former RAF Rackheath | Second World War 1939-1945, RAF - Royal Air Force, closed / former military

 Second World War 1939-1945, RAF - Royal Air Force, draw only border, closed / former military

USAAF Station 145

RAF Rackheath is a former World War II RAF station airfield in England . The field is located 5 miles (8 km) NE of Norwich in Norfolk between Rackheath and Salhouse. The airfield was laid out on agricultural land between the two settlements of Rackheath Parva and Rackheath Magna.

Airfield construction began in 1943 for the United States Army Air Force Eighth Air Force and followed the lines of other heavy bomber bases with a main runway of 2,000 yards (1,800 m) and two auxiliary runways of 1,400 yards (1,300 m) each. The perimeter track was 2.7 miles (4.3 km) in length and this and the runways had a concrete screed finish.

The airfield was given USAAF designation Station 145.The airfield was opened on 11 March 1944 and was used by the 467th Bombardment Group (Heavy), arriving from Wendover AAF Utah. The 467th was assigned to the 96th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the group tail code was a "Circle-P". Its operational squadrons were:

788th Bombardment Squadron (X7)
789th Bombardment Squadron (6A)
790th Bombardment Squadron (Q2)
791st Bombardment Squadron (4Z)

The group flew the Consolidated B-24 Liberator as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign. The 467th began operations on 10 April 1944 with an attack by thirty aircraft on an airfield at Bourges in central France.

With the end of the war, the airfield was closed in 1945 and the airfield site returned to farming. The technical site has become the Rackheath Industrial Estate with several of the wartime buildings being modified or extended, and used for light industry. The major access road on the estate was named Wendover Road to commemorate the airbase in the US where the 467th Bomb Group was formed. Other roads carry related names including one after Albert Shower the base commander and "Witchcraft Way" after an aircraft of the group.