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Harrington

Military site : airfield

  • An A-26 Invader of the 492nd Bomb Group at Harrington. Image via A Pecquet. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Harrington Spring 1945.'

    An A-26 Invader of the 492nd Bomb Group at Harrington. Image via A Pecquet. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Harrington Spring 1945.'

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  • A B-24 Liberator of the 492nd Bomb Group and an A-26 Invader. Image via Andre Pecquet. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Harrington, Spring 1945 (March?)'

    A B-24 Liberator of the 492nd Bomb Group and an A-26 Invader. Image via Andre Pecquet. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'Harrington, Spring 1945 (March?)'

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  • A B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-52749) nicknamed

    A B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-52749) nicknamed "Scrappy" of the 492nd Bomb Group. Image via Andre Pecquet. First handwritten caption on reverse: 'B-24H-15-FO "Scrappy" 492 BG- Harrington- March 1945.' Second handwritten caption on reverse: 'Harrington 1944. <-?'

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  • A B-24D Liberator 'Carpetbagger' - extensively modified for specialised operations - taxiis on the perimeter track at Harrington airfield. Printed caption on reverse: 'A Carpetbagger B-24D taxiing on the perimeter at Harrington. Photo -

    A B-24D Liberator 'Carpetbagger' - extensively modified for specialised operations - taxiis on the perimeter track at Harrington airfield. Printed caption on reverse: 'A Carpetbagger B-24D taxiing on the perimeter at Harrington. Photo - "Red" Monaghan.'

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  • A B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-51211) nicknamed

    A B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-51211) nicknamed "Miss Fitts" of the 492nd Bomb Group takes off from Harrington.

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  • B-17G-65-BO #42-37516

    B-17G-65-BO #42-37516 "Tondalayo" Code: JJ-T 492nd BG Pictured on a visit to 466th BG's base at Attlebridge Night Leaflet bomber - painted all over black

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  • Charles Kline Crew 801st BG - 850th BS Standing Left to Right: Gerald H. Ransom (G), Jesse H. Snider (B), Richard J. Brace (N), Clyde H. Schultz (CP), Charles R. Kline (P), Floyd A Lauletta (G) Kneeling Left to Right: Dana R. Wemette (G), Arthur G. Abate (G), George W. Odom (G), Warren L. Rock (G) This crew (minus Odom and Ransom) were shot down on the night of July 4/5 1944. All aboard were KIA

    Charles Kline Crew 801st BG - 850th BS Standing Left to Right: Gerald H. Ransom (G), Jesse H. Snider (B), Richard J. Brace (N), Clyde H. Schultz (CP), Charles R. Kline (P), Floyd A Lauletta (G) Kneeling Left to Right: Dana R. Wemette (G), Arthur G. Abate (G), George W. Odom (G), Warren L. Rock (G) This crew (minus Odom and Ransom) were shot down on the night of July 4/5 1944. All aboard were KIA

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  • 2LT Clyde H. Schultz Co-Pilot Charles R. Kline Clew 801st BG - 850th BS KIA 5 July 1944 on a carpetbagger mission to drop supplies to French Resistance

    2LT Clyde H. Schultz Co-Pilot Charles R. Kline Clew 801st BG - 850th BS KIA 5 July 1944 on a carpetbagger mission to drop supplies to French Resistance

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Harrington was built by the 826th and 852nd Engineer Battalions of the US Army in 1943. Completed in 1944, it was the furthest Eighth Air Force combat airfield from the east coast.The Eighth's Special Operations Group was based at the airfield, first known as the 801st Bomb Group and then, from August 1944, the 492nd Bomb Group. The crews in their black-painted Liberators supported the resistance in occupied Europe. The USAAF left in July 1945, and the airfield was unused until the 1960s, when it became one of the RAF's Thor missile sites, part of Britain's nuclear deterrent. The site is now home to a museum which explores the history of the airfield.

Detailed history

Not yet known

English Heritage's record description

Not yet known

Service

Units

People

  • Arthur Abate

    Military | Staff Sergeant (Technician Third Grade) | Tail Gunner | 490th Bomb Group
    Killed in Action (KIA). Member of Kline crew in B-24H Carpetbagger, 42-50386, which was shot down by ME 110 south of Paris at 0200hrs. T/O from Harrington, site of crash Les Trois Mares, Oise. MACR 6991.

  • James Albright

    Military | Staff Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 492nd Bomb Group
    Assigned to 492BG, 8AF USAAF. Transferred to 406BS, 801BG, 8AF USAAF. Survived crash landing at RAF Oulton in B-24H 42-94775 18-Nov-44 Returned to Duty (RTD). Awards: WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Lawrence Berkoff

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 492nd Bomb Group
    2LT Lawrence Berkoff--on a secret mission to supply the Resistance in Europe in September 1944--sacrificed his life to save his crew and to pilot his stricken B-24 away from an English village.

