![]() There are still a few reminders of the former base in the form of a few of the wartime buildings and the perimeter track, but in the main the site has today been returned to its pre-war use as agricultural land Hardwick Airfield was the elder brother of the future President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, exploded shortly after take-off, killing him. Quite a few such missions were flown, but they were soon stopped after an aircraft, piloted by a Lt. Their pilots would take-off, using normal, manual techniques, and once on their way they would parachute to safety, leaving the bomber, which was now under the radio-control of an accompanying aircraft, to then fly to its appointed target in Europe. This project involved stripped-down and somewhat war-worn B-24 Liberator bombers being used in a very high-risk and dangerous way. The base was used, between July 1944 and January 1945, for the 388th Bombardment Group’s (Heavy) joint USAAF/USN project called ‘Aphrodite’. We now move on to Fersfield, which lies only 16 miles to the south west of Norwich. ![]() The former base is now, for the most part, of the British Army’s, extensive Stanford Practical Training Area (STANTA) Fersfield Airfield On the other side of the ledger, the 359th destroyed a total of 351 enemy aircraft, 253 in air and a further 98 on the ground. During that period the Group flew 346 missions during which 106 aircraft were lost in action. Our journey continues and, as we drive south to just six miles north east of Thetford, we come across the site of the old East Wretham airfield, which hosted the 359th Fighter Group of the USAAF between October 1943 and November 1945. The two hangers were located to the north and to the south-west and was home to 2,900 service personnel. There was, of course, the usual perimeter track and fifty-one hardstands. It had a 2,000 yards length of main runway with two 1,400 yards auxiliary runways. Only a couple of miles north of the market town of Attleborough is the old USAAF base of Deopham Green, where the 452nd Bomb Group made its home in February 1944. So on to the third of our former, wartime airfields. However, a few of the wartime buildings have survived including the old control tower. The old base is now mainly agricultural land, but part of it is a British Army Training Area. They destroyed no less than 776 enemy aircraft and had proudly boosted a total of 29 aerial aces. ![]() During WWII the Group flew some 420 missions, involving them in 59,387 operational combat hours. Our next port-of-call is Bodney Airfield, situated just over 4 miles to the west of the town of Watton and which became the home of the 352nd Fighter Group in July 1943. Between March 1944 and July 1945 it was home to the 466th Bomb Group, which flew a total of 231 combat missions, comprising 5,693 sorties during which nearly 13,000 tons at bombs were dropped. There are some recognisable remains of it having once existed, but much of the land is now in the ownership of turkey producers Bernard Matthews. You’ll only need to take a fairly short drive to Attlebridge, (AF Station 120), near Weston Longville to find where the old airbase once was. To visit them all will require us to zig-zag, back and forth across the county, so perhaps the easiest way to do this is to take them in alphabetical order. So let’s return to the many, wartime USAAF bases to be found in Norfolk during wartime. This so-called “friendly invasion” must have been a considerable shock to the local populace and there was, undoubtedly, some initial suspicion towards the ‘invaders’ who not only spoke a strange form of English, but also had a liking for such then unknowns as peanut butter, something called Coca-Cola and an inclination towards chewing gum all the time, or so it seemed. If you were to fly into Norwich International Airport today there is little to remind you, other than a few contemporary buildings, of its role between 1941-45, when it was just one of many bases occupied by the United States Army Air force (USAAF).īetween 19 there would have been, at any given moment in time, some 50,000, or so, personnel serving on the 18 air bases, occupied by the USAAF, within the county of Norfolk.
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