RAF Lakenheath Royal Air Force Station Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath , is a Royal Air Force station near the town of Lakenheath in Suffolk , England located north - east of Mildenhall , Suffolk and west of Thetford , Norfolk . Although an RAF station , it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel . The host wing is the 48th Fighter Wing ( 48 FW ) , also known as the Liberty Wing , assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe ( USAFE ) . 48th Fighter Wing . The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing , the only USAF wing with both a number and a name . Since activation at Chaumont - Semoutiers Air Base , France , on 10 July 1952 , Liberty Wing has been one of the premier fighter wings of the United States Air Forces in Europe , spending more than over 50 years as part of USAFE . The 48 FW has nearly 5 , 700 active - duty military members , 2 , 000 British and U . S . civilians , and includes a Geographically Separate Unit ( GSU ) at nearby RAF Feltwell . Tactical squadrons of the 48th Operations Group are : Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code " LN " . In addition to supporting three combat - ready squadrons of F - 15E Strike Eagle and F - 15C Eagle fighter aircraft , the Liberty Wing houses the 56th Rescue Squadron ' s HH - 60G Combat Search and Rescue helicopters . RAF Lakenheath , and nearby , RAF Mildenhall , are the two main U . S . Air Force - operated bases in United Kingdom , and 48th Fighter Wing is the only U . S . Air Forces in Europe ( USAFE ) F - 15 fighter wing . History . World War I . The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was in World War I , when the area was made into a bombing and ground - attack range for aircraft flying from elsewhere in the area . It appears to have been little used , and was abandoned when peace came in 1918 . World War II . Royal Air Force use . In 1940 , the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and was used as a decoy airfield . False lights , runways and aircraft diverted Luftwaffe attacks from Mildenhall . In 1941 , hard runways were put down with the main runway , 04 / 22 , being 2 , 000 yards , and the subsidiaries , 12 / 30 at 1 , 300 yards and 16 / 34 at 1 , 400 yards . Another 100 yards was added to runway 16 / 34 . Hardstands for 36 aircraft were built , along with two T - 2s and a B - 1 hangar . One T - 2 was on the technical site , the other hangars to the east across the A1065 Mildenhall - Brandon road were reached by taxiways . Lakenheath Airfield was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941 . The station soon functioned as a Mildenhall satellite with Short Stirling bombers of No . 149 Squadron RAF dispersed from the parent airfield as conditions allowed . The squadron exchanged its Vickers Wellington s for Stirlings late in during November 1941 . After becoming fully operational with its new aircraft , the squadron moved into Lakenheath on 6 April 1942 and remained until mid 1944 when the squadron moved to RAF Methwold . Taking part in more than 350 operations , more than half mine - laying , 149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons . One Stirling pilot , Flight Sergeant Rawdon Middleton , was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for valour on the night of 28 – 29 November 1942 when despite serious face wounds from shell - fire during a raid on the Fiat works at Turin and loss of blood , he brought the damaged aircraft back towards southern England , with fuel nearly exhausted his crew were ordered to bail out . Middleton was killed when the Stirling , BF372 OJ - H , crashed into the English Channel . In early 1943 , three T - 2 hangars were erected on the north side of the airfield for glider storage , 40 Horsa Gliders being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year . On 21 June 1943 , No . 199 Squadron RAF was established as a second Stirling squadron . Commencing operations on 31 July , it laid mines during the winter of 1943 – 44 . At the end of April 1944 , after 68 operations , the squadron transferred to No . 100 Group RAF for bomber support , moving to RAF North Creake on 1 May 1944 . No . 