On 4 July 1942, American and British airmen took off from this station as part of the first combined bombing raid of World War II. No 226 Squadron had been tutoring the US 15 Bombardment Squadron. Both Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower were at RAF Swanton Morley for this mission, which saw six crews from 15th Bombardment Squadron fly a raid with six crews from the RAF, using Boston light bombers belonging to No. 226 Squadron RAF. The raid was made at low level against German airfields in the Netherlands. During the Second World War the station was home to the Bomber Support Development Unit (BSDU) of No. 100 Group RAF.