Visited with Ella.
We had a day planned in and around Bedford and failed each and every one of them apart from here. We did fail the control tower as we would need a ladder. The sun was setting and we were fed up failing so thought we would just take a look at these buildings on the far side. What a result, absolutely loved this. Unfortunately time was against us so we didn’t manage to do the other set of buildings but these were great. Went in expecting couple of crappy rooms and walked into some kind of yard is with corridors and peeling paint galore So it kind of made up for the previous fails.
im glad I only spotted the giant spider in the corner of the pressure dial pic coz I would have run like hell and driven away.
History -
Royal Air Force Thurleigh or more simply RAF Thurleigh is a former Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. Thurleigh was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force on 9 December 1942 and designated Station 111, and used for heavy bomber operations against Nazi Germany.
Thurleigh was built for RAF Bomber Command in 1940 by W & C French Ltd. 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Thurleigh on farmland between the farms of Buryfields, Bletsoe Park, Manor, and Whitwickgreen. It was eventually modified to Air Ministry Class A airfield specifications, with three converging runways, extended in 1942 to lengths of 6,000 feet (runway 06-24) and 4,200 feet (runways 18-36 and 12-30). Thurleigh was unique among bomber bases in having four T2 type metal hangars where most bases had only two.
RAF Bomber Command use
Its first use was by No. 160 Squadron RAF, forming on 16 January 1942 as a ground echelon then deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater at Drigh Road on 4 June 1942.
The airfield was also used by No. 18 Operational Training Unit RAF.
Other units
* No. 2813 Squadron RAF Regiment
* Central Gunnery School
* Radar Research Squadron
*
USAAF use
Thurleigh was one of 28 fields listed for use by the U.S. Eighth Air Force on 4 June 1942, tentatively designated station B-4, and was allocated on 10 August 1942. The RAF had found that the initial construction of Thurleigh was inadequate for the combat weight of B-24 bombers. After the departure of the RAF, Thurleigh's runways were lengthened, increased in thickness, and additional hardstands constructed to Class A standards so it could accommodate a USAAF heavy bomber group.
From 16 September 1943 though 25 June 1945, Thurleigh served as headquarters for the 40th Combat Bombardment Wing of the 1st Bomb Division.
306th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
With the essential construction completed, the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy)[4] deployed to Thurleigh on 7 September 1942 from Wendover AAF Utah. The 306th was assigned to the 40th Combat Wing also at Thurleigh. The group tail code was a "Triangle H".[6] Its operational squadrons were:
* 367th Bombardment Squadron (GY)
* 368th Bombardment Squadron (BO)
* 369th Bombardment Squadron (WW)
* 423d Bombardment Squadron (RD)
The group flew the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft,[4] and remained at Thurleigh until 1 December 1945. That was the longest tenure of any U.S. air group at a UK base.
At Thurleigh, the group operated primarily against strategic targets initially in occupied France and the Low Countries, then later in Germany. The group struck locomotive works at Lille, railway yards at Rouen, submarine pens at Bordeaux, shipbuilding yards at Vegesack, ball-bearing works at Schweinfurt, oil plants at Merseburg, marshalling yards at Stuttgart, a foundry at Hannover, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, aircraft factories at Leipzig, and numerous other targets on the Continent.
The 306th led the Eighth Air Force on its first mission to bomb a target in Germany on 27 January 1943, attacking U-boat yards at Wilhelmshaven, and suffered severe losses in attacks on Bremen on 16 April 1943, and Schweinfurt, 17 August 1943.
On 11 January 1944, without fighter escort and in the face of strong opposition, the 306th was part of a 1st Bombardment Division mission against aircraft factories in central Germany in which all groups were awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. The 306th Bomb Group received a second DUC during Big Week, the intensive campaign against the German aircraft industry, when it effectively bombed an aircraft assembly plant at Bernberg on 22 February 1944, after poor weather forced other groups to abandon the mission.
The 306th Bomb Group flew its 342nd and final mission on 19 April 1945, the most of any Eighth Air Force B-17 unit except the 303rd Bomb Group. It compiled 9,614 sorties; dropped 22,575 tons of bombs; and had 171 B-17's fail to return from missions.
With the end of military control, the airfield has been divided into two parts. The southern part is now known as Thurleigh Business Park, and includes the runway, which is currently used for the mass storage of new cars and cars from the British government scrappage scheme, although it remains intact for possible future use. The northern part houses the Bedford Autodrome, as well as Thurleigh Museum which is dedicated primarily to the airfield and life in the area during the Second World War. The eastern end remains in aviation use as Bedford Aerodrome.
