RAF Deopham Green

RAF Deopham Green USAAF Station 142
Located Near Attleborough, Norfolk, UK
Aerial Photo of Deopham Green Airfield - 9 July 1946
RAF Deopham Green RAF Deopham Green, shown within Norfolk County
Coordinates	52°33′5.72″N 000°59′31.22″E / 52.5515889°N 0.9920056°E / 52.5515889; 0.9920056Coordinates: 52°33′5.72″N 000°59′31.22″E / 52.5515889°N 0.9920056°E / 52.5515889; 0.9920056
Type	Military airfield
Code	DG
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Controlled by	Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1943
In use	1944-1948
Battles/wars	European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945
Garrison information
Garrison	Eighth Air Force
Occupants	452nd Bombardment Group

Royal Air Force Deopham Green or more simply RAF Deopham Green is a former Royal Air Force station located near Deopham Green 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Attleborough, Norfolk, England.

RAF Deopham Green was built in 1942 and 1943 for the USAAF and assigned the designation Station 142.

USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Deopham Green were:

The airfield was opened on 3 January 1944 and was used by the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force 452d Bombardment Group (Heavy), which arrived at Deopham Green from Walla Walla AAF Washington. The 452nd was assigned to the 45th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Square-L". Its operational squadrons were:

The group flew Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign.

The 452nd BG entered combat on 5 February 1944 with an attack against aircraft assembly plants at Brunswick. It was engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic targets, including the marshalling yards at Frankfurt, aircraft assembly plants at Regensburg, aircraft component works at Kassel, the ball-bearing industry at Schweinfurt, a synthetic rubber plant at Hanover, and oil installations at Bohlen.

First Lieutenant Donald Gott and Second Lieutenant William E Metzger Jr were each awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for remaining with their aircraft crippled during a mission over Germany on 9 November 1944. Lieutenant Gott was at the controls of a B-17 when it was hit by anti-aircraft fire, three engines being immobilised, a fire starting in the cockpit and with the radio operator and engineer being seriously wounded. Although faced with the imminent explosion of his bomb-laden aircraft, Lieutenant Gott, after conferring with his co-pilot, Lieutenant Metzger, decided to continue to the target.