Eye was a standard
Class A airfield for heavy bombers. The U.S. Army 829th Engineer Battalion began construction of this WWII air base in September 1942, with the 827th Battalion arriving that December to assist. The 859th Battalion arrived in May of the following year when the 829th Battalion left. The bulk of the work was done in the summer of 1943 with the 827th setting records in pouring concrete while the 859th made their mark in building construction. Additional work was performed by British contractors. The airfield was declared operational and turned over to the
U.S. Army Air Forces on 7 December 1943, two years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. On 1 April 1944, the entire airfield was complete and occupied by the
8th Air Force, which designated it AAF Station 134. RAF Eye was one of the last wartime airfields to be built in the area and some of the equipment used in its construction remained for many years after the war.
United States Army Air Forces use USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Eye were: • 477th Sub-Depot • 18th Weather Squadron • 329th Station Complement Squadron • 1240th Quartermaster Company • 1276th Military Police Company • 1448th Ordnance Supply & Maintenance Company • 814th Chemical Company • 2116th Engineer Fire Fighting Platoon
490th Bombardment Group (Heavy) " of the 851st Bomb Squadron. This aircraft completed 67 missions. The airfield was opened on 1 May 1944 and was used by the
United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force 490th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The 490th arrived from
Mountain Home AAF Idaho and was assigned to the 93d Combat Bombardment Wing. The group flew
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and
Consolidated B-24 Liberators as part of the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign. The group tail code was initially a "Square-T" when it moved in with B-24 Liberators. After being re-equipped with B-17G Flying Fortresses, it adopted a red stripe at the top of aircraft fins. Operational flying squadrons of the group were: •
848th Bombardment Squadron (7W) •
849th Bombardment Squadron (W8) •
850th Bombardment Squadron (7Q) •
851st Bombardment Squadron (S3) The 490th BG entered combat in June 1944 with B-24s, bombing airfields and coastal defences in
France immediately preceding and during the
invasion of Normandy. They targeted bridges, rail lines, vehicles, road junctions, and troop concentrations in France, in support of ground forces near
Caen in July and near
Brest in September 1944. The group converted to B-17s in October and operated primarily against strategic targets until the end of February 1945. The 490th mounted attacks against enemy oil plants, tank factories, marshalling yards, aircraft plants, and airfields in such cities as
Berlin,
Hamburg,
Merseburg,
Münster,
Kassel,
Hannover, and
Cologne. They interrupted strategic missions to attack supply lines and military installations during the
Battle of the Bulge, December 1944-January 1945. Beginning in March 1945, they attacked interdictory targets and supported advancing ground forces. After
V-E Day, they carried food to flood stricken areas of the
Netherlands and transported French, Spanish, and Belgian prisoners of war from
Austria to Allied centres. The 490th returned to the US to
Drew Field, Florida on 3 September 1945, then was inactivated on 7 November 1945.
Postwar RAF use With the war over, Eye transferred to RAF Bomber Command on 1 November 1945 as an active station. However, the airfield was gradually run down and was finally sold by the Air Ministry during 1962–63. ==Current use==