VIII Fighter Command
Command
VIII Fighter Command was established as VIII Interceptor Command at Selfridge Field on 2 February 1942.
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Military site : airfield
Honington was in use by Eighth Air Force units for a longer period than any other air base in England. The air base, built in the mid 1930s as part of the RAF's expansion programme had seen plenty of action as an RAF base before it was handed over to USAAF in the summer of 1942. The Americans used the base, and the adjacent technical site Troston, as a major repair depot, which increasingly specialised in the repair of B-17s. Damaged aircraft would be instructed to crash land at Honington, if they could, so that repair work on the aircraft could begin straight away. The base also housed a combat group, the 364th Fighter Group from February 1944. The Group did not leave until many months after the war in Europe had ended and Honington, as the Fighter Command HQ for USAAF, was the last Eighth Air Force base to be handed back to the RAF in February 1946.
The memorial is at the entrance to RAF Honington, not inside the airfield, but still on the grounds. Permission MUST be obtained to take photographs. This can be done when you get there, or by prior arrangement.
Not yet known
Command
VIII Fighter Command was established as VIII Interceptor Command at Selfridge Field on 2 February 1942.
Division
The 3rd Bomb Division was Constituted in August 1943. In December 1944, the Division was redesginated the 3rd Air Division.
Division
In December 1944, the 3rd Bomb Division was redesginated the 3rd Air Division.
Regiment
The 926th Engineer Aviation Regiment was established at Richmond Army Base on 20 June 1943, and immediately alerted for overseas service. The Regiment arrived in Scotland on 26 August 1943, where they were assigned to the Eighth Air Force and sent to...
Group
Group
The 364th Fighter Group flew 342 missions in P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs from Honington, Suffolk. The missions ranged from escorting bombers and dive-bombing and strafing targets to area patrol missions across a swathe of land that took in France...
Squadron
Browse 18th Weather Squadron photographs and other documents in the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library digital archive here: www.2ndair.org.uk/digitalarchive/Dashboard/Index/60
Squadron
Squadron
Squadron
Military | Second Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 364th Fighter Group
Assigned to 383FS, 364FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Area sweep to Berlin, shortly after landfall formation went onto instruments due to overcast, element leader called a break as another group of P-51's where descending onto the formation,...
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot, Fighter Pilot | 351st Bomb Group
Assigned to 510BS, 351BG, 8AF USAAF. Detached service (DS) with 1st Scouting Force.
Ended Tour Duty (ETD).
Military | First Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 364th Fighter Group
Assigned to 385FS, 364FG, 8AF USAAF.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 364th Fighter Group
Assigned to 384FS, 364FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) bomber escort Halle, entered melee with section, became detached and shot down near Eschwege in P-51 44-14174 Killed in Action (KIA) MACR 8785.
Military | Major | Pilot | 384th Bomb Group
Flew 25 combat missions with the 384th bombardment Group from 22-Jun-43 to 4-Mar-44. Detached service (DS) with 1st Scouting Force. Transferred to 857BS, 492BG, 8AF USAAF flying Elint Droopsnoot P-38 lightning [gathering Electronic Intelligence].
Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot; Pilot | 306th Bomb Group The Reich Wreckers
He flew on Gwynn Boswell crew. Reported to 306BG on 29-Apr-44. When he was detached service with the 1st Scouting Force (364th FG/384th FS), crashed at Neuringe on 3-Feb-45 in P-51D 44-13686. POW at Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia Bavaria.
...
Military | Captain | Fighter Pilot | 364th Fighter Group
Assigned to 384FS, 364FG, 8AF USAAF. Flew 60 missions in P-51's. Released from service in 1945.
Awards: DFC, AM ( 7 OLC), WWII Victory.
Military | First Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 364th Fighter Group
Assigned to 385FS, 364FG, 8AF USAAF. Credited with a shared destroyed. Ended Tour of Duty (ETD).
Awards: WWII Victory.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 364th Fighter Group
Assigned to 383FS, 364FG,AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) bomber escort mission to Troyes. Shot down by Fw190 of 3/JG2, abandoned P-38J 42-67222. A/C Crashed near Ramboulet. 25-May-44. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 5272.
Military | First Lieutenant | Fighter Pilot | 364th Fighter Group
Assigned to 330FS, 329FG, USAAF. Transferred to 384FS, 364FG, 8AF USAAF. Completed (End) Tour of Duty (ETD).
...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 17/2/43; Gore Fd 8/3/43; Gulfport 31/3/43; Assigned 334BS/95BG [BG-P] Alconbury 5/4/43; 335BS [OE-P]; 6m, transferred 92BG Alconbury 12/6/43 but switched to 3BD HQ as hack for Curtis Le May; Returned to the USA Grenier 26/12/44;...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 26-Jan-43; Pueblo 1-Feb-43; Dow Field, Bangor, Maine 10-Jun-43; Assigned 412BS/95BG [QW-Z] Horham 2-Jul-43; 14m, (force landed Eye AF 22/2/44), transferred SAD 1-Mar-44; 94BG Rougham 25-Jul-43; 25BG Watton 1-Apr-44; 2 BAD 19-Jun-44;...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 15/4/43; Dow Fd 26/5/43; Assigned 335BS/95BG [OE-V] Horham 15/6/43; 48m, (TG H.S. Boes wia 6/9/43); force landed Bungay AF 16/9/43 SAD 21/6/44; transferred 412BS [QW-V]; Returned to the USA Patterson 7/7/44; Reconstruction Finance...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 29/9/43; Gr Island 22/10/43; Assigned 335BS/95BG [BG-U] Horham 11/11/43; with W.P. Kelley force landed Attlebridge afb, Suffolk, 11/12/43; two days later the u/c would not extend and force landed at Honington AFB with H. M. Powers, Co...
P-38 Lightning
Assigned to 383FS, 364FG,AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) bomber escort mission to Troyes. Shot down by Fw190 of 3/JG2, A/C abandoned, crashed near Rambouillet. 25-May-44. Pilot 2nd Lt Vaud V Ames. Prisoner of War (POW). MACR 5272.
P-38 Lightning
Assigned to 383FS, 364FG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) bomber withdrawal support mission in P-38J 42-67233, hit by flak, causing the loss of one engine and resultant loss of control, A/C abandoned and crashed near Kolbitz 8-Mar-44. Pilot 2Lt...
P-38 Lightning
P-38 Lightning
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 4/2/44; Gr Island 19/2/44; Presque Is 12/3/44; Assigned 562BS/388BG [K] Knettishall 11/3/44; with Bob Scales, Co-pilot: Frank Spangenberg, Navigator: Delmar E Linder, Bombardier: Howard Rohman, Waist gunner: George W Whetstone (5RTD,...
P-38 Lightning
Assigned to 383FS, 364FG, 8AF USAAF. Transferred to 428FS, 474FG, 9AF. Failed to Return (FTR) Charleroi, Belgium 1-Mar-45. Lt Ralph N Ramsey KIA. MACR 12804.
Date | Contributor | Update |
---|---|---|
22 April 2015 00:30:33 | Paul Bellamy | Changes to name, usaaf from date, usaaf to date, construction date and history |
Sources | ||
Mighty Eighth War Manual (R A Freeman 1984) |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
29 March 2015 16:52:22 | usxpat | Changes to name, known as, latitude, longitude, history and person associations |
Sources | ||
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) |