In September 1942 Horsham St Faith was made available to the
United States Army Air Forces for use by the
Eighth Air Force. The USAAF designated the airfield as Station 123 (HF). USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Horsham St Faith were: • 469th Sub-Depot • 18th Weather Squadron • 60th Station Complement Squadron • Headquarters (96th Combat Bomb Wing) Regular Army Station Units included: • 1080th Signal Company • 1105th Quartermaster Company • 1119th Military Police Company • 13th Special Services Company • 1686th Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company • 858th Chemical Company ;319th Bombardment Group (Medium) The first USAAF tenants at the airfield was the
319th Bombardment Group (Medium), arriving from
RAF Shipdham on 4 October 1942. Flying the
Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber, the group stayed until 11 November when the group reassigned to
Twelfth Air Force as part of the
North African Campaign at
Saint-Leu Airfield,
Algeria. The airfield then lay unused over the winter. ;56th Fighter Group With the departure of the Marauders to North Africa, the next USAAF group to use Horsham St Faith was the
56th Fighter Group, transferring from
RAF Kings Cliffe on 6 April 1943. The group consisted of the following squadrons: •
61st Fighter Squadron (HV) •
62d Fighter Squadron (LM) •
63d Fighter Squadron (UN) The group entered combat with a fighter sweep in the area of St Omer on 13 April 1943, and flew numerous missions over France, the
Low Countries, and Germany to escort bombers that attacked industrial establishments, V-weapon sites,
submarine pens, and other targets on the Continent. On 8 July, the group had to move to
RAF Halesworth when work started on enlarging Horsham St Faith for use as a heavy bomber station with hard surface runways and concrete hardstands and a perimeter track. The move was not particularly popular with the men of the 56th who had to give up the comparative comfort of Horsham's barracks for the temporary hut (and muddy) accommodations at Halesworth. ;458th Bombardment Group (Heavy) With runway construction finished, The
458th Bombardment Group (Heavy), arrived at Horsham St Faith late in January 1944 from
Tonopah Army Airfield Nevada. The group flew its first mission on 24 February with
Consolidated B-24 Liberators. On 2 March a heavily loaded bomber taking off crashed on nearby
Hellesdon which was under the flightpath. In September 1944, like other bomber groups in the area it participated in shipping fuel for American forces to France. The group flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945, flying 240 missions losing 47 aircraft in combat along with another 18 in accidents before returning to
Sioux Falls AAF South Dakota in July 1945. ==Postwar Royal Air Force use==