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RAF Bentwaters

1941 establishments in England1993 disestablishments in EnglandCold War museums in the United KingdomInstallations of the United States Air Force in the United KingdomMilitary installations closed in 1993
Royal Air Force stations in SuffolkRoyal Air Force stations of World War II in the United KingdomUse British English from May 2013
A 10A 81st TFW in fllight 1980
A 10A 81st TFW in fllight 1980

Royal Air Force Bentwaters or more simply RAF Bentwaters, now known as Bentwaters Parks, is a former Royal Air Force station about 80 miles (130 km) northeast of London and 10 miles (16 km) east-northeast of Ipswich, near Woodbridge, Suffolk in England. Its name was taken from two cottages ('Bentwaters Cottages') that had stood on the site of the main runway during its construction in 1943. The station was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War, and by the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Cold War, being the primary home for the 81st Fighter Wing under various designations from 1951 to 1993. For many years the 81st Fighter Wing also operated RAF Woodbridge, with Bentwaters and Woodbridge airfields being known by the Americans as the "Twin Bases". RAF Bentwaters was the location of an 13–14 August 1956 nighttime radar and visual sighting of multiple UFOs (the Lakenheath-Bentwaters incident); it is also near the location of the alleged December 1980 UFO incident in Rendlesham Forest. The site is now known as Bentwaters Parks. The Bentwaters Cold War Museum is located on the site, there are offices and warehouses, and the site is also used for television and film making.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article RAF Bentwaters (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

RAF Bentwaters
Thompson Drive, East Suffolk

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Wikipedia: RAF BentwatersContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 52.128055555556 ° E 1.4352777777778 °
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Address

Thompson Drive
IP12 2TZ East Suffolk
England, United Kingdom
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A 10A 81st TFW in fllight 1980
A 10A 81st TFW in fllight 1980
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Tunstall, Suffolk
Tunstall, Suffolk

Tunstall is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. There are two settlements named Tunstall next to each other, 7.5 miles (12.1 km) north east of Woodbridge. However, these are not two separate villages but one, despite the gap between the main village and the hamlet known as Tunstall Common. Both lie within the parish of Tunstall. The village itself is a good-sized settlement with a pub (The Green Man) and a church called St Michael's, notable for its unusual box pews. Half a mile away, Tunstall Common has a dozen houses and a Baptist chapel. Residents of the hamlet consider themselves to live at Tunstall on the Common, and letters are either addressed to The Common, Tunstall, or Tunstall Common. Tunstall Common itself is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a fragment of the ancient sandling dry lowland heath that was once extensive across this area of coastal Suffolk. It lies next to Tunstall Forest, which was started in the 1920s as a pine plantation. In the Great Storm of 1987, Tunstall Forest lost thousands of trees and the opportunity was taken to diversify the mix of trees planted. The area is in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is a haven for wildlife, including fallow deer and muntjac. The adjacent Rendlesham Forest is known for the former RAF Bentwaters site, now in private ownership, and alleged alien sightings in the 1980s. The Snape Maltings complex is within the parish of Tunstall.

Rendlesham
Rendlesham

Rendlesham is a village and civil parish near Woodbridge, Suffolk, United Kingdom. It was a royal centre of authority for the king of the East Angles. The proximity of the Sutton Hoo ship burial may indicate a connection between Sutton Hoo and the East Anglian royal house, the Wuffingas. The king of Essex, Swithhelm (son of Seaxbald) who reigned from 660 to around 664, was baptised at Rendlesham by Bishop Cedd with King Æthelwold of East Anglia acting as his godfather. He died around the time of the great plague of 664 and may have been buried at the palace of Rendlesham. An archaeology project has identified a large settlement of more than 124 acres (50 hectares).Its name is recorded in Old English about 730 AD as Rendlæsham, which may mean "Homestead belonging to [a man named] Rendel", or it may come from a theorized Old English word *rendel = "little shore". The Church of St Gregory the Great in Rendlesham is a Grade I listed medieval church. Rendlesham Hall, a large manor house, was demolished in 1949.Rendlesham Forest, owned by Forestry England, is a 1,500-hectare (3,700-acre) mixed woodland with recreation facilities for walkers, cyclists and campers. It is part of the Sandlings Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Rendlesham Forest incident was a series of reported sightings of unexplained pulsing lights off the coast of Orford Ness in December 1980. During the summer of 2012, scenes of the movie Fast & Furious 6 were filmed on the former RAF Bentwaters airfield.