Full WW2 control tower details and photos for this wartime airfield are coming soon. Please check back later as this is work progress. If you would like to contribute information or photos please get in touch.
World War II story
RAF Thurleigh was a wartime airfield at Bedfordshire, north of Bedford. During the Second World War it served as a major USAAF heavy bomber station for the Eighth Air Force. developed for USAAF use from 1942; operated through to 1945 as a B-17 base.
Like most British wartime stations, RAF Thurleigh functioned as a small, self-contained town. Beyond the runways were technical areas for maintenance and armament, dispersed hardstandings to reduce losses during raids, and domestic sites where airmen, WAAFs or naval personnel lived, trained, and waited for the next tasking. On operational nights or intensive training days the routine revolved around briefings, meteorology, aircraft servicing, and a tight rhythm of take-off and recovery windows.
Units and aircraft
Aircraft commonly associated with wartime flying here: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.
Records for RAF Thurleigh show a mix of operational and support activity. Some units were long-term residents with a stable identity, while others arrived as detachments – often for conversion training, gunnery work-ups, dispersal, or to cover a specific operational requirement. That pattern is typical of the RAF’s wartime system: stations were constantly re-tasked as the air war shifted from defence to offence, from the Battle of the Atlantic to the bomber offensive, and later to preparations for the invasion of Northwest Europe.
- 306th Bomb Group (Heavy) – known as the ‘Reich Wrecking Crew’
- Bomb squadrons: 367th, 368th, 369th and 423rd Bomb Squadrons
- Associated station units for engineering, armament, medical and communications support
Operations and highlights
306th BG missions ranged from attacks on U-boat pens, industrial targets and transport infrastructure to the 1944 oil campaign and direct support for the Normandy invasion.
Thurleigh crews flew long, hazardous daylight sorties in tight formation, balancing navigation, defensive gunnery and bomb-aiming accuracy under intense opposition.
How the station ‘worked’: aircraft were usually kept on dispersal pans connected by a perimeter track. Crews moved between briefing rooms, parachute/oxygen sections, and the flight line; ground crew handled refuelling, re-arming and engine changes. The watch office coordinated flying, and on busy days the airfield operated like a factory – turning time, fuel and maintenance hours into sorties.
Legacy and remains
Parts of the airfield later became industrial/defence-related use; the wartime plan remains a key reference for understanding USAAF base design in East Anglia.
Landscape and flying conditions: RAF Thurleigh’s geography influenced operations. Prevailing winds dictated runway selection, while local terrain and weather shaped training and safety. In winter, short daylight and low cloud increased the workload; in summer, longer hours enabled intensive training programmes and high sortie rates. These practical factors are often reflected in accident reports and ORBs, which mention crosswinds, icing, fog, and diversion landings.
What survives in records: even where buildings have disappeared, paperwork can be rich. Station construction files describe runway lengths, hangar types and drainage; movement orders show when squadrons arrived and departed; and photographs often capture tell-tale details such as blast walls, Nissen huts, pierced steel planking, or temporary camouflage. Together these sources rebuild the airfield’s wartime ‘feel’ with surprising accuracy.