We had a day planned in and around Bedford and failed each and every one of them apart from here. We did fail the control tower as we would need a ladder. The sun was setting and we were fed up failing so thought we would just take a look at these buildings on the far side. What a result, absolutely loved this. Unfortunately time was against us so we didn’t manage to do the other set of buildings but these were great. Went in expecting couple of crappy rooms and walked into some kind of yard is with corridors and peeling paint galore So it kind of made up for the previous fails.
im glad I only spotted the giant spider in the corner of the pressure dial pic coz I would have run like hell and driven away.
History -
Royal Air Force Thurleigh or more simply RAF Thurleigh is a former Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. Thurleigh was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force on 9 December 1942 and designated Station 111, and used for heavy bomber operations against Nazi Germany.
Thurleigh was built for RAF Bomber Command in 1940 by W & C French Ltd. 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Thurleigh on farmland between the farms of Buryfields, Bletsoe Park, Manor, and Whitwickgreen. It was eventually modified to Air Ministry Class A airfield specifications, with three converging runways, extended in 1942 to lengths of 6,000 feet (runway 06-24) and 4,200 feet (runways 18-36 and 12-30). Thurleigh was unique among bomber bases in having four T2 type metal hangars where most bases had only two.
RAF Bomber Command use
Its first use was by No. 160 Squadron RAF, forming on 16 January 1942 as a ground echelon then deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater at Drigh Road on 4 June 1942.
The airfield was also used by No. 18 Operational Training Unit RAF.
Other units
* No. 2813 Squadron RAF Regiment
* Central Gunnery School
* Radar Research Squadron
*
USAAF use
Thurleigh was one of 28 fields listed for use by the U.S. Eighth Air Force on 4 June 1942, tentatively designated station B-4, and was allocated on 10 August 1942. The RAF had found that the initial construction of Thurleigh was inadequate for the combat weight of B-24 bombers. After the departure of the RAF, Thurleigh's runways were lengthened, increased in thickness, and additional hardstands constructed to Class A standards so it could accommodate a USAAF heavy bomber group.
From 16 September 1943 though 25 June 1945, Thurleigh served as headquarters for the 40th Combat Bombardment Wing of the 1st Bomb Division.
306th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
With the essential construction completed, the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy)[4] deployed to Thurleigh on 7 September 1942 from Wendover AAF Utah. The 306th was assigned to the 40th Combat Wing also at Thurleigh. The group tail code was a "Triangle H".[6] Its operational squadrons were:
* 367th Bombardment Squadron (GY)
* 368th Bombardment Squadron (BO)
* 369th Bombardment Squadron (WW)
* 423d Bombardment Squadron (RD)
The group flew the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft,[4] and remained at Thurleigh until 1 December 1945. That was the longest tenure of any U.S. air group at a UK base.
At Thurleigh, the group operated primarily against strategic targets initially in occupied France and the Low Countries, then later in Germany. The group struck locomotive works at Lille, railway yards at Rouen, submarine pens at Bordeaux, shipbuilding yards at Vegesack, ball-bearing works at Schweinfurt, oil plants at Merseburg, marshalling yards at Stuttgart, a foundry at Hannover, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, aircraft factories at Leipzig, and numerous other targets on the Continent.
The 306th led the Eighth Air Force on its first mission to bomb a target in Germany on 27 January 1943, attacking U-boat yards at Wilhelmshaven, and suffered severe losses in attacks on Bremen on 16 April 1943, and Schweinfurt, 17 August 1943.
On 11 January 1944, without fighter escort and in the face of strong opposition, the 306th was part of a 1st Bombardment Division mission against aircraft factories in central Germany in which all groups were awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. The 306th Bomb Group received a second DUC during Big Week, the intensive campaign against the German aircraft industry, when it effectively bombed an aircraft assembly plant at Bernberg on 22 February 1944, after poor weather forced other groups to abandon the mission.
The 306th Bomb Group flew its 342nd and final mission on 19 April 1945, the most of any Eighth Air Force B-17 unit except the 303rd Bomb Group. It compiled 9,614 sorties; dropped 22,575 tons of bombs; and had 171 B-17's fail to return from missions.
With the end of military control, the airfield has been divided into two parts. The southern part is now known as Thurleigh Business Park, and includes the runway, which is currently used for the mass storage of new cars and cars from the British government scrappage scheme, although it remains intact for possible future use. The northern part houses the Bedford Autodrome, as well as Thurleigh Museum which is dedicated primarily to the airfield and life in the area during the Second World War. The eastern end remains in aviation use as Bedford Aerodrome.
