RAF Bury St. Edmunds

RAF Bury St Edmunds RAF Rougham USAAF Station 468
Near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk in England
Bury St Edmunds/Rougham Airfield - 6 June 1955
RAF Bury St Edmunds Shown within Suffolk
Coordinates	52°14′39″N 000°45′44″E / 52.24417°N 0.76222°E / 52.24417; 0.76222Coordinates: 52°14′39″N 000°45′44″E / 52.24417°N 0.76222°E / 52.24417; 0.76222
Type	Royal Air Force station
Code	BU
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Controlled by	Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1941 (1941)
In use	1942–1948 (1948)
Events	European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 – May 1945
Airfield information
Elevation	63 metres (207 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 03/21 1,170 metres (3,839 ft) Concrete 08/26 1,745 metres (5,725 ft) Concrete 14/32 1,260 metres (4,134 ft) Concrete

Royal Air Force Bury St Edmunds or more simply RAF Bury St Edmunds is a former Royal Air Force station located 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Not to be confused with the RAF grass strip on the western side of Bury St Edmunds known as RAF Westley, an area now part of the town itself. The airfield, now in private ownership and much reduced in size, is still active and is known as Rougham Airfield.

The airfield was originally and is now again known as Rougham as it is located north of that village between the A14 and the main railway line between Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich. It was built during 1941 and 1942 with three intersecting concrete runways. The main runway of 2,000 yards was aligned approximately E–W.

As the airfield was designed for a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) bomb group, fifty concrete hardstands were constructed off the encircling perimeter track. Two T2-type hangars were erected, one on each side of the airfield. The technical site was on the southern side of the A14 and most of the living sites dispersed in woodland south of the main road around the village of Rougham. Accommodation was provided for some 3,000 personnel in Nissen and other temporary type buildings.

The airfield was opened in September 1942 and was used by the USAAF Eighth Air Force. Bury St Edmunds was given USAAF designation Station 468 (BU).

USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Bury St Edmunds were:

The first USAAF group to use Bury St. Edmunds airfield was the 47th Bombardment Group (Light) arriving from Greensboro AAF North Carolina in mid-September 1942. The 47th was equipped with the Douglas A-20 "Havoc" bomber but the group quickly moved to RAF Horham as Bury St. Edmunds was still under construction. On 2 November the 47th was ordered to North Africa, departing for Medina Air Field 15 miles south of Casablanca in Morocco.