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RAF Tibenham (USAAF Station 124)
The airfield is currently owned by the Norfolk Gliding Club and consists of three tarmac runways as well as plenty of landable grass areas. During the war, Tibenham airfield was occupied by the American Eighth Air Force. The first aircraft of the 445th Bomb Group arrived in 1943, with their mission being the precise daylight bombing of targets in Germany, in support of the night bombing activities of the Royal Air Force. The 445th flew 280 missions and 6,323 sorties. 576 airmen were killed in action and a total of 138 bomber aircraft were lost. Their final mission was carried out on 25th April 1945. A memorial to the US airmen of the 445th Group has been erected by the club house (the former control tower).
The Royal Air Force took over the airfield in July 1945, and in 1952 parts were sold off to local landowners. In 1955 the main runway was lengthened to take jet aircraft but no units were assigned to the base, and Tibenham was finally closed as an air force base in 1959. The Air Ministry sold the airfield to a local farmer. The control tower was used as a clubhouse but whilst the Norfolk Gliding Club continued to pay rent for the use of part of the airfield, the landowner had plans for the demolition of the hangars and control tower as well as the digging up and sale of the dispersals and perimeter track. A regular Sunday market was started on the airfield with consequential operational and safety problems. After lengthy negotiations the club in 1987 finally managed to buy 32 acres of concrete and 22 acres of arable land, and when in 1990 the remainder of the airfield site was offered for sale the club purchased this too. The two agricultural buildings included in the purchase were dismantled and rebuilt and presently serve as an additional hangar for powered aircraft and motor gliders.
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