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RAF Steeple Morden, on the Cambridgeshire/Hertfordshire border, became one of the best-known USAAF fighter bases in Britain and played a direct role in achieving air superiority over Europe. Built as a Class A airfield and allocated to the Eighth Air Force, it was designated USAAF Station 345. Its operational story is anchored to the 355th Fighter Group – an escort and fighter-bomber unit whose aircraft, tactics and tempo reflect the changing needs of the air war from 1943 through 1945.
The 355th Fighter Group comprised three squadrons: the 354th, 357th and 358th Fighter Squadrons. Initially equipped with the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, the group flew long escort missions to protect B-17 and B-24 formations on deep raids into occupied Europe and Germany. Escort work required disciplined formation flying, precise navigation, and constant readiness to break formation to meet enemy fighters. The P-47’s ruggedness and heavy armament also made it highly effective for ground attack, and as the campaign progressed the group increasingly combined escort with offensive ‘sweep’ and interdiction missions.
In the autumn of 1944, the 355th converted to the North American P-51 Mustang, reflecting the Mustang’s exceptional range and performance. This change was strategically important: long-range escort could be sustained deeper into Germany, and fighter groups were able to remain with the bombers longer, reducing losses and hastening the collapse of the Luftwaffe’s ability to contest the air. From Steeple Morden, Mustang sorties also expanded into aggressive ground-attack and armed reconnaissance, striking railways, vehicles and airfields to choke German mobility.
The airfield itself functioned as a high-tempo fighter factory. Fighters were turned around quickly: refuelled, rearmed, repaired and launched again. Ground crews worked in exposed dispersal areas in all weather, maintaining engines, radios, oxygen systems and weapons. Operations and intelligence sections planned routes and targets and briefed pilots on threats. Because the fighter mission was both defensive (protecting bombers) and offensive (seeking and destroying the enemy), the station’s daily rhythm could shift rapidly with weather, target priorities and the evolving front line.
- USAAF Station 345 (Eighth Air Force).
- Key unit: 355th Fighter Group; squadrons 354th/357th/358th Fighter Squadrons.
- Aircraft: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (early/mid-war); North American P-51 Mustang (from late 1944).
RAF Steeple Morden’s WWII significance is that it represents the moment when escort fighters became decisive. The station’s P-47s and P-51s helped protect the bomber stream, destroy German fighters, and then project air power directly onto the ground campaign – an arc that captures the transition from contested air war to Allied dominance.
This station also contributed by reducing bottlenecks and improving safety: spreading traffic across the network, providing diversion capacity, and sustaining training throughput when weather or congestion threatened to slow the wider system.
This station further contributed by reducing bottlenecks and improving safety: spreading traffic across the network, providing diversion capacity, and sustaining training throughput when weather or congestion threatened to slow the wider system.