A historic seven-acre wartime site in Bungay has been secured for the future after the USAAF Heritage Trust formally exchanged contracts on a 125-year lease.
Communal Site 4 was part of the former USAAF Station 125, the wartime home of the 446th Bomb Group, known as the Bungay Buckaroos.
The site contains a rare collection of surviving Second World War buildings, including the former American Red Cross Aero Club, a Medical Inspection Nissen hut, stores, the Sergeants' Mess, dining hall and kitchens, as well as wartime showers, latrines and blast shelters.
The USAAF Heritage Trust says it aims to preserve, conserve and restore the site, which it believes is the last remaining complete and largely unaltered Communal Site on a former USAAF airfield in the UK.
The Trust also plans to use the site to educate visitors about the United States Army Air Forces' role in Britain during the Second World War and the impact of the American presence on local communities.
The 446th Bomb Group played a significant role on D-Day, flying B-24 Liberators from Bungay as part of the first heavy-bomber mission of 6 June 1944.
While the lease represents a major milestone, the Trust says significant work remains, including surveys, planning, conservation, repairs and fundraising. Once practical preparations are complete, the Trust hopes to welcome volunteers and eventually open the site to visitors, schools, researchers and veterans' families.
The Trust says the lease secures the future of the site and marks the beginning of the next stage of its preservation project.
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