Rattlesden

Airfield
media-17685.jpeg UPL 17685 Official Air Ministry Record Site Plan-Airfield Site 1945. Rattlesden. The Eighth in the East

Removed association not depicted in media image. Place association made in aircraft record.

Object Number - UPL 17685 - Official Air Ministry Record Site Plan-Airfield Site 1945. Rattlesden.

Built for the Eighth Air Force in 1942, Rattlesden had three concrete runways, 50 hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. Intended to be a twin-engine B-26 bomber base, it was originally a satellite for nearby Rougham, and first occupied from December 1942 to April 1943 by ground personnel of the 322nd Bomb Group. After an exchange of airfields between the 3rd and 4th Bomb Wings, it was eventually occupied in November 1943 by the 447th Bomb Group equipped with four-engine B-17 bombers. The group returned to the USA in July 1945 after which the station returned to the RAF. It was used briefly as a Ministry of Food buffer depot but closed in 1946. Part of the site was used as a Bristol Bloodhound missile base by the RAF during the 1960s, but the whole airfield was sold in 1967-68 and mostly returned to agriculture. The Rattlesden Gliding Club was established in 1976, uses the wartime Control Tower as its club house and operates on the north east part of the airfield.

Connections

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People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 710th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 38371589
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-703081
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator
Arthur Baker
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 710th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 35551683
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-021994
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
  • Role/Job: Co-Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 710th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 32713454
  • Highest Rank: Corporal
  • Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 711th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 709th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron 709th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Slick Chick
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Tnt katie
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 711th Bomb Squadron

Revisions

Date
Changes
Sources

Removed associations to images which do not depict Rattlesden.

Date
Contributorjhuck
Changes
Sources

John G. Huck

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Connected aircraft records that have Rattlesden in their biography fields.

Date
ContributorJeff Coleman
Changes
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Jeff Coleman

Date
ContributorLUCKY PARTNERS
Changes
Sources

Harold Kiena

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

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)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Rattlesden (RGC location error)

http://www.controltowers.co.uk/r/rattlesden.htm

http://www.in-england.co.uk/Gliding_Clubs/England7033.htm

Rattlesden: Gallery (191 items)