Bovingdon

Airfield
Aerial photograph of Bovingdon airfield looking south, the technical site with four T2 hangars is on the left,30 April 1942. Photograph taken by No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, sortie number RAF/HLA/510. English Heritage (RAF Photography). eh-723.jpg RAF_HLA_527_V_6012 Aerial photograph of Bovingdon airfield looking south, the technical site with four T2 hangars is on the left,30 April 1942. Photograph taken by No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, sortie number RAF/HLA/510. English Heritage (RAF Photography). Historic England

IWM, English Heritage Collection

Object Number - RAF_HLA_527_V_6012 - Aerial photograph of Bovingdon airfield looking south, the technical site with four T2 hangars is on the left,30 April 1942. Photograph taken by No....

Bovingdon, in Hertfordshire (often confused with Bovington, Dorset), was built in 1941-42 as a bomber station but was never developed into a fully-fledged heavy bomber airfield as it did not have the required 2,000 yard runway.



The airfield was used by the USAAF as a operational training base between summer 1942 and the end of the war.



The 92nd Bomb Group was not a combat group while stationed here; instead it formed a B-17 combat crew replacement unit. Some of its personnel stayed when the 92nd moved to Alconbury in September 1943 and formed the basis of the 11th Combat Crew Replacement Center at Bovingdon.



Most combat bomber crews arriving in Britain were trained for operations in the European theater from this base.



It also hosted the Eighth Air Force HQ Squadron and the Air Technical Section, because of its proximity to Eighth Air Force HQ at Bushy Park and VIII Bomber and Fighter Command HQs at High Wycombe and Bushey Hall respectively; meanwhile, Hangar 1 housed General Eisenhower's personal B-17 Flying Fortress.



When the 11th CCRC disbanded in September 1944, Bovingdon was taken over by the European Air Transport Service and many Americans returned to the States from the airfield.



Post-war, the airfield was used by the US Air Force as a transport base, as well as by civil airlines, before the RAF took full control in the 1960s, Bovingdon then becoming the home of communication squadrons serving Fighter and Coastal Command HQs at Stanmore and Northwood.



Three movies were filmed at Bovingdon in the 1960s – 'The War Lover', '633 Squadron' and 'Mosquito Squadron' – and, in the 1970s, 'Hanover Street'.



The airfield closed when the RAF left in 1968 and it is now the site of a prison.

Connections

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People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 92nd Bomb Group 359th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 13035538
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 92nd Bomb Group 358th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-442766
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 327th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-442761
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Co-Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: VIII Fighter Command 20th Fighter Group 496th Fighter Training Group 554th Fighter Training Squadron 79th Fighter Squadron Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron (VIII Fighter Command)
  • Service Numbers: O-401361
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot/Squadron Commander
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 359th Fighter Group 369th Fighter Squadron Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron (VIII Fighter Command)
  • Service Numbers: 32047993 / O-673983
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Fighter Pilot

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Jersey Bounce
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 358th Bomb Squadron
A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-2578) nicknamed "Butcher Shop" of the 92nd Bomb Group at Bovingdon. Written on slide casing: 'B-17 E 12578 Oldest fortress in 8AF Bovingdon, 1943.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Butcher Shop/ Big Tin Bird
  • Unit: 97th Bomb Group 326th Bomb Squadron 340th Bomb Squadron 77th Fighter Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-47 Thunderbolt
  • Nicknames: Lady Jacquelyn on tail coded 41-6364WW code HL-D removed
  • Unit: No 1 Combat Crew Replacement Center 78th Fighter Group 83rd Fighter Squadron Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron (No 1 Combat Crew Replacement Center)
B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 92nd Bomb Group fly in formation during a training exercise. Aircraft are, from left to right: B-17E (serial number 41-9022) nicknamed "Alabama Exterminator", B-17E (serial number 41-9023) nicknamed "Yankee Doodle", B-17E (UX-?, serial number 41-9017) nicknamed "Heidi Ho", B-17E (UX-V, serial number 41-9013), B-17E (UX-S, serial number 41-9154) nicknamed "The Bat out of Hell", B-17E (serial number 41-9132). Printed caption on reverse: 'B-26340 AC - Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortres
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 97th Bomb Group 341st Bomb Squadron 94th Bomb Group 95th Bomb Group 482nd Bomb Group 327th Bomb Squadron 92nd Bomb Group
A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-9017) of the 92nd Bomb Group in flight. Passed for publication 5 Sep 1942. Printed caption on reverse: 'Q.13312: A Flying Fortress photographed in flight at a U.S. Training Centre.' On reverse: Westminster Press Provincial Newspapers Ltd and US Army General Section Press & Censorship Bureau [Stamps].
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Heidi Ho
  • Unit: 385th Bomb Group 482nd Bomb Group 92nd Bomb Group 94th Bomb Group 97th Bomb Group 327th Bomb Squadron 342nd Bomb Squadron

Revisions

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Warning of confusion with Bovington, Dorset, a British Army base.

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Films added

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Films added.

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Films added

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Added civil airlines' use

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Added civil use

Date
ContributorSavvyGA
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Added civil usage.

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Added post-Badotville civil airlines' usage

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Added HQ locations.

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Post-war summary added.

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Corrected spelling; and amended official designation 'Center' - instead of 'Unit' (ie 11th CCRC).

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978)

Bovingdon: Gallery (23 items)