Seething
Airfield
Uploaded
Object Number - UPL 22943
Built during 1942-43 as an Eighth Air Force bomber base, Seething had three concrete runways, 51 hardstandings of both loop and 'frying-pan’ types, and two T2 hangars, one on each side of the airfield. It was home to the 448th Bomb Group, equipped with B-24s, from November 1943 to July 1945. On the evening of 22 April 1944, Luftwaffe Me 410 night-fighters caused havoc at Seething after following home a B-24 of the 714th Bomb Squadron, which was shot down along with two other B-24s, while a fourth B-24 crashed upon landing into wreckage on the runway. Handed over to the RAF in July 1945, the station was used temporarily as a surplus munitions store. Sold in 1959, the site mostly returned to agriculture after demolition. However, part of one wartime runway remains the heart of present-day Seething Airfield, operated by Wingtask 1995 Ltd, originally the Waveney Flying Group. The wartime Control Tower has been preserved as a Museum, home to the 448th Bomb Group Collection.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
English Heritage's Record Description
A former World War Two military airfield, opened in 1943 and closed in 1945. It was built in 1942-1943 by John Laing and Son Limited. The airfield was a "Class A" base completed to American specifications for use by the United States Army 8th Air Force 448th Bomb Group as Station 146. It was equipped with three concrete runways and hardstandings arranged around the perimeter track. There were two aircraft hangars (Type T2), one each on the north and south sides. The technical site was on the south edge of the airfield, communal and accommodation sites including barracks were dispersed in fields to the south of the flying field. A bomb store was situated to the west of the airfield. After the war the much of the airfield was used for agricultural purposes. The site is now home to the Seething Control Tower Museum, with the airfield being owned by a civilian flying group.
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 448th Bomb Group 714th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Nose Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 2nd Air Division 20th Combat Bomb Wing 2nd Combat Bomb Wing 389th Bomb Group 448th Bomb Group 564th Bomb Squadron 712th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18201733
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner ; Flight Engineer / Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 2nd Air Division 20th Combat Bomb Wing 448th Bomb Group 491st Bomb Group 712th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 15354024
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 448th Bomb Group 715th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 448th Bomb Group 714th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Little Jo
- Unit: 448th Bomb Group 713th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Shoo-Shoo Baby
- Unit: 448th Bomb Group 712th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Brooklyn - No Name Jive
- Unit: 448th Bomb Group 714th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 448th Bomb Group 458th Bomb Group 752nd Bomb Squadron 753rd Bomb Squadron 858th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 448th Bomb Group 715th Bomb Squadron
Revisions
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978)
Roger Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Manual (2nd edn, London, 2001)
Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979)
