Ridgewell was designed to the standard Class A airfield specification and was one of about 35 airfields built specifically for the American armed forces. Construction started in 1942 with both the runways and airfield operations buildings completed by the year's end. The main runway 100-280 was 2000 yards in length with the subsidiaries 060-240 and 160-340 both being 1400 yards. Two T2 hangars were provided, one located at the NW end of the airfield and the other at the SW end where numerous buildings, constituting the airfield's technical site, surrounded it. The main bomb store was situated to the north of the site, well away from any villages and the personnel accommodation. During the course of construction it was clear that the USAAF would not be in a position to occupy the airfield until the spring of 1943, and so 3 Group RAF took the opportunity to use the site as a temporary base for their newly formed 90 Squadron. The Squadron began operations at the start of 1943 while the construction work continued, with much of the personnel accommodation still not started. In early 1943, as the number of American aircraft intending to be based at Ridgewell became clear the contractor, Constable Hart & Co. Ltd. increased the hardstandings from 36 pans to 45, plus five loops. Civilian builders working amongst operational bombers setting off on missions was an all to familiar scene at East Anglian airfields in 1942.

The personnel accommodation, completed by the time the American ground crews arrived, mainly consisted of Nissen huts (but included a Church, Gymnasium and Theatre) spread over nine separate sites providing accommodation for nearly 3000 officers and enlisted men. The main entrance to the Airfield was off the A604 (Halstead to Haverhill) road a little north of Great Yeldham. The base hospital site was located just beyond the entrance. This area is still well preserved with one of the remaining Nissen huts being used as the Commemorative Museum display. A path meanders north from this point up to the technical site with most of the accommodation areas located along-side or branching off from it Further north along the A604, the road to Tilbury Green provided two more access points to the airfield, The Site 3 entrance and, at the end of the road, the site 2 entrance.

After the departure of the 381st Bomb Group following the end of hostilities in Europe, Ridgewell Airfield was transferred back to the RAF with the 94th Maintenance Unit taking responsibility. Like many other wartime airfields, Ridgewell's runways became a storage facility for unused munitions awaiting disposal. In 1956 the 94th MU made Ridgewell their HQ until the Station's final operational closure in March 1957. From 1960, the two T2 hangars were used by the USAF (United States Air Force) as an additional storage facility for the now fully operational American fighter base at nearby RAF Wethersfield. This facility was used until 1967 when the USAF finally vacated the hangar sites and handed them back to the MoD. American military interest in these sites was maintained up to 1989, just prior to the USAF leaving Wethersfield. The T2 hangars were broken up and sold for scrap shortly after. The perimeter tracks to the east and west ends of the airfield were integrated into the local road network reconnecting the surrounding villages. The runways, hardstandings and structures were broken up in the early 1970's providing, it is understood, hardcore for a nearby motorway. The Airfield has now almost completely returned to arable land with only the north hangar hardstanding and it's associated perimeter track and various structures remaining. Drive or walk around the area however, and it's all to easy to visualise it's military past.

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