RAF Lakenheath

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Royal Air Force Station Lakenheath

Part of United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE)
Located Near Lakenheath, Suffolk, United Kingdom

F-15E Strike Eagles of the 48th Fighter, Statue of Liberty Wing
Type Air Force Base
Built 1941
In use 1941-1944,1947-Present
Current
owner		 Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
Controlled by Royal Air Force
United States Air Force
Garrison Royal Air Force (1941-1948)
Strategic Air Command (1951-1959)
United States Air Forces In Europe (1948-1951, 1959-Present)
Battles/wars European Theatre of World War II (RAF)
RAF Lakenheath (Suffolk)
RAF Lakenheath
Map showing the location of RAF Lakenheath within Suffolk.
RAF Lakenheath
IATA: LKZ – ICAO: EGUL
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator United States Air Force
Location Lakenheath
Elevation AMSL 32 ft / 10 m
Coordinates 52°24′30″N 00°33′24″E / 52.40833, 0.55667
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
06/24 9,000 2,743 Concrete/Asphalt

RAF Lakenheath (IATA: LKZ, ICAO: EGUL) is a Royal Air Force airfield located near Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. Although technically an RAF station, it primarily hosts United States Air Force units and personnel. The host wing is the 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW), also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE).

Contents

[edit] 48th Fighter Wing

Main article: 48th Fighter Wing

The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is also designated the Air Force’s Statue of Liberty Wing, and is the only USAF wing with both a numerical designation and an official name. Since its activation at Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base, France on 10 July 1952 the Liberty Wing has been one of the premier fighter wings of the United States Air Forces in Europe, spending its over 50-year existence as part of USAFE. The 48 FW has nearly 5,700 active-duty military members, 2,000 British and U.S. civilians, and includes a geographically separated unit (GSU) at nearby RAF Feltwell.

Tactical squadrons of the 48th Operations Group are:

  • 492d Fighter Squadron (F-15E)
  • 493d Fighter Squadron (F-15C/D)
  • 494th Fighter Squadron (F-15E)

Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code "LN".

In addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft, the Liberty Wing houses the 56th Rescue Squadron’s HH-60G Combat Search and Rescue helicopters.

RAF Lakenheath and its nearby sister base, RAF Mildenhall, are the two main U.S. Air Force-operated bases in United Kingdom, and the 48th Fighter Wing is the only U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) F-15 fighter wing.

Part of the 48th FW mission is the deployment of about 110 tactical B61 nuclear bombs using F-15E aircraft. The B61 nuclear bombs are stored in vaults inside the base's Hardened Aircraft Shelters using the WS3 Weapon Storage and Security System, and are the only tactical nuclear weapons still stored in the United Kingdom.[1][2] As a matter of national security, the United States government does not disclose the status of their nuclear arsenal[citation needed] and as a result it is impossible to determine the disposition of the nuclear mission at Lakenheath.

[edit] History

The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was in World War I when the area was made into a bombing and ground-attack range for aircraft flying from elsewhere in the area. It appears to have been little used and was abandoned when peace came in 1918.

[edit] World War II

In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative satellite for RAF Mildenhall and was first used as a decoy airfield. Prior to actual construction, false lights, runways and aircraft diverted Luftwaffe attacks from the nearby RAF Mildenhall.

Hard runways were put down with the main runway, 05-23, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12-30 at 1,300 yards and 17-35 at 1,400 yards. At a later date another 100 yards was added to runway 17-35. Hardstands for 36 aircraft were built along with two T-2s and a B-1 hangar. One T-2 was on the technical site and the other hangars to the east across the A1065 Mildenhall-Brandon road were reached by taxiways.

Lakenheath Airfield was initially used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941. As planned, the station soon functioned as a Mildenhall satellite with Stirling bombers of No. 149 Squadron being dispersed from the parent airfield as soon as conditions allowed. The squadron exchanged its Vickers Wellingtons for Stirlings late in 1941. After becoming fully operational with its new aircraft, the squadron moved into Lakenheath in April 1942 and remained in residence until 1944.

Taking part in more than 350 operations, of which more than half involved mine-laying, 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all the Stirling squadrons. One of No. 149's Stirling pilots, Flight Sergeant Rawdon Middleton, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his valour on the night of November 28/29, 1942 when he sustained serious face wounds from shell-fire during a raid on Turin. Despite great pain and loss of blood, he determinedly brought the damaged aircraft back to the coast of southern England. With fuel nearly exhausted his crew were ordered to bail out. Middleton was killed when the Stirling, BF372 OJ-H, crashed into the English Channel.

In early 1943 three T-2 hangars were erected on the north side of the airfield for glider storage, some 40 Horsa Gliders being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year.

