norfolkexplorer
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- Oct 21, 2014
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This was another of those fab days out, Just driving around and checking out stuff I had been wanting to see for a while that had popped up online. So myself Zyge, littlebear and Spark headed out for the day to avoid massive nettles and horsefly bites..... Something that I did not manage all to well 
1st stop was a area called Hillbilly farm, this was linked to RAF Fersfield and the land incorporates some of the old nissen huts and a few other out buildings as well. Inside some of these buildings you will see there are all sorts of vehicles and other bits of junk, most of what nature has now reclaimed. There is not a lot of history on the farm itself other than the farmer did not want to sell it off as he was worried about being ripped of, how true this is I am not sure, but the airfield history I feel is important as most of what there is to see incorporates the building that are there. The runway is now gone as are all airfield building that we looked for, but you can still drive around the taxi way if you wish
Built in 1943/1944, the airfield was originally a satellite of RAF Knettishall. It was constructed to Class A bomber specifications, with a main 6,000 ft (1,800 m) runway (08/26), and two secondary runways (02/20, 14/32) of 4,200 ft (1,300 m). Accommodation for about 2,000 personnel were in Nissen huts along with an operations block and two T-2 hangars.
The facility was originally named Winfarthing when it was allocated to the United States Army Air Forces in 1942. Assigned to the VIII Bomber Command, it was renamed Fersfield when used by the Americans. Winfarthing was assigned USAAF station number 140; Fersfield was reassigned 554.
Not used by the USAAF, it was transferred to the United States Navy for operational use. The airfield is most notable as the operational airfield for Operation Aphrodite, a secret plan for remote controlled Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers (redesignated as BQ-7s) to be used against German V-1 flying bomb sites, submarine pens, or deep fortifications that had resisted conventional bombing
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1st stop was a area called Hillbilly farm, this was linked to RAF Fersfield and the land incorporates some of the old nissen huts and a few other out buildings as well. Inside some of these buildings you will see there are all sorts of vehicles and other bits of junk, most of what nature has now reclaimed. There is not a lot of history on the farm itself other than the farmer did not want to sell it off as he was worried about being ripped of, how true this is I am not sure, but the airfield history I feel is important as most of what there is to see incorporates the building that are there. The runway is now gone as are all airfield building that we looked for, but you can still drive around the taxi way if you wish
Built in 1943/1944, the airfield was originally a satellite of RAF Knettishall. It was constructed to Class A bomber specifications, with a main 6,000 ft (1,800 m) runway (08/26), and two secondary runways (02/20, 14/32) of 4,200 ft (1,300 m). Accommodation for about 2,000 personnel were in Nissen huts along with an operations block and two T-2 hangars.
The facility was originally named Winfarthing when it was allocated to the United States Army Air Forces in 1942. Assigned to the VIII Bomber Command, it was renamed Fersfield when used by the Americans. Winfarthing was assigned USAAF station number 140; Fersfield was reassigned 554.
Not used by the USAAF, it was transferred to the United States Navy for operational use. The airfield is most notable as the operational airfield for Operation Aphrodite, a secret plan for remote controlled Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers (redesignated as BQ-7s) to be used against German V-1 flying bomb sites, submarine pens, or deep fortifications that had resisted conventional bombing
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