Sunday 27th August 2000

Introduction

The County of Suffolk in the East Anglian Region of the United Kingdom has a long history of links with America going back to Bartholomew Gosnold's expedition in 1602. So much so that St Edmundsbury Borough Council in West Suffolk has a whole section of its website entitled American Connections. However, the closest links were to come in 1942 when the American Eighth Air Force began to establish wartime bases in Britain to further the war in Europe, and America came to Suffolk.

The first American war plane to land on British soil was a B17 Flying Fortress on 1st July 1942 and the first official wartime action by American air personnel took place on 4th July, at that time using British RAF Bostons. Within two years, the Eighth Air Force was the biggest military airfleet ever seen with 122 bases and 200,000 personnel, flying 2,000 four-engined bombers and 1,000 fighters.

The Third Air Division

Suffolk was the home of the Third Air Division of the Eighth Air Force. With its Headquarters at Elveden, the Third Division mainly flew B17 Flying Fortresses out of its Suffolk bases.

The Local Wartime Bases

From 1942 to 1945 nobody in Suffolk lived very far from a USAAF airbase. The base officially called Bury St Edmunds was known locally as Rougham airfield, with its 94th Bomb Group. Debden near Haverhill held the Fourth Fighter Group and Ridgewell held the 381st Bomb Group. Honington, Great Ashfield, Knettishall, Lavenham, Rattlesden, Sudbury and Little Walden were all within a few miles of the present day inhabitants of St Edmundsbury.

The United States Third Air Force Today

In February 1944 the United States Army Air Force was renamed and after a further change in 1945 it became called United States Air Forces in Europe, or USAFE, the designation used today. By the end of 1945 nearly all the wartime bases were decommissioned and the men and planes flew home, although at least 26,000 men of the Mighty Eighth could never return to their families.

In 1950 RAF Mildenhall was handed over the USAFE and Strategic Air Command and was later to become Gateway to Europe as a staging post for flights from the USA. By 1990 Mildenhall held all the in-flight refuelling KC135's in the UK, making use of its giant 3,000 yard long runway. The annual Mildenhall Air Show is a chance for people from all over the region to visit America in Suffolk.

RAF Lakenheath became an American base in 1948 and in 1960 it became home to the 48th Fighter Wing. From 1977 through the 1980's their F111's were a familiar site overhead, upgraded to F15E's since 1992.

From 1951 to 1963 Shepherd's Grove was an active American base, as was Tuddenham from 1954 to 1963.

Further Information

This website contains much further information which helps to explain the close links between our area and today's United States Air Force. Go to this sections main index and check out our other American Connections pages.

Click for larger image (249K)

The Honorary Freedom of the Borough is usually granted to particular individuals who have contributed outstanding service to the life of St Edmundsbury. It is very rare for an organisation to be granted such an honour and hitherto it has been granted only to the Suffolk Regiment in 1944 (later the Royal Anglian Regiment in 1963), the Norfolk and Suffolk Yeomanry in 1953 and 1967 and to RAF Honington in 1972.

Further information on the origins and meaning of the Freedom ceremony together with a list of past recipients can be found on this website by following the link below:

• Freedom of the Borough

But what does it all mean?

Although there are pages of history which tell us about our long friendship with the American airman, no history exists without the thousands of individual stories of selfless service, often unrecognised, which have figured in our skies since 1942. This is one such story which has crossed the years to the present day and crosses international boundaries, linking the Middle East to the far West.

The Bracelet in the Sand - the story of First Lt Ashley Guynn