In June 1943 No. 199 Squadron was established as a second Stirling squadron at Lakenheath. Commencing operations on 31 July, it was engaged principally in mine-laying during the winter of 1943-44. At the end of April 1944, after 68 operations, the squadron was transferred to No. 100 Group for bomber support operations moving to RAF North Creake in May 1944.

No. 149 Squadron ended its long association with RAF Lakenheath the same month, taking its Stirlings to RAF Methwold. Between them the two squadrons lost 116 Stirling Bombers in combat while flying from Lakenheath.

The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield. Lakenheath was one of three RAF airfields being prepared to receive United States Army Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortresses which were tentatively planned to replace some of Eighth Air Force's Third Air Division B-24 Liberator groups spring of 1945.

The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete. The main at 07-25 was 3,000 yards long; the subsidiaries, 01-19 and 14-32, both 2,000 yards; all three being 100 yards wide. Part of the A1065 road between Brandon and Mildenhall was closed and a new section built further to the east on the Warren. During the peak period of construction over 1,000 men were working on the site; yet instead of the 12 months planned, it took 18 months for the ground work alone and 2 1/2 years before Lakenheath's transformation was complete. The cost was nearly £2 million.

By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status.

[edit] United States Air Force Use

Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946. In November, President Harry S. Truman ordered Strategic Air Command B-29 bombers to RAF Burtonwood, and from there to various bases in West Germany as a "training deployment". In May 1947 additional B-29s were sent to the UK and Germany to keep up the presence of a training program. These deployments were only a cover-up, as the true aim of these B-29s were to have a strategic air force permanently stationed in Europe.

In April 1947 RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.

[edit] Strategic Air Command

Boeing B-50D
Boeing B-50D
Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker, 1951
Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker, 1951
USAF Boeing B-47E-50-LM (AF Serial No. 52-3363) in flight.
USAF Boeing B-47E-50-LM (AF Serial No. 52-3363) in flight.

In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat-capable force. In July, B-29 Superfortresses of the SAC 2nd Bombardment Group were deployed to Lakenheath for a 90-day temporary deployment.

On 27 November 1948 operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE. The first USAFE host unit at RAF Lakenheath was the 7504th Base Completion Squadron, being activated that date. The squadron was elevated to an Air Base Group (ABG) on 28 January 1950 and to a Wing (ABW) on 26 September 1950.

Control of RAF Lakenheath was allocated to Third Air Force at South Ruislip Air Station which had command of SAC B-29 operations in England. Third Air Force was subsequently placed directly under USAF orders, with Strategic Air Command establishing the 7th Air Division Headquarters at RAF Mildenhall. The collocation of the two headquarters within the United Kingdom allowed HQ USAFE to discharge its responsibilities in England, while at the same time allowing Strategic Air Command to continue in its deterrent role while retaining operational control over flying activities at Lakenheath.

By 1950 Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U.S. Strategic Air Command in the UK, the others were RAF Marham and RAF Sculthorpe. A succession of bombardment squadrons and wings, 33 in all, rotated through Lakenheath, the B-29s giving way to the improved B-50 Superfortresses and then, in June 1954, B-47 Stratojets.

On 1 May 1951 Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group. By 1952 high security perimeter fencing was erected for security. The 3909th moved to RAF Greenham Common in 1954 and was replaced by the 3910th Air Base Group.

Known SAC units which deployed to RAF Lakenheath were:

The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.

Many SAC Squadrons had aircraft at RAF Lakenheath on a transitotry basis without any recorded deployment to the base. For example in January 1951, a detachment of Convair RB-36D Peacemaker intercontinental bombers from the 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Travis AFB, California arrived for a few days and various tanker and transport aircraft also made periodic appearances at the base. Several of the temporary detachments included in-flight refuelling tanker aircraft.

Meanwhile on 30 April 1956 two Lockheed U-2s were airlifted to RAF Lakenheath to form CIA Detachment A. The first flight of the U-2 was on 21 May. The Central Intelligence Agency unit did not remain long, moving to Wiesbaden Air Base, West Germany on 15 June.

