# RAF Thurleigh, November 2010



## Black Shuck (Nov 7, 2010)

RAF Thurleigh was a Royal Air Force station located five miles north of Bedford, England. Thurleigh was transferred to the U.S. Eighth Air Force on 9 December 1942, designated Station 11, and used for heavy bomber operations against Nazi Germany.Its first use was by No. 160 Squadron, forming on 15 January 1942, equipped with U.S.supplied B-24 Liberator bombers, known by in RAF service as the "Liberator II". 160 Squadron trained and flew operational missions from Thurleigh until 5 July, then deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater at Ratmalana Air Base, Ceylon. Thurleigh was one of 28 fields listed for use by the U.S. Eighth Air Force on 4 June 1942, tentatively designated station B-4, and was allocated on 10 August 1942. The RAF had found that the initial construction of Thurleigh was inadequate for the combat weight of B-24 bombers. After the departure of the RAF, Thurleigh's runways were lengthened, increased in thickness, and additional hardstands constructed to Class A standards so it could accommodate a USAAF heavy bomber group.

From 16 September 1943 though 25 June 1945, Thurleigh served as headquarters for the 40th Combat Bombardment Wing of the 1st Bomb Division.Starting in 1946, construction work began on the airfield to turn the site into what became known as the Royal Aeronautical Establishment, Bedford. The runway was extended in the post-war period to accommodate the Bristol Brabazon aircraft (which required a very long runway) that ultimately never went into production. One local road was dropped into a cutting so that it would not sit above the level of the runway.

The airfield was decommissioned in February 1994 after a lengthy study determined that flight operations should be centralised at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. Due to the cost and impracticality of relocating the Advanced Flight Simulator system the site retains some of its development work (under the banner of QinetiQ from mid-2001 onwards). As of early 2007, QinetiQ have sold their remaining stake in the Bedford Airfield site (as well as the nearby 'Wind Tunnel' site) and are planning to relocate the remaining staff to Farnborough in early 2008, finally ending the site's long association with military aviation. Wikipedia.


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## KooK. (Nov 7, 2010)

Good report, loving the control tower


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## gingrove (Nov 7, 2010)

Great I like the Lamson tubes and the box of carriers for them!


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## Goldie87 (Nov 7, 2010)

Excellent stuff mate, I really liked it here its got a nice vibe to it. Good to see the control tower, don't think i've ever seen any pics of that.


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## Zotez (Nov 7, 2010)

Very nice report, are the scrappage cars still there?


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## Black Shuck (Nov 7, 2010)

KooK. said:


> Good report, loving the control tower



Thanks Kook, I loved it in here. I seriously needed to get in the Control Tower and succeded, it was almost as good as the Red Cross Huts and Dog section.


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## Black Shuck (Nov 7, 2010)

gingrove said:


> Great I like the Lamson tubes and the box of carriers for them!



Thanks Gingrove, to be quite honest I wondered what the bloody hell they were!! Compressed Air Communication system


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## Black Shuck (Nov 7, 2010)

Goldie87 said:


> Excellent stuff mate, I really liked it here its got a nice vibe to it. Good to see the control tower, don't think i've ever seen any pics of that.



Cheers Goldie, I loved the WW2 Buildings, they had some serious unchavved Decay in them, on a scale I've never seen before. My main target though was the Control Tower. It's the biggest I have ever had the pleasure of taking pics of.


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## Black Shuck (Nov 7, 2010)

Zotez said:


> Very nice report, are the scrappage cars still there?


Yes the scrappage cars were there indeed. All 15,000 of them. Mind you, they were not the focus of my attention.


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## klempner69 (Nov 7, 2010)

Well done for doing the tower Schucky..lovin it very much.We didnt have time to do it but instead met the owner of the obs tower who insisted we have a beer with him..dont mind if we do we said!
Great shots fella indeed.


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## Black Shuck (Nov 7, 2010)

Thanks Klemp, I had seen pictures of the Tower before but only from the outside, my brief was getting in with MO2W and co. It was a tight squeeze for a big Guy, I can tell ya!!


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## night crawler (Nov 7, 2010)

Great report all it needed was B23 rotting away.


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## Black Shuck (Nov 7, 2010)

Thanks NC!! Or a B 17 maybe?


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## krela (Nov 7, 2010)

Your photos are huuge. Please resize them.


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## jonney (Nov 7, 2010)

nice work as usual shucky


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## Black Shuck (Nov 8, 2010)

Ok Krela, sorry about that.


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## sYnc_below (Nov 8, 2010)

Glad you got down here in the end, nice to see some different shots from this site too


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## oldscrote (Nov 8, 2010)

Cheers for that Shuckie,great pics as always.The thermometer is interesting it comes from a boiler of some description.If you look carefully the temperature range goes to 200 degrees C and was probably measuring superheated steam.The outer cover on it slides round to protect the glass


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## Black Shuck (Nov 8, 2010)

Hal Chase said:


> Glad you got down here in the end, nice to see some different shots from this site too


Thanks for that Hal, it's a huge Airfield.


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## Black Shuck (Nov 8, 2010)

oldscrote said:


> Cheers for that Shuckie,great pics as always.The thermometer is interesting it comes from a boiler of some description.If you look carefully the temperature range goes to 200 degrees C and was probably measuring superheated steam.The outer cover on it slides round to protect the glass



Yeah you're right it was on top of a small cylindrical Boiler.


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## skeleton key (Nov 8, 2010)

*Nice*

*Shucky top man,
I thought that was still in use for the private flight that still go out on the lower feild* 
*I knew you had sumthing up your slieve mate.well done *

*SK*


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## krela (Nov 8, 2010)

Black Shuck said:


> Ok Krela, sorry about that.



You say that but you don't actually seem to have done anything about it?


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## ceejam (Nov 8, 2010)

Nice stuff, really do like it, especially the tower.


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## Black Shuck (Nov 8, 2010)

Thasks Ceejam.


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## skeleton key (Nov 8, 2010)

*Im going to have to go back now* 
*Ps ,
shuck just found out the bomb stores under the *** **** **** *
*Klemp, Mr Jackson* 
* SK*


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## klempner69 (Nov 8, 2010)

skeleton key said:


> *Im going to have to go back now*
> *Ps ,
> shuck just found out the bomb stores under the *** **** **** *
> *Klemp, Mr Jackson*
> * SK*



Sounds good,best get some Fosters in ready..that was a brill day,my fave of the year.


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## Black Shuck (Nov 8, 2010)

krela said:


> You say that but you don't actually seem to have done anything about it?



I'll be honest Krela, I dont actually know how to do it!!


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## hydealfred (Nov 9, 2010)

I do like the control tower internals - you could sit a couple of skeletons in those chairs and they would not look out of place


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## Black Shuck (Nov 10, 2010)

hydealfred said:


> I do like the control tower internals - you could sit a couple of skeletons in those chairs and they would not look out of place



Thanks mate The Control Tower was the best bit for me.


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