RAF Lakenheath


Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, north-east of Mildenhall and west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon.
Despite being an RAF station, Lakenheath currently only hosts United States Air Force units and personnel. The host wing is the 48th Fighter Wing, also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa.

History

First World War

The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was during the First World War, 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.

Second World War (1940–1945)

Royal Air Force use

In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for nearby RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield. False lights, runways and aircraft diverted Luftwaffe attacks from Mildenhall.
Surfaced runways were constructed in 1941, with the main runway being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries at 1,300 yards and 1,400 yards. Another 100 yards was added to runway 16/34. Hardstands for thirty-six aircraft were built, along with two T-2 and a B-1 hangar. One T-2 was on the technical site, the other hangars to the east across the Mildenhall-Brandon road were reached by taxiways.
Lakenheath was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941. The station soon functioned as a Mildenhall satellite with Short Stirling bombers of No. 149 Squadron dispersed from the parent airfield as conditions allowed. The squadron exchanged its Vickers Wellingtons for Stirlings late in November 1941. After becoming fully operational with its new aircraft, the squadron moved into Lakenheath on 6 April 1942 and remained until mid 1944 when the squadron moved to RAF Methwold in Norfolk.
Taking part in more than 350 operations, more than half mine-laying, No. 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons. One Stirling pilot, Flight Sergeant Rawdon Middleton, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for valour on the night of 28–29 November 1942, when despite serious face wounds and loss of blood from shell-fire during a raid on the Fiat works at Turin in Italy, he brought the damaged aircraft back towards 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, forty Horsa Gliders being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year.
On 21 June 1943, No. 199 Squadron was established as a second Stirling squadron. Commencing operations on 31 July, it laid mines during the winter of 1943–44. At the end of April 1944, after sixty-eight operations, the squadron transferred to No. 100 Group for bomber support, moving to RAF North Creake in Norfolk on 1 May 1944.
No. 149 Squadron ended its 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 Forces Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, which were tentatively planned to replace some of Eighth Air Force's Third Air Division Consolidated B-24 Liberator groups in the spring of 1945.
The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete. The main runway 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 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.

Cold War (1946–1990)

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 in Lancashire, 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 pretense, as the true aim of these B-29s was 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.

Strategic Air Command

In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign United States Air Force Europe 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 Lakenheath was the 7504th Base Completion Squadron, being activated on that date. The squadron was elevated to an Air Base Group on 28 January 1950, and to a Wing on 26 September 1950.
Control of Lakenheath was allocated to the Third Air Force at RAF South Ruislip, which had command of SAC B-29 operations in England. The Third Air Force was subsequently placed directly under USAF orders, with SAC 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 SAC 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 SAC in the UK, the others being RAF Marham and RAF Sculthorpe both in Norfolk. A succession of bombardment squadrons and wings, thirty-three in all, rotated through Lakenheath, the B-29s giving way to the improved Boeing B-50 Superfortresses and subsequently, in June 1954, Boeing B-47 Stratojets.
On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group. By 1952, a high security perimeter fencing was erected. The 3909th moved to RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire during 1954, and was replaced by the 3910th Air Base Group.Known SAC units which deployed to RAF Lakenheath on temporary duty 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 Lakenheath on a transitory 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.
On 30 April 1956, two Lockheed U-2s were airlifted to 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 Mark-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.
On 10 October 1956, a United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean after departure from RAF Lakenheath for a flight to Lajes Field in the Azores. The aircraft was on a Military Air Transport Service flight carrying 50 members of the 307th Bombardment Wing, on their way home to the United States after a temporary duty assignment and a US Navy crew of nine. All 59 personnel on board were lost.

48th Tactical Fighter Wing

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-Semoutiers Air Base, France on 15 January 1960, its aircraft arriving at Lakenheath that afternoon. When the first F-100D touched down on Lakenheath's runway, the landing symbolised a return for the Statue of Liberty Wing. Almost 16 years had passed since the Second World War Ninth Air Force 48th Fighter Group's arrival at RAF Ibsley, England, for the D-Day invasion.
In conjunction with this transfer, control of 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 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:
The squadron markings consisted of alternating stripes across the tailfin in squadron colours, with a shadowed "V" shaped chevron on the nose. Starting in March 1970, squadron tail codes were added when the aircraft went from a natural finish to a Southeast Asian camouflage 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 in Suffolk. 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 colours of blue, yellow and red.
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-111. As to the 366th TFW at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, and the 366th 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 colour 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. This made the 495th and the 48th TFW unique, as the only WSO training unit for USAFE.
F-111s from the 48th TFW participated in 1986 United States bombing of Libya in 1986. This bombing of Libya prompted the mock-acronym, 'Lakenheath Is Bombing Your Ass'. During the operation one F-111 from Lakenheath was shot down by Libyan forces and the two crew members were killed. The Libyan government eventually returned one of the bodies.
Pave Hawk during exercise Joint Warrior 15-1

