The military base was used by the US to station cruise missiles during the Cold War
A small Cambridgeshire village half way between Huntingdon and Thrapston played a vital role during the Cold War. The village is one of the county’s most isolated communities, and is made up of tiny country roads which are lined with many gorgeous thatched cottages, and several listed buildings.
Bud aside from its chocolate box charm, the village also has a Royal Air Force station, RAF Molesworth. During the 1980s, Cambridgeshire played host to one of two UK sites for American nuclear weapons. RAF Molesworth has been a US Airforce base since WW2 and was the secret home of the 303d Tactical Missile Wing, which operated mobile nuclear arned cruise missiles.
This meant that Cambridgeshire was home to some of the only nuclear weapons that could be launched from British soil, which were most likely aiming at Moscow or other Soviet military targets.
The 303d first came to RAF Molesworth in June 1980, along with large trucks called Gryphons which had missile launchers on the back. By the time the 303d arrived, the runways had been removed, with the base being redesigned to hide the nuclear weapons from any spying eyes.
The launchers and missiles were stored in bunkers, whilst watch towers and machine gun pits were installed to keep out any unwanted visitors. It then took six years before the 303d was operational from the base.
Some may argue that this was all a rather expensive waste of time as by 1987, the US and Soviets had signed a treaty which ultimately led to the nuclear weapons being removed from Molesworth.
However, even without the nuclear weapons, the base has remained just as important to the US military. Today, it is used as a primary intelligence analysis centre for operations in Europe and the Middle East.