149 Squadron ended its association with RAF Lakenheath the same month , taking its Stirlings to RAF Methwold . Between them , the two squadrons lost 116 Stirling bombers in combat while flying from Lakenheath . The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath ' s selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield . Lakenheath was one of three RAF airfields being prepared to receive United States Army Air Forces Boeing B - 29 Superfortress es , which were tentatively planned to replace some of Eighth Air Force ' s Third Air Division Consolidated B - 24 Liberator groups in the spring of 1945 . The work entailed removal of the existing runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high - grade concrete . The main at 07 / 25 was 3 , 000 yards long ; the subsidiaries , 01 / 19 and 14 / 32 , both 2 , 000 yards ; all three being 100 yards wide . Part of the A1065 road between Brandon and Mildenhall was closed , and a new section built further to the east on the Warren . During the peak period of construction , over 1 , 000 men were working on the site ; yet instead of the 12 months planned , it took 18 months for the ground work alone and 2½ years before Lakenheath ' s transformation was complete . The cost was nearly £2 million . By the time construction ended the war with Germany was over and RAF Lakenheath was put on a care and maintenance status . United States Air Force use . Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946 . In November , President Harry S . Truman ordered Strategic Air Command B - 29 bombers to RAF Burtonwood , and from there to various bases in West Germany as a " training deployment " . In May 1947 , additional B - 29s were sent to the UK and Germany to keep up the presence of a training program . These deployments were only a pretense , as the true aim of these B - 29s were to have a strategic air force permanently stationed in Europe . In April 1947 , RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired , resurfaced , and readied for operations by May 1948 . Strategic Air Command . In response to the threat by the Soviet Union , by the 1948 Berlin blockade , President Truman decided to realign USAFE into a permanent combat - capable force . In July , B - 29 Superfortresses of the SAC 2nd Bombardment Group were deployed to Lakenheath for a 90 - day temporary deployment . On 27 November 1948 , operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE . The first USAFE host unit at RAF Lakenheath was the 7504th Base Completion Squadron , being activated that date . The squadron was elevated to an Air Base Group ( ABG ) on 28 January 1950 , and to a Wing ( ABW ) on 26 September 1950 . Control of RAF Lakenheath was allocated to Third Air Force at South Ruislip Air Station , which had command of SAC B - 29 operations in England . Third Air Force was subsequently placed directly under USAF orders , with Strategic Air Command establishing the 7th Air Division Headquarters at RAF Mildenhall . The collocation of the two headquarters within the United Kingdom allowed HQ USAFE to discharge its responsibilities in England , while at the same time allowing Strategic Air Command to continue in its deterrent role while retaining operational control over flying activities at Lakenheath . By 1950 , Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the U . S . Strategic Air Command in the UK , the others were RAF Marham and RAF Sculthorpe . A succession of bombardment squadrons and wings , 33 in all , rotated through Lakenheath , the B - 29s giving way to the improved B - 50 Superfortresses and then , in June 1954 , B - 47 Stratojets . On 1 May 1951 , Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC , and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group . By 1952 , high security perimeter fencing was erected . The 3909th moved to RAF Greenham Common in 1954 , and was replaced by the 3910th Air Base Group . Known SAC units which deployed to RAF Lakenheath were : The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re - evaluation of these deployments , and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west , behind RAF fighter forces , to RAF Brize Norton , RAF Greenham Common , RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford , while its shorter - range B - 47 were sent to East Anglia . Many SAC Squadrons had aircraft at RAF Lakenheath on a transitotry basis without any recorded deployment to the base . For example in January 1951 , a detachment of Convair RB - 36D Peacemaker intercontinental bombers from the 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Travis AFB , California arrived for a few days , and various tanker and transport aircraft also made periodic appearances at the base . Several of the temporary detachments included in - flight refuelling tanker aircraft . Meanwhile on 30 April 1956 , two Lockheed U - 2 s were airlifted to RAF Lakenheath to form CIA Detachment A . The first flight of the U - 2 was on 21 May . The Central Intelligence Agency unit did not remain long , moving to Wiesbaden Air Base , West Germany on 15 June . A near nuclear accident occurred on 27 July 1956 – when a B - 47 bomber crashed into a storage igloo at Lakenheath containing three MK - 6 nuclear weapons while on a routine training mission . Although the bombs involved in the accident did not have their fissile cores installed , each of them carried about 8 , 000 pounds of high explosives as part of their trigger mechanism . The crash and ensuing fire did not ignite the high explosives and no denotation occurred . The damaged weapons and components were later returned to the Atomic Energy Commission . The B - 47 involved in the accident , which killed four crewmen , was part of the 307th Bombardment Wing . On 10 October 1956 , a United States Navy Douglas R6D - 1 Liftmaster transport on a Military Air Transport Service flight carrying 50 members of the 305th Bombardment Wing on their way home to the United States after a temporary duty assignment and a U . S . Navy crew of nine disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean after departure from RAF Lakenheath for a flight to Lajes Field in the Azores with the loss of all 59 people on board . 