Hotel customers are set to toast the ‘friendly invasion’ of Lavenham by US airmen during the Second World War with a new golden ale.

The 487th Commemorative Beer was commissioned by The Swan at Lavenham and will be served at the hotel’s Airmen’s Bar. It commemorates the 487th BG, 8th USAAF which was stationed at RAF Lavenham and is made by St Peter’s Brewery near Bungay.

During the Second World War, East Anglia became home to thousands of US airmen. The United States 8th Army Air Force (USAAF) arrived in 1942, and between 1942 and 1945 there were around 50,000 USAAF personnel stationed across East Anglia.

TA Hotel Collection business development manager Jane Larcombe said: “It is 75 years since American Airmen arrived in East Anglia. They played a huge part in the history of The Swan and we felt it was important to commemorate it.”