North Pickenham
AirfieldIWM, English Heritage Collection
Built comparatively late during 1943-44 as an Eighth Air Force bomber base, North Pickenham was rather cramped as an airfield site so the main runway was shorter than typical. It had three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. This station was first occupied by the 'hard luck’ 492nd Bomb Group from May to August 1944, operating B-24s, which was withdrawn from combat after losing 51 aircraft to enemy action during 64 missions. It was replaced by the highly successful 491st Bomb Group, also equipped with B-24s, which remained at North Pickenham until August 1945. The station was then used for a variety of purposes by the RAF and USAFE from 1945 to 1965, most notably as a Douglas Thor IRBM site during 1958-63, and as a Hawker Siddeley P1127 Kestrel trials airfield during 1964-65. It has since reverted mostly to agriculture plus turkey farming, a wind farm and light industry.
Connections
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People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 852nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39154416 / O-?
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 852nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16192014
- Highest Rank: Sergeant (RAF)
- Role/Job: waist gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 853rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 36442104
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 852nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38536139
- Highest Rank: Sergeant (RAF)
- Role/Job: Aerial Gunner/MOS611
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 853rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-705750
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Tondelayo
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 492nd Bomb Group 422nd Bomb Squadron 858th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Puritanical Bitch
- Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 859th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 853rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Super Wolf
- Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 859th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Sweater Gal
- Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 859th Bomb Squadron
Revisions
The 492nd and 491st Bomb Groups in Norfolk Peter Bodle, Liberator Publishing.
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978)
Roger Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Manual (2nd edn, London, 2001)
Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979)
Owen Thetford, Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918 (London, 1979)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_North_Pickenham
http://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/north-pickenham
http://www.airfieldinformationexchange.org/community/showthread.php?246…