Construction began on Leiston Airfield in September 1942, the
airfield became station F373 and was the most easterly airfield in
the UK. The airfield consisted of 3 concrete runways and 14 metal
hangars and was completed in September 1943.
In November 1943 came the 358th fighter group of the 9th USAAF
flying republic P47 Thunderbolt aircraft. Leiston Airfield was now
equipped to join the fight for freedom.
The first operational mission took place on 20th December 1943,
a shallow penetration of the Dutch coast with 48 Thunderbolts
escorting the returning bomber stream home to their bases.
Only 17 missions later, the 358th moved at the end of January 1944
to Raydon, just south of Ipswich.
Leiston Airfield now became home for the duration of the war to the
357th Fighter group’s 3 squadrons who were assigned to the
8th USAAF and equipped with the North American P51 Mustang
aircraft. Nicknamed the ‘Yoxford Boys’ the 357th and
their Mustang aircraft powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin engine
were soon escorting bombers deeper into territory that had
previously not been possible.
‘Kit’ Carson was the top scoring pilot of the 357th
with 18.5 aircraft destroyed and only 5 other US pilots scored
more. One of the other ‘aces’ was Chuck Yeager, who
named his P51 aircraft ‘Glamorous Glen’ after his
girlfriend. He later became the first man to break the sound
barrier.
Today, little is left of Leiston Airfield, a few huts can be seen
collapsing in the undergrowth and part of the runway and taxiway
can be viewed from Harrow Lane. The best preserved area is now used
by the Cakes & Ale Leisure park where the holiday homes are set
around the original taxiway. The park office and ‘Yoxford
Boys’ bar is on the site of one of the fuel dumps and the 3rd
scale Mustang outside is in the markings of the top ace of the
group – Leonard ‘Kit’ Carson.
The memorial in Harrow Lane was set up in 1997 by Friends Of
Leiston Airfield to honour the 82 men who lost their lives
operating from Leiston Airfield.(find out more at
friendsofleistonairfield.co.uk)
There is a small museum, the Clutten - Deshay Memorial Hut, located
on the Cakes & Ale caravan park nearby which holds more
information on the airfield.
This is a drive by cache,situated just on the perimeter of the
Airfield. There is a space to park 30 feet from the cache site.The
cache is just off moat road(look for the layby with the footpath
going into a small woodland). Please also note that this cache is
nearly 1 mile as the crow flies from my other cache (Memorial
Micro). It is possible to carry on along this path ,(although it is
very overgrown in summer months and generally not very well
maintained) which will eventually go into the farmers field and
halfway across you will come across what is left of one of the 3
main runways which served the Airfield.If you carry on across this
path it comes out in Harrow Lane, around half a mile away from the
other cache.( Please note that this footpath can get very muddy if
you do walk across the field and it is not advisable to bring
bicycles or pushchairs if you intend to cross the field and check
out the runway! )
You are looking for a clear tupperware container.