Nestling in the Norfolk countryside, it was once America's biggest atomic bomb base. Now an author has updated the definitive history of RAF Sculthorpe.

Eastern Daily Press: Jim Baldwin with the new edition of his book on Sculthorpe. Picture: Peter Bird.Jim Baldwin with the new edition of his book on Sculthorpe. Picture: Peter Bird. (Image: Archant)

Fakenham-based historian Jim Baldwin's RAF Sculthorpe - 50 Years of Watching and Waiting, explores the role the airfield played in both the Second World War and the Cold War.

While the base became inactive 23 years ago, it is still used by the US Air Force's 352nd Special Operations Group.

Jim Baldwin was born almost at the same time as it opened in 1943, first occupied briefly by the RAF - which included a Free French Squadron - until 1944 when it was closed for some rebuilding, and then from 1948 onwards by the USAF.

By the 1950s, there were more than 10,000 personnel and it was said to be the largest operational airfield in the UK.

Eastern Daily Press: A USAF Air Rescue Albatross of the 9th Air Rescue Squadron, based at Sculthorpe in the early 1950s.A USAF Air Rescue Albatross of the 9th Air Rescue Squadron, based at Sculthorpe in the early 1950s. (Image: Archant)

'I remember the bombers would fly over Fakenham,' said Mr Baldwin, now 71. 'As a young man RAF Sculthorpe was an exciting place. There were so many different aircraft coming and going. There was always so much to see.'

Mr Baldwin said at the time locals did not concern themselves too much with what the aircraft might be carrying.

'I don't think until later years my contemporaries realised the significance of it,' he said. 'To us it was an airfield where you had the likelihood of seeing all types of aircraft, types you wouldn't normally have seen.'

A railway bridge near Fakenham offered the best vantage point in Mr Baldwin's younger years - the view is now obscured by the High School and a fitness centre.

During the Cold War, USAF B45 Tornado bombers took off on missions across Europe, to the borders of the USSR. The new edition of the book, which was first published in 1999, includes what Mr Baldwin calls 'an epilogue', chronicling what has happened since it closed. Mr Baldwin said when the squadrons left, the impact was felt across the area - a reminder of what is to come for communities surrounding RAF Mildenhall.

An exhibition of photographs, aeroplane models, insignia and newspaper clippings is on display at Fakenham's Museum of Gas and local History, which is currently open each Thursday from 10.00am - 1.00pm.

RAF Sculthorpe - 50 Years of Watching and Waiting is published by Jim Baldwin Publishing Solutions at £9.50 and can be obtained from booksellers or www.jimbooks.co.uk.