Monument record ACT 029 - Sudbury Airfield

Sudbury Airfield station 174. In Acton, Chilton and Great Waldingfield, two miles NE of Sudbury. Was a standard class A heavy bomber base. Site had slight gradient to NE - was previously farmland. Temporary accommodation for some 3,000 men was situated around the village street of Great Waldingfield (to the east of the airfield, and accessible by crossing the B1115 road from Sudbury to Lavenham). First group operating there was in late March 1944. Together with group based at Lavenham, Sudbury formed to 92nd Combat Wing. In Nov 1944, this was disbanded and Lavenham and Sudbury were combined with HQ at Bury St Eds. After Sudbury was abandoned, the hangers were used for government storage until it was sold in 1962-64. In 1978 the hangers were occupied by Ashdown Rawlinson Ltd, agricultural merchants. Only the base of the control tower remained but much of the perimeter track, and hard standings, were in their original state. Some material was removed by St Ives Sand and Gravel (S1). Some of the airways remain, although not entirely intact. Agriculture has claimed most of the land. (S2)
For adjoining ammunition stores, hospital (?) and residential areas see sites CHL 012 and WFG 030-033.
A former World War Two military airfield, now used for agricultural purposes. The airfield opened in 1944 and was built to "Class A" specifications for American bomber aircraft, that is to say it was provided with three concrete runways with fifty hardstandings and two aircraft hangars (Type T2). Temporary barrack accommodation was dispersed to the east away from the main flying field around the village of Great Waldingfield. The administrative buildings were also situated to the east, closer to the flying field. The main unit using the airfield was the United States Army 8th Air Force's 486th Bomb Group. The airfield was designated as USAAF Station 174. The military airfield closed in 1945. Until 1964 its hangars were used as a government storage facility. In the late 1970s they were in use as storehouses for agricultural merchants, it is not known if they are still extant in 2005. The wartime control tower was demolished in the 1970s (S3).