RAF Feltwell | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) | |||||||||||
Near Feltwell, Norfolk in England | |||||||||||
Shown within Norfolk
|
|||||||||||
Coordinates | 52°28′46″N 000°31′09″E / 52.47944°N 0.51917°ECoordinates: 52°28′46″N 000°31′09″E / 52.47944°N 0.51917°E | ||||||||||
Type | Royal Air Force station | ||||||||||
Site information | |||||||||||
Owner | Ministry of Defence | ||||||||||
Operator |
Royal Air Force (1937-1966) United States Air Force (19??-Present) |
||||||||||
Site history | |||||||||||
Built | 1936 | /7||||||||||
In use | 1937-1966 & 19??-Present | ||||||||||
Airfield information | |||||||||||
Elevation | 16 metres (52 ft) AMSL | ||||||||||
|
Royal Air Force Feltwell or more simply RAF Feltwell is a Royal Air Force station in Norfolk, East Anglia that is used by the United States Air Forces Europe. The station is located about 10 miles west of Thetford, and is in the borough of King's Lynn at approximate Ordnance Survey grid reference TL 715 900.
A former Second World War bomber station, the airfield is used as a housing estate for United States Air Force personnel stationed nearby at RAF Mildenhall as part of the 100th Air Refueling Wing and RAF Lakenheath as part of the 48th Fighter Wing, while also containing the Mathies Airman Leadership School for USAF personnel in the UK, as well as being the home of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service's sole furniture store in the country. It also houses the only Middle School for Lakenheath and Mildenhall, which covers most of the station.
The airfield was built during the period of expansion of the RAF in the late 1930s and is similar in layout to many of the other RAF airfields of the period (for example RAF Marham, RAF Watton and RAF West Raynham). The airfield was home to a number of heavy bomber squadrons of the RAF during the Second World War. Post war RAF Thor Missiles were stationed here 1958-1963. After the departure of the Thor missiles in 1963, the RAF's Officer Cadet Training Unit was based on the station.