Royal Air Force Martlesham Heath or more simply RAF Martlesham Heath 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 southwest of Woodbridge,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

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 ...

. It was active between 1917 and 1963, and played an important role in the development of Airborne Interception radar.

History

RFC/RAF prewar use

Martlesham Heath was first used as a Royal Flying Corps airfield during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. In 1917 it became home to the Aeroplane Experimental Unit, RFC which moved from Upavon with the site named as the Aeroplane Experimental Station which became the Aeroplane Experimental Establishment (Home) in 1920 which became the

Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992. Established at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, the unit moved in 1939 to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where its work ...

(A&AEE) in 1924. The A&AEE carried the evaluation and testing of many of the aircraft types and much of the armament and other equipment that would later be used 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 ...

. No. 22 Squadron RAF and

No. 15 Squadron RAF Number 15 Squadron, sometimes written as No. XV Squadron, was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It most recently operated the Panavia Tornado GR4 from RAF Lossiemouth as No. XV (Reserve) Squadron. It was the RAF's Operational Conversion Uni ...

were present during the 1920s. No. 64 arrived in the 1930s.

RAF Fighter Command use

The A&AEE moved to RAF Boscombe Down on 9 September 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War and Martlesham then became the most northerly station of

No. 11 Group RAF No. 11 Group is a group in the Royal Air Force first formed in 1918. It had been formed and disbanded for various periods during the 20th century before disbanding in 1996 and reforming again in 2018. Its most famous service was in 1940 in the Ba ...

, Fighter Command. Squadrons of Bristol Blenheim bombers,

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness b ...

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Gri ...

s and Hawker Typhoons operated from this airfield, and among the many pilots based there were such famous men as Robert Stanford Tuck, and

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is als ...

Douglas Bader, there as Commanding Officer of 242 Squadron. Ian Smith, the post-war Rhodesian prime minister, was at Martlesham for a time. During the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, Anti-Aircraft (AA) defence for the area was the responsibility of the Harwich Gun Defence Area (GDA), manned by

99th (London Welsh) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery The 99th (London Welsh) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery was an air defence unit of Britain's Territorial Army (TA) during World War II. It defended London during the early part of the war, and later served in the campaign in North ...

. The GDA's main focus was on the Port of Harwich, and in July 1940 there were almost daily attacks on shipping off the East Coast, but 302 Heavy AA Battery also had a detachment stationed at Martlesham. The ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

'' began its offensive against RAF Fighter Command airfields in August. On 15 August the experimental

Fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, ...

unit ''

Erprobungsgruppe 210 ''Schnellkampfgeschwader'' 210 (SKG 210) was a Luftwaffe fast-bomber wing during the Second World War. The unit was created in April 1941 and absorbed by the Zerstörergeschwader 1 on 4 January 1942. Operational history SKG 210 had its origi ...

'' attacked RAF Martlesham Heath and a neighbouring signal station. The Hurricanes of No. 17 Squadron stationed at Martlesham were some out to sea looking for the raid among the many traces being plotted by the radar stations. The raiders (nearly 40 mixed ground attack aircraft with fighter escort) slipped through and spent five minutes over the target, bombing and Strafing, while the HAA gun detachment got off five rounds of Shrapnel shell, which was all they had to use against low-level attack. The raiders then got away without loss, despite being engaged by the Harwich AA guns while withdrawing. The equivalent of seven Fighter Command squadrons had been ordered to intercept, but only a few reached Martlesham as the attackers were leaving. The damage to the airfield was extensive and took a full day to repair.99 HAA Rgt War Diary, 1939–41, The National Archives (TNA), Kew, file WO 166/2389. On 27 October 1940 another daylight raid was made on Martlesham by about 40

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

fighter-bombers, which were engaged by the HAA guns on their way in and out. 99th HAA Regiment claimed that the raiders were disrupted by the fire, and the bomb damage was slight. * No. 71 (Eagle) Squadron a squadron formed of American volunteers operated from the station in the middle and end of 1941. * Air Sea Rescue Flight RAF, Martlesham Heath (1941) became 'A' Flight, No. 277 Squadron RAF.

USAAF use

In 1943, Martlesham Heath became one of a group of grass-surfaced airfields earmarked for use by fighters of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF)

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forc ...

. The airfield was assigned USAAF designation Station 369.

356th Fighter Group

The airfield was opened in May 1943 and was first used by the

356th Fighter Group The 356th Fighter Group is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Army Service Forces, being stationed at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. It was inactivated on 10 November 1945. During World War II the gro ...

, arriving from

RAF Goxhill Royal Air Force Goxhill or RAF Goxhill is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Goxhill, on the south bank of the Humber Estuary, opposite the city of Kingston upon Hull, in north Lincolnshire, England. Origins During the First World ...

on 5 October 1943. The group was under the command of the 67th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command. Aircraft of the 356th were identified by a magenta/blue diamond pattern around their cowling. The group consisted of the following squadrons: *

359th Fighter Squadron 359th may refer to: *359th Bombardment Squadron, United States Air Force unit *359th Fighter Group The 359th Fighter Group was a United States Army Air Force fighter unit that was active during World War II. Following organization and trainin ...

