Fersfield
Airfield
IWM, English Heritage Collection
Object Number - RAF_106G_UK_1707_RP_3238 - Aerial photograph of the west end of Fersfield (Winfarthing) airfield, looking north, the bomb dump is at the top, the technical site- with T2...
Originally named Winfarthing when the site was allocated to the Eighth Air Force in 1942, it was renamed Fersfield when built for the Eighth Air Force 1943-44. USAAF and US Navy projects 'Aphrodite' 'Batty' and 'Anvil' (attempts to develop and use radio-controlled aircraft as precision weapons) were launched from the airfield in 1944, one of which resulted in the death of Lt Joseph Kennedy, elder brother of future US President John F Kennedy. The airfield was closed in 1946, and it has since been since returned to agriculture.
Connections
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People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 388th Bomb Group
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 560th Bomb Squadron 388th Bomb Group 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18199268
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 20th Fighter Group 55th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-730630
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot; Squadron Operations Officer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 560th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Corporal (RAF)
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 325th Photographic Reconnaissance Wing 25th Bomb Group 654th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-886174
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Lady Lillian
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 561st Bomb Squadron 803rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Yankee Doodle Dandy
- Unit: 94th Bomb Group 333rd Bomb Squadron 803rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Avenger
- Unit: VIII Air Force Service Command 381st Bomb Group 388th Bomb Group 487th Bomb Group 532nd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: VIII Air Force Service Command 306th Bomb Group
Revisions
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Manual (London, 2001)
Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979)