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Page 282 of the 401st Bomb Group unit history.
Many of the 8th Air Force Groups produced an unofficial unit history in the months after the war ended in Europe but before they were redeployed out of the ETO (European Theater of Operations).
Resembling a college yearbook, unit histories were an unofficial – and often tongue-in-cheek – record of the unit’s time based in the UK. They include photo montages showing different aspects of base life. Often the servicemen in the photos are unnamed. The American Air Museum hopes that by adding unit histories to the website as individual pages, the men in the photos will be identified and associated to their person entries. Many included lists of personnel and a mailing address, providing a means for servicemen to keep in contact with each other after the war. These lists are now incredibly useful records of where US airmen in England in 1945 called their home.
Group
The 401st Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Deenethorpe, Northamptonshire, from November 1943 to June 1945. Starting their missions at that time meant the focus was very much on the coming invasion attempt of France planned for the following...
Military | Brigadier General | Commanding Officer
Commanding Officer of 401st BG from June 1943 to 5 December 1944.
...
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot
Assigned to 612BS, 401BG, 8AF USAAF. Landing accident in B-17 42-39993 7-May-45 RTD
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 15/9/43; Scott 20/10/43; Assigned 613BS/401BG [IN-K] Deenethorpe 26/10/43; TDY Polebrook 16/6/44, ret 6/7/44; TDY Egypt 6/8/44, ret 29/8/44; force landed continent 3/3/45; Returned to the USA 121 BU Bradley 7/6/45; 4168 Base Unit,...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Long Beach 26/10/43; Assigned 612BS/401BG [SC-C] Deenethorpe 1/1/44; 118m landing accident at base with Jim Nolan 7/5/45; sal 2 SAD Watton, Nfk 8/5/45. HELL’S ANGELS OUT OF CHUTE 13 aka GROSSLY INADEQUATE.
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Military site : airfield
Deenethorpe was a base purpose-built for American heavy bombers, with the Class A regulation 2,000 and 1,400-yard runways. All the buildings on site,such as the accommodation and administrative blocks, were temporary. In December 1943, several local...
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 14 July 2017 11:11:18 | general ira snapsorter | Created entry with collection, caption, unit associations and place associations |
| Sources | ||
An original copy of the 401st Bomb Group unit history in IWM’s Roger Freeman Collection, printed in 1946. |
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