like so many RAF expansion scheme stations, the high standard of the buildings found ready occupants and the USAF at Mildenhall soon made use of the camp. While some barracks are employed for domestic accommodation, an intelligence-gathering unit currently operates from the station with sophisticated electronic equipment.