(OC) *

360th Fighter Squadron 36 may refer to: * 36 (number), the natural number following 35 and preceding 37 * One of these years of Gregorian or Julian calendars: ** 36 BC, 1st century BCE ** AD 36, 1st century ** 1936, 20th century ** 2036, 21st century Arts and entertain ...

(PI) *

361st Fighter Squadron 361st may refer to: * 361st Bombardment Squadron or 1st Antisubmarine Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit *361st Fighter Group, World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization * 361st Fighter Squadron or 461st Flight Test ...

(QI) The 356th FG served in combat from October 1943, participating in operations that prepared for the invasion of the Continent, and supporting the landings in Normandy and the subsequent Allied drive across France and Germany. The group flew Republic P-47 Thunderbolts until they were replaced by North American P-51 Mustangs in November 1944. From October 1943 until January 1944, they operated as escort for Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress/ Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers that attacked such objectives as industrial areas, missile sites, airfields, and communications. P-51 Mustang - Martlesham - 356fg-p51

Fighters from the 356th engaged primarily in bombing and strafing missions after 3 January 1944, with its targets including U-boat installations, barges, shipyards, aerodromes, hangars, marshalling yards, locomotives, trucks, oil facilities, flak towers, and radar stations. Bombed and strafed in the Arnhem area on 17, 18, and 23 September 1944 to neutralize enemy gun emplacements, and received a

Distinguished Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enem ...

for this contribution to the airborne attack on the Netherlands. The group flew its last combat mission, escorting B-17's dropping propaganda leaflets, on 7 May 1945. It returned to Camp Kilmer

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

and was inactivated on 10 November 1945.

Postwar RAF Fighter Command use

With the departure of the USAAF, the airfield reverted to the RAF. In the immediate postwar years, Fighter Command squadrons were in residence at Martlesham but the proximity to

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 ...

and the physical limitations on lengthening the runways restricted jet operation. In an effort to improve the station the main runway was extended in 1955. Early in 1946, the Bomb Ballistics and Blind Landing Unit moved in which, in 1950, was rechristened the Armament and Instrument Experimental Unit (A&IEU) remaining at Martlesham until disbanding in 1957. An RAF Police flight had also occupied the station from 1951–1953. The following year, the A&IEU was disbanded and the station was retained in reserve status during which time an Air Sea Rescue helicopter unit was in residence. In 1958, another Reserve Flight arrived and a Station HQ formed; No. 11 Group Communications flight moved in to be followed by HO No. 11 Group. These units were deactivated by the end of 1960. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight moved to the airfield in 1958 and left in 1961. After this the airfield reverted to care and maintenance status before the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of Stat ...

closed the facility on 25 April 1963. The USAF Radio Relay Station & R/T Exchange In 1961 the US 3rd Air Force set up a radio signal station near the south-west corner of the airfield, just within Kesgrave parish, officially also called "Martlesham Heath". It relayed radio communication between the USAF and other US bases in the USA, Iceland, and the UK on the one hand, and Germany and Italy on the other. It linked via SHF voice and morse radio to Hillingdon, West London, and via large UHF tropo-scatter dishes to the ballistic early warning base at Fylingdales (Yorkshire), Flobecq (Belgium) and the Hook of Holland. Eventually, with additional capacity in mind, it acquired six steel masts. Its personnel were supplied from the nearby Bentwaters airbase. From 1966 its main building housed one of the two "AUTOVON" (US radio telephone automatic exchanges) in the UK. Between 1988 and 1990 it progressively shut down, though the buildings and 3 masts remain. (Sources: 2130 & 2164 Comms Sq. Record Books at US Air Force Maxwell base; US Technical Defense Information Center website online Honeywell tropo-scatter studies; UK Home Office radio frequency records at UK National Archive; East Suffolk Aviation Society websites, including USAF veterans'contributions; East Anglian Daily Times).

Current use

With the end of military control, Martlesham Heath has now become an industrial and dormitory satellite of

and the four prewar hangars and technical site buildings are now used for light industry and storage. Nearby, on the old RAF parade ground, stands a memorial erected to the memory of those members of the 356th Fighter Group who lost their lives in World War II. Part of the site of the airfield now contains the main headquarters building of the Suffolk Constabulary. The

control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

from the airfield is maintained as a museum. In July 2017, a commemorative stone was unveiled on the village green outside the Douglas Bader public house. During the event, a Hurricane and Spitfire flew over the crowd to music by Vera Lynn. Martlesham Heath airfield control tower

References

Citations

Bibliography

Basil Collier, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Defence of the United Kingdom'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1957.
* Richard Collier, ''Eagle Day: The Battle of Britain, August 6 – September 15, 1940'', London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1966/Pan Books, 1968, . * * Freeman, Roger A. (1978) Airfields of the Eighth: Then and Now. After the Battle * Freeman, Roger A. (1991) The Mighty Eighth The Colour Record. Cassell & Co. * * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .

at Air of Authority.

356th Fighter Group on www.littlefriends.co.uk

mighty8thaf.preller.us Martlesham Heath

External links

Read a detailed historical record about Martlesham Airfield

Martlesham Heath Aviation Society & Control Tower Museum

Martlesham Heath Photo Gallery

Video of how it is today
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martlesham Heath Airfields of the VIII Fighter Command in Suffolk Royal Air Force stations in Suffolk Royal Flying Corps airfields Royal Air Force stations of World War II in the United Kingdom