  • Benjamin Blackwell

    Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 467th Bomb Group

  • Frederick Bofink

    Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 492nd Bomb Group
    Assigned to 492BG, 8AF USAAF. Transferred to 406BS, 801BG, 8AF USAAF. Crash landing at RAF Oulton in B-24H 42-94775 18-Nov-44 Killed in Action (KIA). Awards: PH.

  • Joseph Bova

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 490th Bomb Group
    Member of McNiel crew. Shot down at Pressoir in B-24 #4251124 on 19 June 1944. Killed in Action (KIA).

  • Richard Brace

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Navigator | 490th Bomb Group
    Killed in Action (KIA). B-24H AC #42-50386. Shot down and crashed NE of Paris. MACR 6991. B-24H Carpetbagger, shot down by ME 110 south of Paris at 0200hrs. T/O from Harrington, site of crash Les Trois Mares, Oise. Final interrment in Epinal Cemetary,...

  • Daniel Bradley

    Military | First Lieutenant | Bombardier | 492nd Bomb Group
    Assigned to 492BG, 8AF USAAF. Transferred to 406BS, 801BG, 8AF USAAF. Survived crash landing at RAF Oulton in B-24H 42-94775 18-Nov-44 Returned to Duty (RTD). Awards: WWII Victory, EAME.

  • John Broten

    Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 492nd Bomb Group
    John Broten attended the Culver Military Academy, Chicago, Illinois before entering Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey in September 1939 where he studied for one year. He entered the Service in February 1942 and trained as a pilot in the U.S...

  • Harvey Bruce

    Military | Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade) | Gunner | 467th Bomb Group
    Flew at least 14 Carpetbagger missions with the 492nd BG plus an unknown number of combat missions with the 467th BG previous to the 492nd BG tour

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Aircraft

  • 42-50386

    B-24 Liberator

  • 42-51124

    B-24 Liberator
    Shot down at Pressoir, France on 19 June 1944. All eight crewmen were Killed in Action (KIA).

  • 42-6080 'Floozie Flossy' 'Mary Ruth the WeWa Special'

    B-17 Flying Fortress
    Delivered Long Beach 15-Jul-43; Cheyenne 18/7/43; (Fitted with Sperry gyroscope); Assigned 336BS/95BG [ET-P] Horham 3/9/43; force landed Metfield Afd with L.G. Hamby 16-Dec-43; force landed Tibenham Afd with J.D. Pearson 5-Jan-44; force landed...

  • 42-72873 “Raggedy Ann II” (44 BG) / “Star Spangled Hell” (801 BG)

    B-24 Liberator
    A) On 4 October 1943, B-24D Serial #42-72873 of 44th Bomb Group, 67th Bomb Squadron was flying a Diversion over the North Sea, feigning attacks toward Wilhelmshaven and Emden. The purpose was to draw German fighters from the B-17 formations on their...

  • 43-22524

    A-26 Invader
    Assigned to 856BS, 492BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) OSS mission (CHISEL insertion mission) to Munster, Germany. A-26 crashed in moor near Bramshe, Germany, just north of destination Munster, Germany. 5 x KIA 19-Mar-45. MACR 13281. ...

  • 44-23515

    P-38 Lightning
    P-38J field modified to 'Droop Snoot*' configuration and fitted out with equipment and aerials for Elint** work. Detached to 192 Sqn*** RAF for Elint** missions. ...

  • 41-28910 The Old Goat

    B-24 Liberator
    On 19 April 1945, B-24 41-28910 (858th BS, 492nd BG) crashed from unknown cause off coast of Norway. All 11 crew killed. MACR 14191.

  • NS725 Greek

    Mosquito
    Named "Greek". On strength with 492nd Bombardment Group. Harrington, Northamptonshire May 1945. Involved in clandestine Joan-Eleanor "Red Stockings" OSS missions over Germany.

  • NS514

    Mosquito
    Take off accident. Malcolm J Macleod (pilot) USAAF. RAF Tangmere, Sussex, 22/10/44. Written off Damaged Beyond Repair.

  • 43-28479

    P-38 Lightning
    P-38J field modified to 'Droop Snoot*' configuration and fitted out with equipment and aerials for Elint** work. Detached to 192 Sqn*** RAF for Elint** missions. ...

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Number
179
Known as
Not yet known
Construction date
Not yet known
USAAF from date
Not yet known
USAAF to date
Not yet known
Closure date
Not yet known

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:02:16 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

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

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