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RAF Wendling (USAAF Station 118) was one of the classic East Anglian heavy-bomber airfields built to support the American daylight offensive. Located near East Dereham in Norfolk, it was opened in 1942 and quickly taken into wartime use in 1943, when the United States Army Air Forces’ Eighth Air Force brought in the 392nd Bombardment Group (Heavy). The group flew Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers, a four-engined heavy whose high-altitude performance and long range made it a staple of the US strategic campaign.
Wendling’s wartime layout followed the standard pattern: three concrete runways in an A-shape, perimeter track, and large hardstand dispersals that allowed dozens of Liberators to be parked, serviced and armed in relative safety. As at other USAAF stations, the airfield functioned as an industrial process as much as a flying unit: armourers loading bomb racks, mechanics changing engines, radio technicians checking systems, and crews moving from briefings to aircraft in a tightly timed sequence that had to repeat at scale, often day after day.
The 392nd entered combat in September 1943 and went on to bomb a wide range of strategic objectives across occupied Europe and Germany. Typical targets included oil and fuel infrastructure, marshalling yards and rail chokepoints, aircraft factories, steel works and gas plants – assets that underpinned the German war economy. Wendling’s Liberators also struck V-weapon sites and airfields in France ahead of the Normandy landings, and later attacked coastal defences and transport routes connected to the D-Day campaign. In July 1944, as the battle in Normandy intensified, heavy bombers were used to pound enemy positions in support of ground forces during the breakthrough from the Saint-L√¥ area.
One of Wendling’s most significant moments came during ‘Big Week’ (20-25 February 1944), the concentrated Allied assault on German aircraft production. The 392nd Bomb Group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its part in bombing an aircraft and component parts factory at Gotha on 24 February 1944. Such missions were costly: formations faced flak belts around target cities and aggressive fighter attacks, and the B-24’s crews had to fight through with defensive guns while holding formation for accurate bombing.
As the war in Europe approached its end, Wendling’s operations reflected the changing priorities of Allied air power. Like other Eighth Air Force units, the 392nd carried out supply and humanitarian flights to the Netherlands as part of the relief efforts for starving civilians, demonstrating how bomber fleets could be repurposed rapidly once the strategic balance shifted. After victory, the station’s activity tapered, and Wendling eventually became a ‘quiet’ airfield – yet its wartime record stands as a clear example of how Norfolk’s airfields became launchpads for the long-range air offensive that helped bring the conflict to a close.
Wendling’s legacy is also preserved in memorials and surviving site features such as concrete runways and blast walls, alongside museums and local history groups that record the 392nd’s operations. For many families, the airfield is remembered through crew lists, mission reports and the names of Liberator aircraft that left Norfolk for Europe and never returned.