Nick Johns Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) Mildenhall, Alconberry, Molesworth to close, Lakenheath to remain open http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-30725366 Edited January 9, 2015 by Nick Johns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooky Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Mildenhall, Alconberry, Molesworth to close, Lakenheath to remain openhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-30725366 Thought Alconbury was almost closed anyway, most of it is nowan industrial estate Molesworth also no great presence I think since the cruise missiles left all those years ago I may be wrong though (and often am!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 I was part of a crew that was building blast proof concrete walls around the fuel pumping depots at Mildenhall in the winter of 1984/85 ........It was a grand place to be in those days .....It was just like little America with hundreds of awesome Yank cars and pick ups zooming about all over the place...there must have been thousands of servicemen stationed there and the local pubs around West Row Village even had $ / £ exchange rate signs up behind the bars ..... ...I was there in a B&B for about 3 months and loved it .....apart from how cold it was in Jan /Feb The wind came in like a razor sharp lance from the North Sea with very little between the airbase and the coast to slow it down ....Christamighty was it ever cold One day I was talking to a US Airforce fella who had just flown in from an airbase in Texas..........he was in a full zip up arctic 'over suite' and matching boots and he was bitterly cold and shivering dreadfully ..we got chatting and I asked him what he thought of the UK so far?....to which he replied " well....it seems a lovely place buddy ......but is it always so ******* cold here ?!?!?!?!?!?!?" It seems a real shame that it's closing ....are the RAF going to keep it open for anything or is that it ? Kaputt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzkpfw-e Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Can't see any reason for the RAF to keep them open, enough bases for them to close as it is, short of basing one plane & one AVM at each! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antar Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 On the brighter side they could be selling off some vehicles ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowfat Posted January 9, 2015 Share Posted January 9, 2015 Nah they wont sell anything it will be buried with all the jets they leave behind......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Johns Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) Nah they wont sell anything it will be buried with all the jets they leave behind......... Yeah...for someone in 50 years time be digging holes everywhere trying to find them!.. his grandad saw them being buried! Edited January 9, 2015 by Nick Johns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hair Bear Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 I remember Mildenhall, and the Starlifter burger bar. Pay in £, get change in $. Ideal as the vending machines only took $! It's the residential areas that I liked. As previously said, just like a little America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Burley Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Just come across this. Was on Mildenhall the weekend. It's earmarked for closure 2020. But a friend has just had his tour extension denied which would have took just him to 2018. So everyone is assuming it's going before then. Operations are being transferred with the 100th ARW being located to Ramstein. Lakenheath and Feltwell will remain open and the Base size increased with a possibility of two new squadrons augmenting the three already there which will transfer over to the F35 and F22. Lakenheath will be the last front line USAFE fighter station in western Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Thought Alconbury was almost closed anyway, most of it is nowan industrial estateMolesworth also no great presence I think since the cruise missiles left all those years ago I may be wrong though (and often am!!) No you are absolutely right. As per the bottom of the article, there's very little USAF left at Alconbury. When I was sorting my deceased father in law's estate two years ago, I believed then they had completely gone. Sure there were RAF or MOD police on the gate. As mentioned, the runway is now a container park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I read somewhere that Alconbury was the first place USAAF came to and that, untouched through the Cold War, a lot of it is listed and historically valuable, so I think some of it will survive as is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Burley Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 Alconbury was last used with the aggressor squadrons and the TR1. It's been on reserve along with Fairford since then. Alconbury is now mostly used for storage and comes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.