RAF Harrington

Military Decommissioning. The airfield was closed following the end of its operational life as a strategic missile base. After the Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles were deactivated and removed in August 1963, the station was deemed surplus to military requirements and was officially closed and sold off by 1965.

The site is now primarily agricultural land, with remnants of the original runways and taxiways still visible in a derelict state. It is home to the Carpetbagger Aviation Museum, which is dedicated to the history of the airfield, particularly the secret operations of the USAAF 801st/492nd Bomb Group. There are memorials on the site dedicated to the American airmen who served there and to its later role as a Thor missile base. The concrete launch pads for the Thor missiles also remain. A portion of the site was also used for a Royal Observer Corps (ROC) underground monitoring post.

RAF Harrington was a significant airfield during both World War II and the Cold War. Constructed in 1943, it was primarily used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) and was designated Station 179. It is most famous for being the base of the 801st/492nd Bombardment Group, known as the 'Carpetbaggers'. This secretive unit flew clandestine night missions in specially modified B-24 Liberator bombers, dropping agents, weapons, and supplies to resistance movements in Nazi-occupied Europe. After WWII, the airfield was returned to the RAF and was largely inactive until 1959, when it was repurposed as a Cold War missile site. It became one of the UK's Thor missile bases, operated by No. 218 Squadron RAF, hosting three nuclear-armed PGM-17 Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles until their deactivation in 1963.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening RAF Harrington as an operational airport. The site is preserved for its historical significance, with parts used for agriculture and the Carpetbagger Aviation Museum.