3.5 miles away from the explosion. After the explosion, an extended loop road was built to by-pass the crater left by the explosion. The crater subsequently became a dump for all manner of discarded items. Royal Air Force use In May 1945, RAF Metfield was closed and returned to the RAF. It was subsequently abandoned, but remained in the hands of the Air Ministry. Current use Metfield was not used by the Air Ministry after the Second World War ended and for years it sat abandoned and empty. In 1964 and 1965, the airfield and support buildings were sold to private individuals. Metfield was returned to agricultural use; however, the site of the bomb dump explosion could be seen for many years as a water-filled lake. When the lake was cleaned out, all types of discarded equipment was found, including several unexploded bombs. Indeed, ordnance that was tossed into the air during the bomb dump explosion has been found over the years in the fields surrounding Metfield. Pieces of metal from the exploded bombs has been found scattered over the area to the present day. In the late 1960s the main runways, taxiways and parking aprons were mostly torn up or turned into single lane agricultural roads. Sadly, very little evidence of the airfield can be seen today. Only a few brick buildings, deteriorating Quonset (Nissen) huts, and some concrete aircraft taxiways remain. See also List of former Royal Air Force stations References Citations Bibliography Freeman, Roger A. (1991) The Mighty Eighth The Colour Record. Cassell & Co. USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers—1908 to present External links 491st Bombardment Group website United States Army Air Forces - Metfield Historic Metfield photo gallery Photographs of RAF Metfeld from the Geograph British Isles project Metfeld Airfields of the VIII Bomber Command in Suffolk