Post Cold War (1991 – present)

Lakenheath received 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 in 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 ten new F-15Es. The aircraft were part of the final batch of F-15s expected to be ordered by the Air Force.
On 2 March 2011, members of the 48th Security Forces Squadron were involved in a shooting at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. The members were on a bus bound for Ramstein Air Base in Germany when they were attacked by a lone gunman.
On 22 March 2011, F-15E 91-0304 crash-landed and was destroyed in eastern Libya after reportedly suffering from a mechanical failure. Both crewmen ejected and were safely recovered. On 7 January 2014, a Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk from the base crashed following a bird strike while on a low-level training exercise with another helicopter, into the Cley Marshes near Cley next the Sea on the nearby North Norfolk coast. All four occupants died in the crash.
On 8 October 2014, F-15D 86-0182 belonging to the 493d Fighter Squadron crashed during a training flight in a field outside Spalding, Lincolnshire. The pilot successfully ejected and was shortly recovered back to Lakenheath on board a Pave Hawk.
A US Marine Corps Boeing F/A-18 Hornet of VMFA-232 "Red Devils" from MCAS. Miramar, California, crashed after taking off from RAF Lakenheath on 21 October 2015. The pilot, Major Taj "Cabbie" Sareen, did not survive.
On 15 June 2020, an F-15C belonging to the 493d Fighter Squadron crashed during a training flight in the North Sea, 74 nautical miles east of Scarborough at about. The body of pilot
1st Lt. Kenneth Allen has been found deceased..

Role and operations

The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name. Since activation at Chaumont-Semoutiers AB, France, on 10 July 1952, Liberty Wing has been one of the premier fighter wings of the United States Air Forces in Europe, spending over 50 years 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 Separate Unit at nearby RAF Feltwell.
Tactical squadrons of the 48th Operations Group are:
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 housed the 56th Rescue Squadron's HH-60G Combat Search and Rescue helicopters. The 56th and 57th Rescue Squadrons re-located to Aviano Air Base in 2018.
RAF Lakenheath and its sister base RAF Mildenhall are the two main U.S. Air Force bases in United Kingdom, and 48th Fighter Wing is the only U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter wing in U.K. and also in Europe.

48th Fighter Wing

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at RAF Lakenheath.

United States Air Force

United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa

F-35A Lightning II

In January 2015, the US Department of Defense announced that from 2020, Lakenheath would become home to 54 of the US Air Force's Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II multi-role fighters. The aircraft would be split between two squadrons and there would be an increase of 1,200 military personnel and between 60–100 civilian workers at the station. The F-35 would operate alongside the two existing F-15E squadrons based at Lakenheath. By November 2018, the number of craft had been revised to 48 and their arrival date as late 2021.

F-35 Infrastructure

To accommodate the new aircraft a F-35 Campus is to be constructed on the south side of the airfield.

Projects

The main new operational buildings being developed as part of the F-35 project are as follows.
The airfield operational surfaces would also be expanded as follows.
Investment of $148.4 million for the delivery of F-35A infrastructure at Lakenheath was authorised by the US administration in August 2018.
In November 2018, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation awarded a £160M contract for infrastructure work to a joint venture between Kier Group and VolkerFitzpatrick.
To make way for the F-35 Campus, demolition of the first of eighteen buildings began in March 2019.

Heritage

Gate Guardian

RAF Lakenheath's gate guardian is North American F-100D Super Sabre, serial number '54-2269'. The aircraft was originally delivered to the French Air Force. On return it was moved to the "Wings of Liberty Memorial Park" at RAF Lakenheath. Firstly it was painted as '55-4048', latterly as '56-3319'.

Protests

Since the Base's founding, Lakenheath has been targeted by numerous peace protests from groups such as Stop the war coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Pershing

Lakenheath was one of the proposed sites of the NATO Pershing II Missile System. The deployment of the Missile system sparked protests all over Western Europe, and RAF Lakenheath was one of the most prominent military sites. The radical historian E.P. Thompson wrote in a pamphlet that basing the system at RAF Lakeneath directly endangered the lives of those in the nearby city of Cambridge:
"...Lakenheath is, by crow or cruise, just over twenty miles from Cambridge. It is possible that Cambridge but less probable that Oxford will fall outside the CEP. Within the CEP we must suppose some fifteen or twenty detonations at least on the scale of Hiroshima, without taking into account any possible detonations, release of radio-active materials, etc., if the strike should succeed in finding out the cruise missiles at which it was aimed."
A semi-permanent 'peace camp' was set up outside RAF Lakenheath. In 1985, the future Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was arrested for singing Psalms at a CND protest at Lakeneath.

Iraq war

The 2003 Iraq War sparked a new wave of peace protests. In one incident, 9 protestors gained access to the base by cutting through its perimeter fence.The protestors rode bicycles along the main runway, before chaining themselves together.
Activists later established a 'peace camp' outside RAF Lakenheath to draw attention to the base.

Citations