L to R Jamie, Steven, Sean, Martin, and Alistair
RAF Molesworth
L to R Jamie, Steven, Sean, Martin, and Alistair
Mission 2
24/2/08
Target: RAF Molesworth
Crew: 5, Jamie,
Steven, Sean, Martin, and Alistair
Met report: Temp: 3c, Wind: 26mph
Flak: Hit my light flak twice
Found Target: spot on.
Returned home safely.
A Brief history
RAF Molesworth is a Royal Air Force station located near Molesworth, Cambridgeshire,
United Kingdom with a history dating back to 1917. It is one of three bases
in Cambridgeshire currently occupied by the United States Air Force; RAF Molesworth,
RAF Alconbury, and RAF Upwood are considered the "Tri-Base Area",
Raf Upwood is now closed but they still use the Hospital there.
The Royal Flying Corps selected a site for an airfield near the village of Old
Weston in Cambridgeshire during World War I. The first flying unit to arrive
at the base was 75 Squadron. It remained at this airfield until the end of the
war. After the war, the airfield was abandoned. Some of the buildings were taken
over by the surrounding farms with many of them still in use today.
The base was built in 1940-41 and named RAF Molesworth. 460 Squadron, formed
at the base on November 15, 1941 with Vickers Wellington IVs. 460 Squadron departed
the field on January 4, 1942. 159 squadron moved in shortly afterwards, however
this unit did not remain long, moving to the Middle East on January 12.
During 1942 the facility had all its runways extended to American specifications
for heavy 4-engined bombers. It was given USAAF designation as Station 107.
The first USAAF tenant on Molesworth was the 15th Bombardment Squadron, arriving
on June 9, 1942 from RAF Grafton Underwood. The squadron flew the Douglas Boston
III (A-20) light bomber. The 15th flew most of its missions from Molesworth
in its Bostons, and did not receive USAAF Douglas A-20 Havoc aircraft until
5 September. The squadron was transferred to RAF Podington until September 15
where it flew a few missions before being transferred to Twelfth Air Force for
support of Allied landings in North Africa on October 15, 1942.
B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 358th Bombardment Squadron, the first of four squadrons that would comprise the 303d Bombardment Group. The 303d would remain at Molesworth until shortly after V-E Day in late May 1945.
The 303d Bombardment Group consisted of the following squadrons:
* 358th Bombardment (Code VK)
* 359th Bombardment (Code BN)
* 360th Bombardment (Code PU)
* 427th Bombardment (Code GN)
The last mission for the 303d was flown on April 25, 1945. when it attacked an armament works in Pilsen. During its combat tour the group flew 364 missions comprising 10,271 sorties, dropped 26,346 tons of bombs and shot down 378 enemy aircraft with another 104 probables. The group also saw 817 of its men killed in action with another 754 becoming prisoners of war. On May 31, 1945, the 303d Bomb Group left Molesworth, moving to Casablanca, French Morocco.
On July 1, 1945 the Americans turned the station back to the RAF, who quickly chose it to be a training base for their new jet aircraft. The first jet unit, 1335 Conversion Unit, arrived on July 27, flying Gloster Meteor IIIs. On October 10, 1946, 1335 Conversion Unit moved from RAF Molesworth. The base was then inactivated and placed in a 'care and maintenance' status.
As the Cold War increased in intensity, the US Air Force began looking to expand in Western Europe. RAF Molesworth was chosen in 1951 to become home to the 582d Air Resupply Group. The station was enlarged with main runway extensions and modern facilities. After much runway work by the 801st Engineer Battalion, the group moved from Great Falls, Montana to the base in February 1954.
In the early 1980s, RAF Molesworth was chosen to become a base for the US Air Force's mobile nuclear armed Ground Launched Cruise Missiles or GLCMs (although the majority of GLCMs were deployed at RAF Greenham Common). Beginning in 1980 the ARC Eastern Region with the approval of the Ministry of Defence, began a two-year demolition project at Molesworth, razing of many deteriorating buildings and the removal of the wartime and early cold war runways and other unused structures. On December 12, 1986 the 303d Tactical Missile Wing was activated. However, the missiles and the wing did not stay long. The United States and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987 which led to the removal of all nuclear missiles from the base by October 1988. The 303d TMW deactivated on January 30, 1989.
Once again, the fate of RAF Molesworth was uncertain. However, on 11 January 1990 the RAF announced new construction would begin later that year to house the US European Command's new intelligence analysis centre. This facility would become known as the Joint Analysis Center (JAC).
Although the nuclear missiles have been gone for almost two decades, the infrastructure (storage bunkers, launch tower, machine guns pits, and such) is still intact and offers a unique reminder of the Cold War. Additionally, a monument to the 303d BG resides just inside the main entrance to the base and is accessible to the public, see picture above
Recent Pictures of RAF Molesworth and World War Two site 7