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Overview
RAF Deopham Green, near Attleborough in Norfolk, was built in 1942-43 as a standard ‘Class A’ heavy bomber station. In early 1944 it entered the front line as a United States Army Air Forces base – USAAF Station 142 – during the most intense phase of the daylight bombing campaign over occupied Europe and Germany.
The 452nd Bomb Group arrives
The airfield opened on 3 January 1944 and was occupied by the 452nd Bombardment Group (Heavy), which arrived from Walla Walla Army Air Field in Washington State. Operating Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, the 452nd was assigned to the 45th Combat Bombardment Wing and carried the distinctive ‘Square-L’ group tail marking. Its operational squadrons were the 728th (9Z), 729th (M3), 730th (6K) and 731st (7D) Bomb Squadrons – four units that would experience a particularly hard war from this Norfolk base.
Strategic targets and costly missions
The 452nd entered combat on 5 February 1944 with an attack on aircraft assembly plants at Brunswick, then struck a broad range of strategic targets: marshalling yards at Frankfurt; aircraft production at Regensburg and Kassel; the ball-bearing industry at Schweinfurt; synthetic rubber and industrial sites at Hanover; and oil installations such as Bohlen. These raids were conducted in massed formations, often through heavy flak and determined fighter opposition. The group’s casualty rate in spring 1944 was severe – illustrating both the scale of the mission and the cost paid by crews flying deep into defended airspace.
Medal of Honor action
Among Deopham Green’s most powerful stories is the 9 November 1944 mission in which First Lieutenant Donald Gott and Second Lieutenant William E. Metzger Jr were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. After their B-17 was crippled by anti-aircraft fire, with multiple engines out and serious injuries aboard, they stayed with the aircraft to press on and then attempted to reach Allied lines to save wounded crewmen – an episode that has become central to the airfield’s remembrance.
From D-Day to Germany’s collapse
Beyond strategic strikes, the 452nd supported key ground campaigns. It helped prepare for the Normandy invasion by hitting airfields, V-weapon sites, bridges and other objectives in France, then attacked coastal defences on 6 June 1944. The group later bombed targets supporting the Saint-Lô breakthrough and operations around Brest. It assisted Operation Market Garden in September 1944, struck communications during the Battle of the Bulge and supported the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.
Final operations and legacy
The 452nd received a Distinguished Unit Citation for action on 7 April 1945 when it accurately bombed a jet-fighter airfield at Kaltenkirchen despite intense opposition. Its last combat mission was flown on 21 April 1945 against marshalling yards at Ingolstadt. In total, the group flew roughly 250 missions from Deopham Green, losing 110 bombers. After the war the station passed to RAF Maintenance Command (including No. 258 Maintenance Unit) before closure and return to farmland, with memorials nearby ensuring the story remains visible in the landscape.