48th Fighter Wing . Following French president Charles de Gaulle ' s insistence in 1959 that all non - French nuclear - capable forces should be withdrawn from his country , the USAF began a redeployment of its North American F - 100 - equipped units from France . The 48th TFW left its base at Chaumont AB , France on 15 January 1960 , its aircraft arriving at Lakenheath that afternoon . When the first F - 100D touched down on RAF Lakenheath ' s runway , the landing symbolised a return for the Statue of Liberty Wing . Almost 16 years had passed since the World War II Ninth Air Force 48th Fighter Group ' s arrival at RAF Ibsley , England , for the D - Day invasion . In conjunction with this transfer , control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from Strategic Air Command back to USAFE . As SAC elements began their departure , the 3910th Air Base Group began its transition of handing RAF Lakenheath ' s facilities and real estate over to the 48th ' s Combat Support Group elements . The tactical components of the 48th TFW upon arrival at Lakenheath were : The squadron markings consisted of alternating stripes across the tailfin in squadron colours , with a shadowed " V " shaped chevron on the nose . Starting in March 1970 , squadron tail codes ( shown above ) were added when the aircraft went from a natural finish to a Southeast Asian camouflage motif . The period between 1972 and 1977 can be described as a five - year aircraft conversion . Beginning in late 1971 , the 48th TFW started its conversion to the McDonnell Douglas F - 4D Phantom II , with the aircraft being transferred from the 81st TFW at RAF Bentwaters . The conversion to the F - 4D took several years , with the last F - 100 departing in August 1974 . With the arrival of the Phantoms , the F - 4s adopted a common tail code of " LK " . This tail code lasted only a few months as in July and August 1972 the 48th TFW further recoded to " LN " . The F - 4D carried squadron identifying fin cap colours of blue , yellow and red ( 492d , 493d , 494th respectively ) . The F - 4 ' s service with the 48th TFW was short , as operation " Ready Switch " transferred the F - 4D assets to the 474th TFW at Nellis AFB , Nevada . The 474th sent their General Dynamics F - 111 As to the 366th TFW at Mountain Home AFB , Idaho , and the 366th sent their F - 111Fs to Lakenheath in early 1977 . A fourth fighter squadron , the 495th Tactical Fighter Squadron was activated with the 48th TFW on 1 April 1977 , with a squadron tail color of green . This was 33 years to the day since the squadron ' s inactivation . The 495th ' s mission of functioning as a replacement training unit for the other three fighter squadrons . The made the 495th and the 48th TFW unique , as the only WSO ( Weapons System Operator ) training unit for USAFE . F - 111s from the 48th TFW participated in Operation El Dorado Canyon in 1986 . This bombing of Libya prompted the mock - acronym , Lakenheath Is Bombing Your Ass . Lakenheath received its first McDonnell Douglas F - 15E Strike Eagles in 1992 . With the departure of the F - 111s , the 495th FS was inactivated on 13 December 1991 . On 18 December 1992 , the last F - 111 departed the base . Along with its departure , the 493d FS was also inactivated . With the pending closure of Bitburg Air Base , Germany on 25 February 1994 , it was decided to reactivate the 493d as an F - 15C / D squadron . Aircraft were transferred from the 33d Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB , Florida , and the 493d was reactivated on 1 January . The 493d ' s arrival meant that the 48th became the largest F - 15E / F - 15C composite unit in the U . S . Air Force . In 2003 , the 48th FW received the first of 10 new F - 15Es . The aircraft were part of the final batch of F - 15s expected to be ordered by the Air Force . On 2 March 2011 , members of the 48th Security Forces Squadron were involved in a shooting at Frankfurt Airport in Germany . The members were on a bus from Ramstein AB , Germany , and were taking a commercial flight to a deployment in the Middle East . On March 22 , 2011 , F15 - E 91 - 0304 crash - landed and was destroyed in eastern Libya after reportedly suffering from a mechanical failure . Both crewmen ejected and were safely recovered .