RAF Great Ashfield

RAF Great Ashfield RAF Elmswell USAAF Station 155
Located Near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Aerial photograph of Great Ashfield airfield 31 March 1944. Note the large number of 385th Bomb Group B-17s on hardstands parked around the Perimeter Track
RAF Great Ashfield Map showing the location of RAF Great Ashfield within Suffolk.
Coordinates	52°15′20″N 000°56′37″E / 52.25556°N 0.94361°E / 52.25556; 0.94361Coordinates: 52°15′20″N 000°56′37″E / 52.25556°N 0.94361°E / 52.25556; 0.94361
Type	Military airfield
Code	GA ?
Site information
Controlled by	United States Army Air Forces
Site history
Built	1942
In use	1943-1955
Battles/wars	European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945
Garrison information
Garrison	Eighth Air Force
Occupants	385th Bombardment Group

Royal Air Force Great Ashfield or more simply RAF Great Ashfield is a former Royal Air Force station located 10 miles (16 km) east of Bury St. Edmunds and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Great Ashfield, Suffolk, England.

Great Ashfield Airfield is still in private use although much reduced in size. It was originally a Royal Flying Corps grass landing strip on this site in World War I, and before the USAAF arrived the RAF had been using it for training, during that period it was known as RAF Elmswell.

Great Ashfield was re-built for the USAAF in 1942 and assigned designation Station 155. The first aircraft to land on the station is believed to have been a battle-damaged B-26 Marauder returning from a raid over the Netherlands on 17 May 1943.

USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Great Ashfield were:

Regular Army Station Units included:

The airfield was opened on 19 June 1943 and was used by the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 385th arrived from Great Falls AAF Montana and was assigned to the 93d Combat Bombardment Wing. The group tail code was a "Square-G". Its operational squadrons were:

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

The 385th BG operated primarily as a strategic bombardment organization until the war ended, striking such targets as industrial areas, air bases, oil refineries, and communications centers in Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway. The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for bombing an aircraft factory at Regensburg on 17 August 1943 after a long hazardous flight over enemy territory.