Shown within Suffolk Coordinates: Type Site information Owner Operator (1941–1948) (1951–1959) (1948–1951, 1959–present) Website Site history Built 1940 ( 1940) In use 1941–Present Airfield information Identifiers: LKZ,: EGUL Elevation 10 metres (33 ft) Runways Length and surface 06/24 2,743 metres (8,999 ft) Concrete/ Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath (: LKZ,: EGUL) is a near the town of in Suffolk, England, 4.7 miles (7.6 km) north-east of and 8.3 miles (13.4 km) west of. Although an RAF station, it hosts units and personnel. The host wing is the (48 FW), also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Main article: 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, France, on 10 July 1952, Liberty Wing has been one of the premier fighter wings of the, spending over 50 years as part of USAFE.

Usaf patch 493 tactical fighter squadron raf lakenheath f-111f era uk made $. The Royal Air Force used the base during World War II and Strategic Air Command during the Korean War. 48th Fighter Wing & RAF Lakenheath Official Site. Vjdirector Full there. Usaf patch 493 tactical fighter squadron raf lakenheath f-111f era uk made $. RAF Lakenheath patch - Statue of Liberty Wing. I was in the from 1960 to Find this Pin and more on US Ar Force Squadrons and Aircraft I Worked on by billstoops.

The 48 FW has nearly 5,700 active-duty military members, 2,000 British and U.S. Civilians, and includes a (GSU) at nearby. Tactical squadrons of the 48th Operations Group are: • () • (/D) • () Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code 'LN'. In addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of and fighter aircraft, the Liberty Wing houses the 's Combat Search and Rescue helicopters.

The 56th and 57th Rescue Squadrons will re-locate to starting 2017. How To Crack Cooking Academy 2. RAF Lakenheath and its sister base 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.

History [ ] World War I [ ] The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a airfield was in, 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.

World War II [ ] Royal Air Force use [ ]. In 1940, the selected Lakenheath as an alternative for and used it as a decoy airfield. False lights, runways and aircraft diverted attacks from Mildenhall. [ ] In 1941, hard runways were put down with the main runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards, and the subsidiaries, 12/30 at 1,300 yards and 16/34 at 1,400 yards.

Another 100 yards was added to runway 16/34. Hardstands for 36 aircraft were built, along with two T-2s 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 Airfield was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941. The station soon functioned as a Mildenhall satellite with bombers of dispersed from the parent airfield as conditions allowed. The squadron exchanged its for Stirlings late in during 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.

Taking part in more than 350 operations, more than half mine-laying, 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons. [ ] One Stirling pilot,, was posthumously awarded the for valour on the night of 28–29 November 1942 when despite serious face wounds from shell-fire during a raid on the works at and loss of blood, 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. [ ] In early 1943, three T-2 hangars were erected on the north side of the airfield for glider storage, 40 being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year. [ ] On 21 June 1943, 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 68 operations, [ ] the squadron transferred to for bomber support, [ ] moving to on 1 May 1944. 149 Squadron ended its association with RAF Lakenheath the same month, taking its Stirlings to. 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 Boeing, which were tentatively planned to replace some of 's Third Air Division 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.