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.
RAF West Raynham in Norfolk began as a pre-war expansion scheme airfield, built in 1938-39 as Britain accelerated rearmament. Initially a grass landing ground with its camps and headquarters to the west, it entered the war as a 2 Group station and soon hosted Bristol Blenheim units. A detachment of No. 101 Squadron arrived in May 1939, reflecting the RAF’s need to disperse and prepare for rapid operational expansion. As the Blitzkrieg unfolded in 1940, West Raynham also served as a temporary refuge for squadrons such as Nos. 18 and 139, whose aircraft and crews needed quick re-basing after losses and operational disruption.
West Raynham’s early wartime identity was therefore tied to light and medium bombers. The station’s facilities included bomb stores to the south-east and a watch office/control tower, and it functioned as part of the broader 2 Group effort that carried out fast, low-level or medium-altitude strikes in occupied Europe. In 1941 No. 114 Squadron replaced 101 Squadron, continuing the Blenheim theme and keeping the airfield busy in the ‘middle’ years of the war before the USAAF presence in Norfolk dominated the region’s narrative.
A key chapter came in 1942-43 when new squadrons were formed at West Raynham. No. 180 Squadron was formed on 13 September 1942 and equipped with the North American B-25 Mitchell, a robust medium bomber that became a mainstay of 2 Group operations over Northern Europe. The Mitchell’s combination of speed, range and payload suited the group’s style of attacks against transport networks, airfields and tactical targets. Around the same period, No. 342 (GB I/20 ‘Lorraine’) Squadron – manned by Free French personnel – was formed at West Raynham in April 1943 and equipped with Douglas Boston III (A-20 Havoc) aircraft. The creation of a Free French bomber unit on an English station is a powerful reminder of the multinational character of the Allied air war, and of how exiled airmen continued the fight from British soil.
Infrastructure grew as the war intensified. Between May and November 1943, West Raynham’s grass area was replaced with concrete runways, increasing all-weather capability and enabling heavier and faster aircraft to operate reliably. This development set the stage for the airfield’s most distinctive wartime role: in December 1943 it was taken over by No. 100 (Bomber Support) Group, the elite organisation responsible for offensive electronic warfare and countermeasures in support of RAF Bomber Command’s main force.
Under 100 Group, West Raynham became home to Mosquito-equipped night intruder squadrons, notably Nos. 141 and 239 Squadrons. Flying the de Havilland Mosquito in variants suited to night operations, these units carried out ‘Serrate’ patrols and ‘Ranger’ sorties – missions designed to seek out and destroy German night fighters in the air and on their airfields, and to disrupt the enemy’s ability to intercept RAF bomber streams. The work demanded skill, courage and technical sophistication, with crews operating at night over hostile territory, often relying on electronic aids to locate opponents.
West Raynham’s wartime story therefore runs from early-war Blenheims through medium bomber formation and Free French participation, to the shadowy, high-stakes world of bomber-support night operations. For visitors, it is a vivid illustration of how one station could be repurposed as the strategic situation changed – moving from conventional bomber roles to specialised electronic and intruder warfare at the height of the Allied air offensive.