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 Bury St Edmunds – better known locally as Rougham – was one of Suffolk’s key American bomber stations. Built during 1941-42 with three intersecting concrete runways, it became USAAF Station 468 (station code ‘BU’) and played a sustained role in the Eighth Air Force’s daylight bombing campaign from East Anglia.
The station’s first major USAAF occupants were the 322nd Bomb Group, equipped with Martin B-26 Marauder medium bombers. The group arrived in December 1942 and flew from Rougham during the Eighth Air Force’s early medium-bomber phase. In May 1943 the 322nd began combat operations from this base, and the combination of demanding targets and heavy defences made the opening missions costly. The experience accelerated changes in tactics, including revised routing, tighter formation procedure and a move away from the most exposed profiles. By late May 1943 the 322nd departed for other airfields as the USAAF reorganised its medium bomber effort.
Rougham is most strongly associated with the B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 94th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 94th arrived in June 1943 and remained based here until April 1945. Its operational squadrons were the 331st, 332nd, 333rd and 410th Bombardment Squadrons, and the group carried the ‘Square-A’ tail marking as part of the 4th Combat Bombardment Wing. From Suffolk, the group struck targets across occupied Europe and Germany, including U-boat and dock installations, rail marshalling yards, aircraft production sites, airfields and oil-related industry.
Daylight heavy-bomber operations demanded strict formation discipline, because defensive firepower depended on interlocking gun arcs. Crews trained relentlessly in assembly procedures, high-altitude navigation, engine and oxygen management, gunnery discipline and emergency drills. The station’s daily rhythm reflected that reality: dawn briefings, loading of bombs and fuel, long climbs to the assembly area, hours over hostile territory, and then the tense return to land damaged aircraft and account for missing crews.
Rougham’s story is also tied to the invasion of Europe. In the months leading up to June 1944, Eighth Air Force heavies attacked targets in France and the Low Countries to weaken German air power and disrupt transport. On 6 June 1944 itself, B-17 formations attacked objectives intended to slow German reaction to the landings. Through late 1944 and early 1945 the 94th continued deep raids while also supporting the Allied advance by hitting bridges, railways and supply hubs when operational priorities demanded it.
After victory in Europe, the bomber force rapidly demobilised. Much of the airfield returned to civilian use, with the technical area evolving into an industrial estate and agricultural land reclaiming the dispersals. One of the most evocative survivals is the restored control tower, preserved and interpreted as a museum focusing on the 94th Bomb Group and the wartime story of Station 468 – ensuring that the experiences of the men and women who served at Rougham remain remembered and accessible.