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A ground crew at Feltwell loads a No. 464
Squadron Ventura for another mission over occupied Europe, May 1943 |

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A crew of No. 464
Squadron in front of their Ventura bomber at Feltwell, 1943. Throughout
the war, Feltwell hosted a number of units including No. 214 Squadron (an
RAF unit Flying Harrows and Wellingtons), No. 37 Squadron (RAF, Harrows
and Wellingtons) No. 75 Squadron (RNZAF, Wellingtons) No. 57 Squadron (RAF
Wellingtons), No. 487 Squadron (RAF), No.464 Squadron (RAAF, Venturas),
No. 192 Squadron (RAF, Mosquitoes and Wellington X’s) and No. 3
Lancaster Finishing School (designed to train Lancaster Crews for #3
Group). |
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Here, Harrows of the Royal
Air Force’s 37 Squadron sit on Feltwell’s flight line, September 1939,
with the war just six hours old, crews of 37 Squadron launched to attack
warships off Heligoland. Bad light and approaching darkness prevented a
successful raid. Subsequent sweeps over the North Sea between September
and mid-December resulted in only minor confrontations with the German
Navy. The Squadron however, encountered a group of ships on 22 December
but lost five of six crews from enemy fighters. |
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A crew member of the
Royal Australian Air Force’s No. 464 Squadron at RAF Feltwell, October
1942. Formed in September 1942, 464 Squadron and other commonwealth units
played an important role in the Circus bombing campaigns, or operations
over occupied territories. One such operation involved No. 464
Squadron’s 6 December 1942 raid on Eindoven. Using
Lockheed Venturas, crews repeatedly struck Philips electrical works with
incendiary munitions, leaving the factory a mass of flames. |
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Both Royal New Zealand
and Royal Australian Air Forces flew from RAF Feltwell or RAF Lakenheath.
Taken during mine laying operations in 1940, These Feltwell Wellingtons
belonged to the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s No. 75 Squadron. On 8 July
1941, Sergeant J.A. Ward was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry when
he tried to extinguish a fire on his Wellingtons right wing, after cutting
a hole in the fuselage, Sgt Ward climbed out on the wing, even emptying
the crew’s tea thermos on the fire. |