Rougham Airfield, formerly Royal Air Force Station Bury St Edmunds or more simply RAF Bury St Edmunds is a former
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
station located east of
Bury St Edmunds,
Suffolk,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is not to be confused with the RAF grass strip on the western side of Bury St Edmunds known as
RAF Westley
RAF Westley is a former Royal Air Force satellite airfield located to the west of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, between 1938 and 1946. It was established by the Straight Corporation which set up the West Suffolk Aero Club in May 1938, before ...
, 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
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
. It was built during 1941 and 1942 with three intersecting concrete runways. The main runway of 2,000 yards was aligned approximately E–W. It saw extensive use during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.
Current use
With the end of military control, Bury St Edmunds airfield's concreted areas were broken up with most of the site being returned to agriculture.
The old technical site has been developed into the Rougham Industrial Estate. The T2 hangars are still in use, for storage. The control tower, used for many years as a private dwelling, has now been restored and is used as a museum.
The airfield, once again known as Rougham, now has two grass runways available for civil use. Gliding and model aircraft flying are frequent and several open-air events are organised each year.
Skyward Flight Training now operate from Rougham Airfield.
The estate have made it known that they will not be making the airfield available for aircraft operations after the 31st May 2023.
See also
*
List of former Royal Air Force stations
This list of former RAF stations includes most of the stations, airfields and administrative headquarters previously used by the Royal Air Force.
The stations are listed under any former county or country name which was appropriate for the du ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*
www.controltowers.co.uk Bury St Edmunds mighty8thaf.preller.us Bury St. Edmunds
External links
94th Bomb Group websiteRougham Tower AssociationRougham Airfield Underground Battle HQphotos
First person accounts of 4 crewman's bailout from 94BG, 333BS B-17 "Pride of the Yanks"photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bury St Edmunds
Bury
Borough of St Edmundsbury
1942 establishments in England
1948 disestablishments in England