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| RAF Eye USAAF Station 134  .png) | |
|---|---|
| Located NearStowmarket,Suffolk,United Kingdom | |
 Aerial photograph of Eye Airfield, looking north, 16 July 1943 while still under construction . Photograph taken by 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, oriented north. | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Royal Air Force station |
| Code | EY |
| Controlled by | Royal Air Force United States Army Air Forces |
| Location | |
  RAF Eye RAF Eye, shown within Suffolk | |
| Coordinates | 52°19′58.73″N001°07′47.65″E / 52.3329806°N 1.1299028°E /52.3329806; 1.1299028 |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1943 |
| In use | 1944-1963 |
| Battles/wars | European Theatre of World War II Air Offensive, Europe July 1942 - May 1945 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Eighth Air Force RAF Bomber Command |
| Occupants | 490th Bombardment Group |
Royal Air Force Eye or more simplyRAF Eye is a formerRoyal Air Force station located 11 miles (18 km) northeast ofStowmarket,Suffolk,England on the northwest edge of Eye and south of Diss.
Eye was a standardClass A airfield for heavy bombers. The U.S. Army 829th Engineer Battalion began construction of this WWII air base in September 1942, with the 827th Battalion arriving that December to assist. The 859th Battalion arrived in May of the following year when the 829th Battalion left. The bulk of the work was done in the summer of 1943 with the 827th setting records in pouring concrete while the 859th made their mark in building construction. Additional work was performed by British contractors.
The airfield was declared operational and turned over to theU.S. Army Air Forces on 7 December 1943, two years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. On 1 April 1944, the entire airfield was complete and occupied by the8th Air Force, which designated it AAF Station 134. RAF Eye was one of the last wartime airfields to be built in the area and some of the equipment used in its construction remained for many years after the war.
USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Eye were:[1]
The airfield was opened on 1 May 1944 and was used by theUnited States Army Air ForcesEighth Air Force490th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 490th arrived fromMountain Home AAFIdaho and was assigned to the 93d Combat Bombardment Wing. The group flewBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses andConsolidated B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign.
The group tail code was initially a "Square-T" when it moved in with B-24 Liberators. After being re-equipped with B-17G Flying Fortresses, it adopted a red stripe at the top of aircraft fins.
Operational flying squadrons of the group were:
The 490th BG entered combat in June 1944 with B-24s, bombing airfields and coastal defences inFrance immediately preceding and during theinvasion of Normandy. They targeted bridges, rail lines, vehicles, road junctions, and troop concentrations in France, in support of ground forces nearCaen in July and nearBrest in September 1944.
The group converted to B-17s in October and operated primarily against strategic targets until the end of February 1945. The 490th mounted attacks against enemy oil plants, tank factories, marshalling yards, aircraft plants, and airfields in such cities asBerlin,Hamburg,Merseburg,Münster,Kassel,Hannover, andCologne. They interrupted strategic missions to attack supply lines and military installations during theBattle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945. Beginning in March 1945, they attacked interdictory targets and supported advancing ground forces.
AfterV-E Day, they carried food to flood stricken areas of theNetherlands and transported French, Spanish, and Belgian prisoners of war fromAustria to Allied centres.
The 490th returned to the US toDrew Field, Florida on 3 September 1945, then was inactivated on 7 November 1945.
With the war over, Eye transferred to RAF Bomber Command on 1 November 1945 as an active station. However, the airfield was gradually run down and was finally sold by the Air Ministry during 1962–63.
With the end of military control, Eye airfield was converted into an industrial estate with a large factory for processing straw being established in the hangars and former technical site. Later, other industrial development occurred and new buildings were built in the same area. There is a natural gas pumping station in the centre of the former airfield.
The world's firstpoultry litter-fuelled generating plant was built on the site in 1992. It produces 12.7 MW of power and consumes 140,000 tonnes of chicken litter a year and is owned by Energy Power Resources (EPR).
Many of the old taxiways and runways remain, along with a T-2 hangar and various wartime buildings in various states of repair and use.
A memorial dedicated to those who served with the 490th Bombardment Group during World War II was unveiled on 29 May 2016.[2]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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