RAF Stations Woodbridge and Bentwaters.

[con-pilot]

RAF Stations Woodbridge and Bentwaters.

Are these bases still active? I lived there years ago; the aircraft based there then were F-101As and F-100s. I flew over the area a little while back and could not find the bases on the enroute charts.

Thanks in advance.

[aw ditor]

Both closed, as is Alconbury!!

[Dan Winterland]

Both closed in the early nineties when we became mates with Ivan. Both operated A10s prior to closure.

[con-pilot]

Ok, thanks guys, sad really.

Any base housing left? Would like to bring my famliy back there to see where Grandad lived.

[BEagle]

You could always watch the movie "Full Metal Jacket" as some of the scenes were filmed, I believe at Twinbases.

Sadly you can also add Upper Heyford to the list of closed USAF bases in the UK. And Wethersfield, Greenham Common......

[JPJ]

http://www.bentwaters.org.uk/

[John (Gary) Cooper]

RAF Bentwaters
Closed maybe 10 years ago, devastated the local economy. Much written about the base especially re the UFO incident and its base commander. The accomodation has all been sold off to 'Housing Associations', the airfield site is still intact, and has been 'sold' several times to individuals. One Corporate Company wanted to use it as an International Freight Terminal (much like Alconbury is now being proposed), this was rejected by the local council due to noise pollution! Phantoms never made any noise! The hardened shelters are still intact, but there was one idea of digging up the runway and selling the debris off as ballast! There is a thriving B/W guestbook use Google as your search engine and Bingo.

RAF Woodbridge
Closed about the same time, but currently much of the base housing is being used by the Army from Wattisham and Colchester. The airfield is still 'used' for Army helicopters from Wattisham, I think this is probably retained by the MoD on a care and Maintenance basis, as the final decision has yet to be made on its future, talk is around here that the Army might be in there in a big way! Best view is from The Tangham Forestry road, where that 9000' runway that could take 6 A10's line abreast can be seen

Cheers

John

[rivetjoint]

Alconbury isn't closed.

[canberra]

the raf looked at moving in to the twin bases in the early nineties. allegedly we didnt due to them being on 110volts, i find that hard to believe as mildenhall and lakenheath are on 240 volts. i do know that chicksands was on 110, and we took that over! aac wanted to use woodbridge but were told no your getting wattisham. full metal jacket was filmed at bassingbourn which was the home of the canberra ocu until 1969, during wwii it was the home of the memphis belle.

[J.A.F.O.]

RAF Bentwaters

Most of the old base housing is now being sold privately and the domestic side of the site is being redeveloped. The gym is open as a sports centre and the theatre has been open for some time (although its future is a little uncertain). A large part of the airside has been sold back to the farming family that originally owned the land and the technical part of the base is industrial estate. The runway is slowly disappearing with the diggers only having nibbled at the ends so far.

Sad that the weekenders and coffin dodgers should destroy its chances of becoming an airfield but at least the pilot won't need to announce "Ladies and Gentlemen we are now landing at Anglia International Airpark, please set your watches back 25 years."

[con-pilot]

I was talking to another pilot my age the other day and remembered that were two derelict Douglas B-45s (basically a Douglas B-26 with four jet engines mounted on the wings) at Woodbridge.

Anybody happen to know their fate?

[VP8]

Rivet

Alconbury definitely closed!! drive past it most weekends

VEEPS

[A and C]

"full metal jacket" was filmed in the london docklands for the combat footage and the training part of the film was at Bassingbourne.

This makes Bassingbourne the backdrop fo two classic american war movies as the 1943 Memphis belle documentry was shot partly at Bassingbourne.

[BLW Skylark 4]

Alconbury is definitely marked as disused on my half mil southern england map!

Shame, fond memories of the 1st TRS and their RF4C's there....

[BEagle]

A&C - thanks. I had it on dodgy information about the location.

Good movie though!

[PPRuNe Radar]

Some recent pics of some of the bases mentioned can be found on the links below -

RAF Bentwaters (http://fp.coldwar2.f9.co.uk/raf_bentwaters.htm)

RAF Alconbury (http://fp.coldwar.f9.co.uk/raf_alconbury.htm)

RAF Upper Heyford (http://fp.coldwar.f9.co.uk/raf_upper_heyford.htm)

RAF Greenham Common (http://fp.coldwar2.f9.co.uk/raf%20greenham%20common.htm)

[canberra]

alconbury airfield is closed at the mo. the domestic site is still used by americans from molesworth.

[con-pilot]

JPJ, thank you very much for that web site. I may have found a guy I went to school with at Bentwaters.

Thanks again!

:)

[Foxed Moth]

When I was still young enough to dream of being a pilot I cycled out to Bentwaters one summer day, from Ipswich, to take photos and ended up being terrified by a bloke on patrol who called up a truckload of armed guards, or maybe they were just passing anyway ... some years later I met one of the USAF pilots who had flown in Vietnam and he described the first time he saw a Mig ... and how beautiful he thought it looked.
At that point it was apparently going away from him ...
It was at the Bentwaters BOQ, or so I heard, that once upon a time provided overnight accommodation to an RAF aerobatic team, possibly the Red Arrows in their Gnat days, who apparently built a brick wall directly in front of the front door to the aforesaid building.

[Ruth]

The accomadation is still standing and being used today by 3 and 4 Regt Army Air Corps.