Monument record MTF 145 - Metfield Airfield

Metfield - WWII USAAF airfield. Constructed 9 Aug 1943 for American fighter P-47's. 14th August 1944 airfield passed to the European Division of Air Transport command. There are few remains and no memorials. Constructed by John Laing and son. When it was built, it was necessary to close B1123. Standard bomber design. Used as a mock target, then for heavy bombers. In July 1944, the bomb dump exploded and the crater was used as a rubbish tip resulting in lots of finds when in later years, it was ploughed over. In 1945, the base was returned to the RAF and abandoned. It was sold in 1964-65. During the late 60's, Banham and Sons and St Ives Sand and Gravel company cleared the runways, concrete and perimeters. S2. The water tower is considered worthy of preservation (LDM 007). S3
A former World War Two military airfield, opened in 1943 and closed in 1945. The airfield consisted of three concrete runways and perimeter track with 50 hard standings. There were two aircraft hangars (Type T2) for aircraft, one to the north-east and the other to the south-west of the flying field. The technical site lay to the west, with fuel stores and bomb stores to the west. The bomb store was subject to an explosion leaving a crater, which although levelled after the war was still visible as a cropmark in the 1970s. There was temporary accomodation for 2900 personnel, mainly situated south-west of the flying field. The airfield was operated by the United States Army 8th Air Force 353rd Fighter Group and then the 491st Bomb Group. It was designated as Station 366. After the war the site was partly used for growing cereal crops (S4).