British World War II vet recounts time at RAF Mildenhall

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Austin M. May
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  The bustling hub of aerial activity nestled between Beck and West Rows known as RAF Mildenhall has a long and colorful history.

In its earlier days, before the base became the home of the sole air-refueling wing in the European area of responsibility, it served as a launch pad for thousands of bombing sorties during the Second World War.

As the years go by, fewer and fewer people can give an accurate eyewitness account of what the base was like in those harrowing times, when the groups of planes left here bound for the flak-filled skies over the continent, often returning with fewer aircraft than they left with. At least one person, however, remembers it like it was yesterday.

Jim Coman can't help but chuckle when he reminisces about his days as an RAF Airman stationed at RAF Mildenhall, when the landscape was slightly different. In his time here, the airfield was nothing but a grass field with four hangars, and when airplanes took off from it, they were usually bound for Germany, heavy with bombs.

The 87-year-old former sergeant remembers taking off in an RAF Wellington bomber loaded down with more than 4,000 pounds of munitions and keeping his fingers crossed as the plane "staggered off the ground over the houses" in the local community.

Mr. Coman was stationed here in 1941, flying on Wellington, Stirling and Lancaster bombers as a wireless radio operator and aerial gunner. He regularly makes it back to his former duty station, and is gobsmacked by the changes the base has seen.

"It's unbelievable compared to what we had," he said. The veteran laughed as he told how the rose garden in front of Middleton Hall was once a simple water tank and how aircrews today are fortunate to have "something solid to walk on."

Mr. Coman explained how, at one point during his tour here, his squadron had to move their Stirling bombers to the runway at the newly built RAF Lakenheath because RAF Mildenhall's grass airfield got "too boggy" for the heavy four-engine bombers.

Some things, however, don't change over time.

What used to be the officer's mess, now Middleton Hall, is still virtually the same as it was when Mr. Coman was stationed here, he said. However, while the former sergeant never ate in a building named for Ron Middleton, he did have the opportunity to fly with the man.

Mr. Coman said Flight Sergeant Ron Middleton flew his first three missions at RAF Mildenhall as part of Coman's crew, coincidently on his final three missions here.

"He was a nice lad," Mr. Coman said. "It's a shame he didn't make it through his tour."

For the past 75 years, RAF Mildenhall has served as a place of employment for thousands of people answering their nation's call. For many, it's far from home, while it's right in the backyard of others. The base stands for something unique in the heart of each person who has served or is serving here.

For Jim Coman, it's a rock where he and his countrymen held back the enemy at the gates.

"I'm just proud to have been able to do what I could to keep the Germans out of my home."