RAF Chedburgh

RAF Chedburgh
	Chedburgh in England
	RAF Chedburgh Shown within Suffolk
Coordinates	52°10′49″N 000°37′15″E
Type	Royal Air Force station
Site information
Owner	Air Ministry
Operator	Royal Air Force
Site history
Built	1942
In use	1942-1947
Airfield information
Elevation	10 metres (33 ft) AMSL
Runways
00/00	Concrete
00/00	Concrete
00/00	Concrete

Royal Air Force Chedburgh or more simply RAF Chedburgh is a former Royal Air Force station located near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK. The Bury Road Business Park is now located on the site, a principal enterprise being Yara UK Limited's liquid fertilizer production plant.[1]

History

Murray Peden, a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, recounts in his memoirs[2] flying on his first attack on Germany, from RAF Chedburgh in September 1943. The target was Hanover. He was a new member of No. 214 Squadron RAF, which was equipped with four-engine Stirlings. He describes the long line of aircraft taxiing "ponderously" along a: "...perimeter track [which] ran within a hundred yards of Chedburgh's pub, before which the locals . . . had assembled for their nightly show." In 2018, the pub building still stood, near the northwest corner of the old airfield.[3]

The following units were here at some point:[4]

No. 23 Heavy Glider Maintenance Section
No. 214 Squadron RAF
No. 218 Squadron RAF
No. 301 Polish Bomber Squadron
No. 304 Polish Bomber Squadron
No. 620 Squadron RAF
No. 1653 Heavy Conversion Unit RAF

References

http://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/chedburgh/
Peden, Murray, "A Thousand Shall Fall," Dundurn (April 1, 2003), p 244
Google Earth latitude/longitude of pub: 52°11'15.06"N 0°36'53.39"E ; by 2018, the pub had closed and its future was in doubt. See for example: Michael Steward, "Campaign to Save Village Pub Gains Support," East Anglian Daily Times 23 May 2018 https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/campaign-to-save-village-pub-in-chedburgh-near-bury-st-edmunds-gains-support-1-5530587
"Chedburgh". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 17 August 2018.

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[1] ttp://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/airfield-finder/chedburgh/

[2] Peden, Murray, "A Thousand Shall Fall," Dundurn (April 1, 2003), p 244

[3] Google Earth latitude/longitude of pub: 52°11'15.06"N 0°36'53.39"E ; by 2018, the pub had closed and its future was in doubt. See for example: Michael Steward, "Campaign to Save Village Pub Gains Support," East Anglian Daily Times 23 May 2018 https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/campaign-to-save-village-pub-in-chedburgh-near-bury-st-edmunds-gains-support-1-5530587

[ABCT-4] "Chedburgh". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 17 August 2018.