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RAF Woodbridge

United Kingdom / England / Wickham Market /
 military airbase, Second World War 1939-1945, Cold War 1947-1991, RAF - Royal Air Force
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RAF Woodbridge is a former Royal Air Force station situated to the east of Woodbridge in the county of Suffolk, England. It is famous for its wide runway which, along with the two at the former RAF bases at Manston & Carnaby in Yorkshire were originally constructed to assist damaged aircraft to land on their return from raids over Germany.

Woodbridge was used by the RAF during World War II, and by the United States Air Force during the Cold War, being the primary home for the 79th Fighter Squadron and squadrons of the 81st Fighter Wing under various designations from 1951 to 1993. For many years the 81st Fighter Wing also operated nearby RAF Bentwaters, with Bentwaters and Woodbridge being known as the "Twin Bases".
However RAF Woodbridge is best known for a UFO encounter by U.S. base personnel in nearby Rendlesham Forest.
Shortly after Christmas 1980, US servicemen stationed at RAF Woodbridge and RAF Bentwaters were witnesses to strange lights in the the forest next to Woodbridge - Rendlesham Forest.

Early on 26 December a security patrol at the Woodbridge East Gate saw a UFO appearing to descend into the forest. Three men went out to investigate and one claimed to have touched the object! Later that day an area with three 'landing marks' was found among the trees. Two nights later bizarre lights were spotted again. A small group of men left the base to investigate and take radiation readings.

More Info:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendlesham_Forest_Incident
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Woodbridge
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   52°5'7"N   1°24'16"E

Comments

  • Monkeysocks (guest)
    RAF Woodbridge is NOT closed. It's just not a USAF installation. Woodbridge remains in use today as a training base for the Army Air Corps regiments based at Wattisham Airfield, which are equipped with Lynx and Gazelle helicopters currently, but have just started to re-equip with the WAH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter. Woodbridge has recently undergone a major redevelopment and is now home to the British Army’s 23 Engineer regiment, and has been renamed “Rock Barracks”. In order to create the new state of the art barracks, many of the existing buildings have been demolished, including the existing barracks, gym, fire station and other buildings.
This article was last modified 7 years ago