RAF Mildenhall

RAF Mildenhall stands on the Suffolk heath near the town of Mildenhall. The station opened in 1934 as one of the RAF’s largest bomber bases, built on land bought in 1929. Its first commander was Wing Commander Francis Linnell, who took charge on opening day. The airfield quickly gained fame when it hosted the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race, drawing more than 70,000 spectators. King George V and Queen Mary visited the day before the race, marking the airfield’s place in history. During the Second World War the station flew combat missions from Mildenhall and its satellite airfields. By 1945 crews had flown over 8,000 sorties, dropped 23,000 tons of bombs and laid 2,000 mines. One of the airmen lost was Pilot Officer Rawdon Hume Middleton, an Australian who won the Victoria Cross. In 1941 parts of the airfield were disguised as ‘Millerton Aerodrome’ for the wartime film Target for Tonight. Today the base houses the 100th Air Refueling Wing, supporting USAF operations. A memorial tablet in front of Building 562 marks King George V’s Silver Jubilee review of 350 aircraft. The station also keeps alive memories of the Cold War years when B-50s and KC-97s operated from its runways. Visitors can see the headquarters building and the airfield’s long dispersal pans still laid out across the Suffolk landscape.