Seething Airfield Guide

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Seething Airfield Guide

Seething Airfield was originally known as RAF Seething, and is a former World War ll US airbase occupied by the 448th Bombardment Group (heavy), part of the 2nd Division of the 8th American Airforce (USAAF). The airfield only operated for two years during the war but was involved in an intensive programme of strategic bombing raids and allied support, using Liberator bombers.

Where is Seething Airfield?




The airfield is located near the village of Seething, nine miles south-east of Norwich in Norfolk and close to the east coast of England. Today the airfield is owned by Waveney Flying Group who lease it to Wingtask 1995 Ltd. This group came into existence in 1995. Volunteer members of this club run the operation on a day-to-day and it is a members only club.

Seething Airfield today

Currently the airfield consists of five hangars, all built and maintained by the members, a new clubhouse and a museum in the restored original control tower. The control tower was restored by three members of the Waveney Flying Group, who began the restoration in 1982 and completed it in 1984. Wingtask 1995 Ltd now operate the club which offers low-cost flying and pilot training (to its members) in uncongested airspace and in scenic surrounding countryside. They also host many fundraising activities and social events, such as music, food and drink festivals, charity air shows, aviation talks, open days and fly-ins/fly-outs. They also sponsor an air cadet every year to start flying training. The Tower Museum, which contains lots of World War ll photos and memorabilia, is open on the first Sunday of every month between May and October, and there is also a World War ll memorial situated outside the museum. An aerial view of the airfield does still show some of the outline of the original site perimeter and the dis-used section of the main runway.

History of RAF Seething

RAF Seething was built between 1942 and 1943 and was designed to satisfy the requirements of a Standard Class A airfield for heavy bombers. It was used by the USAAF heavy bombers group who were based at the Sioux City AAF in Iowa, USA. The USAAF referred to RAF Seething as Station 146.

The airfield originally consisted of a main runway of 6000ft in length and two other runways at 4200ft in length, which bisected the main runway to form a triangle. There was a three mile perimeter track and two T-2 hangars. The airfield officially opened in December 1943 and flew consolidated B-24 Liberators as part of the 8th American Airforce’s strategic bombing campaign.

Between December 1943 and April 1945, the airfield was the base for an intensive bombing campaign which included several targets across Germany including raids to Gotha, Berlin, Hanau, Kiel, Ludwigshafen, Politz, Rostock and Cologne. These raids were on strategic targets such as:

  • Aircraft factories
  • Ball-bearing plants
  • Airfields
  • U-boat facilities
  • Chemical plants
  • Synthetic oil refineries
  • Aircraft engine plants
  • Marshalling yards
  • Buzz bomb assembly plants

Bombing raids from RAF Seething also played a significant role in some major strategic campaigns during World War ll. These included:

  • Intensive bombing campaign against German aircraft during the ‘Big Week’ of 20-25 February 1944
  • Bombing campaigns in the lead-up to the Normandy invasion in June 1944
  • Attacking coastal defences on D-Day
  • Dropping supplies to allies in Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • Bombing a transportation and communications centre during the ‘Battle of the Bulge’

The last combat mission from RAF Seething was attacking a marshalling yard in Salzburg on 25th April 1945, and after the war ended the airfield was briefly used by the No. 53 and No. 94 RAF maintenance units, but it closed completely before the end of 1945.

After being abandoned for 15 years, apart from a section used for farming, the airfield was resurrected in 1960 by holiday entrepreneur Jimmy Hoseason and a group of friends who wanted to set-up a flying school. They named themselves Waveney Flying Group and gradually cleared the site and constructed a new clubhouse and other facilities. Once the site was a working airfield again, it became a useful stop-off for celebrities flying in for events at nearby Great Yarmouth, and names such as The Hollies, The Rolling Stones and Mike and Bernie Winters were known to have travelled via the airfield in the 1960s and 70s.






The current Seething Airfield is constructed on just the eastern section of the original airfield, and uses only a shorter length of the former main runway (it is now 900 metres long) and a small section of the original perimeter track. The old living quarters and associated buildings are still in existence next to the airfield, but have long been disused and are now derelict, while Wingtask 1995 Ltd, under their former name, have restored the control tower and built new hangars for their current operations.




Images courtesy of mike-page.co.uk

Please remember that this is just a simple guide to Seething Airfield. If you’re planning to land here, you must conduct thorough research and get permission beforehand. Any pilot or passengers flying to Seething Airfield do so at their own risk.

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