A near nuclear accident occurred on 27 July 1956, when a B-47 bomber crashed into a storage igloo at Lakenheath containing three MK-6 nuclear weapons while on a routine training mission. Although the bombs involved in the accident did not have their fissile cores installed, each of them carried about 8,000 pounds of high explosives as part of their trigger mechanism. The crash and ensuing fire did not ignite the high explosives and no detonation occurred. The damaged weapons and components were later returned to the Atomic Energy Commission. The B-47 involved in the accident, which killed four crewmen, was part of the 307th Bombardment Wing.[3]

[edit] 48th Fighter Wing

A 492d Fighter Squadron F-15E Eagle from Lakenheath lifts off from the airfield's runway
A 492d Fighter Squadron F-15E Eagle from Lakenheath lifts off from the airfield's runway
McDonnell Douglas F-15C-42-MC Eagle AF Serial No. 86-0175 taxis for takeoff
McDonnell Douglas F-15C-42-MC Eagle AF Serial No. 86-0175 taxis for takeoff

Following French President Charles de Gaulle's insistence in 1959 that all non-French nuclear-capable forces should be withdrawn from his country, the USAF began a redeployment of its North American F-100-equipped units from France. The 48th TFW left its base at Chaumont AB, France on 15 January 1960, its aircraft arriving at Lakenheath that afternoon. When the first F-100D touched down on RAF Lakenheath’s runway, the landing symbolized a return for the Statue of Liberty Wing. Almost 16 years had passed since the World War II Ninth Air Force 48th Fighter Group’s arrival at RAF Ibsley, England, for the D-Day invasion.

In conjunction with this transfer, control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from Strategic Air Command back to USAFE. As SAC elements began their departure, the 3910th Air Base Group began its transition of handing RAF Lakenheath’s facilities and real estate over to the 48th’s Combat Support Group elements.

The tactical components of the 48th TFW upon arrival at Lakenheath were:

  • 492d Tactical Fighter Squadron (LR,blue colors)
  • 493d Tactical Fighter Squadron (LS,yellow colors)
  • 494th Tactical Fighter Squadron (LT,red colors)

The squadron markings consisted of alternating stripes across the tailfin in squadon colors, with a shadowed "V" shaped chevron on the nose. Starting in March 1970 squadron tail codes (shown above) were added when the aircraft went from a natural finish to a Southeast Asian camoflauge motif.

The period between 1972 and 1977 can be described as a five-year aircraft conversion. Beginning in late 1971 the 48th TFW started its conversion to the McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II, with the aircraft being transferred from the 81st TFW at RAF Bentwaters. The conversion to the F-4D took several years, with the last F-100 departing in August 1974. With the arrival of the Phantoms, the F-4s adopted a common tail code of "LK". This tail code lasted only a few months as in July and August 1972 the 48th TFW further recoded to "LN". The F-4D carried squadron identifying fin cap colors of blue, yellow and red (492d, 493d, 494th respectivley).

The F-4's service with the 48th TFW was short as operation "Ready Switch" transferred the F-4D assets to the 474th TFW at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The 474th sent their General Dynamics F-111As to the 347th TFW at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, and the 347th sent their F-111Fs to Lakenheath in early 1977.

A fourth fighter squadron, the 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron was activated with the 48th TFW on 1 April 1977 with a squadron tail color of green. This was 33 years to the day since the squadron’s inactivation. The 495th’s mission of functioning as a replacement training unit for the other three fighter squadrons made the 48th TFW unique in two ways. First, it made the 48th the only combat unit in USAFE with four squadrons.

Lakenheath began to receive its first McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagles in 1992. With the departure of the F-111s, the 495th FS was inactivated on 13 December 1991. On 18 December 1992 the last F-111 departed the base. Along with its departure, the 493d FS was also inactivated.

With the pending closure of Bitburg Air Base, Germany on 25 February 1994 it was decided to reactivate the 493d as an F-15C/D squadron. Aircraft were transferred from the 33d Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida and the 493d was reactivated on 1 January. The 493d’s arrival meant that the 48th became the largest F-15E/F-15C composite unit in the U.S. Air Force.

In 2003, the 48th FW received the first of 10 new F-15Es. The aircraft were part of the final batch of F-15s expected to be ordered by the USAF.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Some of the text in an early version of this article was taken from pages on the RAF Lakenheath website, which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a public domain resource. That information was supplemented by:

  • Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
  • Fletcher, Harry R. (1989) Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799536
  • Mueller, Robert (1989). Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 USAF Reference Series, Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6
  • Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
  • Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
  • [1] Joe Baugher's Encyclopedia of American Aircraft
  • [2] USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to Present
  • [3] Strategic-Air-Command.com
  1. ^ Hans M. Kristensen (February 2005), U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe, Natural Resources Defense Council, <http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/euro/euro.pdf>. Retrieved on 23 May 2006 
  2. ^ Col Bret T. Klassen (29 January 2007), United States Air Forces in Europe Instruction 91-125 - Nuclear Surety Staff Assistance Visit (NSSAV) AND Functional Expert Visit (FEV) program management, United States Air Forces in Europe, <http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/doctrine/usaf/afei91-125-2007.pdf>. Retrieved on 29 May 2007 
  3. ^ Cable to Commander-in-Chief Strategic Air Command Gen Curtis LeMay. U.S. Department of Defense (July 27, 1956). Retrieved on 2006-07-05.

[edit] External links

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