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RAF Glatton, near Peterborough on the Cambridgeshire-Northamptonshire border, became a major USAAF heavy bomber base during the Second World War. Built as a standard ‘Class A’ airfield, it was allocated to the United States Army Air Forces and designated Station 130. The airfield’s layout – three long concrete runways, perimeter track, dispersed hardstandings and large technical areas – was designed for one purpose: to generate large formations of heavy bombers reliably in all seasons.
Glatton is most closely associated with the 457th Bombardment Group (Heavy), which arrived in 1943 and operated Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses as part of the Eighth Air Force. From this station the group flew daylight raids against targets across occupied Europe and Germany. The operational rhythm was the familiar one of the American heavy bomber war: early briefings, weather and intelligence updates, long engine run-ups, mass take-offs, assembly into formation over East Anglia, and then the long flight to the target under escort before returning – often with battle damage – to land back on the concrete.
The 457th’s targets reflected the strategic priorities of 1943-45: submarine pens and ports, aircraft and armaments production, rail marshalling yards, oil-related infrastructure, and airfields. As D-Day approached, the emphasis shifted toward transportation and coastal defences to isolate the invasion area and disrupt German movement. Later, as Allied armies advanced, targets moved deeper into Germany and focused increasingly on the systems that kept the German war economy functioning. Each shift required new briefings, new route planning and careful coordination with escort fighters and other bomber wings.
Glatton’s significance is also found on the ground. A heavy bomber base was an industrial operation. Armourers loaded thousands of bombs safely and quickly; engineers maintained engines, hydraulics and electrical systems; signals and operations staff tracked aircraft and controlled departures; medical teams prepared for casualties; and crash and fire crews stood by for accidents, which were a constant risk at a station launching large aircraft at maximum weight. The base also relied on an enormous logistics stream of fuel, ammunition, spare parts and vehicles moving along rural roads.
- USAAF identity: Station 130.
- Key unit: 457th Bombardment Group (Heavy), operating B-17 Flying Fortresses.
- Primary wartime role: daylight heavy bomber operations in the Eighth Air Force strategic campaign.
After 1945, Glatton demobilised rapidly and much of the airfield returned to civilian use. Despite that, the wartime footprint remains meaningful because it represents the mature phase of the Allied daylight offensive: a concrete base that launched B-17 formations repeatedly, contributing directly to the sustained pressure that weakened Germany’s ability to fight and supported liberation across Europe.
Because the airfield entered service during the maturing phase of the daylight campaign, Glatton also reflects tactical change: improving fighter escort coverage, tighter formation discipline, and a growing emphasis on disrupting fuel and transport as the quickest path to reducing German fighting capacity. The station’s operational record therefore sits within the wider arc from early high-loss raids to the better-protected, high-pressure bomber force of 1944-45.