RAF Chedburgh

RAF Chedburgh
Chedburgh in England
RAF Chedburgh Shown within Suffolk
Coordinates	52°10′49″N 000°37′15″E / 52.18028°N 0.62083°E / 52.18028; 0.6208352°10′49″N 000°37′15″E / 52.18028°N 0.62083°E / 52.18028; 0.62083
Type	Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Site history
Built	1942 (1942)
In use	1942-1947 (1947)
Airfield information
Elevation	10 metres (33 ft) AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 00/00  Concrete 00/00  Concrete 00/00  Concrete

Royal Air Force Chedburgh or more simply RAF Chedburgh is a former Royal Air Force station located near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK. The Bury Road Business Park is now located on the site, a principal enterprise being Yara UK Limited's liquid fertilizer production plant.^[1]

History[]

Murray Peden, a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, recounts in his memoirs^[2] flying on his first attack on Germany, from RAF Chedburgh in September 1943. The target was Hanover. He was a new member of No. 214 Squadron RAF, which was equipped with four-engine Stirlings. He describes the long line of aircraft taxiing "ponderously" along a: "...perimeter track [which] ran within a hundred yards of Chedburgh's pub, before which the locals . . . had assembled for their nightly show." In 2018, the pub building still stood, near the northwest corner of the old airfield.^[3]

The following units were here at some point:^[4]

• No. 23 Heavy Glider Maintenance Section
• No. 214 Squadron RAF
• No. 218 Squadron RAF
• No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron
• No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron
• No. 620 Squadron RAF
• No. 1653 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF

References[]