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Handed over to the RAF in 1945, the site was effectively abandoned by the Air Ministry and began the process of return to agriculture. This speeded up after the airfield was sold during 1964-65. The runways and perimeter tracks were removed, and the huge crater made by the 1944 bomb store explosion was filled in, during the late 1960s.
On 4 March 1945 during "Operation Gisela" RAF Metfield was strafed by a Junkers Ju 88G-6 of the Luftwaffe, killing one man in the control tower. The aircraft crashed just south of the airfield, after attempting to attack an inbound B24 with its Schräge Musik upward-firing cannon.
The 491st Bomb Group flew B-24 Liberators in bombing missions over northern France and Germany from June 1944 until April 1945. Missions over Germany included bombing the headquarters of the German General Staff at Zossen.
On the afternoon of the 15thJuly 1944, Captain Frank J Grew, - an Armament Captain with the 448thBomb Group – saw and heard the noise of an explosion. The explosion was at Metfield some 14 miles away. . He was not the only one from the 448thwho experience the effects of the explosion.
Location: N of B1123, SE of Metfield village, 5nm SE of Harleston. Period of operation: July 1943 to May 1945. Note: All the on-site photographs are from the American Air Museum. Note: The third item shows the Consolidated B-24 Liberator named " She Devil ", one of the first to arrive in the 491st Bomb Group.
The RAF Metfield airfield was built for the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Eighth Air Force as a heavy bomber field. During the Second World War, it was known as USAAF Station 366. Metfield was one of the most isolated Eighth Air Force stations in Suffolk.
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Former RAF Metfield. This is one of several WW2 Airfields in Suffolk and it was home to the 491st Bombardment Group.
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- Richard E Flagg UK Airfields
