Snetterton Heath

Airfield
B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 96th Bomb Group at Snetterton Heath. Image via Mark Brown, AFA. Written on slide casing: 'BX dispersals Snetterton.' media-387762.jpg FRE 5869 B-17 Flying Fortresses including (serial number 42-37716) of the 96th Bomb Group on the 338th Bomb Squadron's dispersal area at Snetterton Heath in August 1944.

Image via Mark Brown, AFA.

Written on slide casing: 'BX dispersals Snetterton.' Roger Freeman Collection

Aircraft identified by Roger Freeman in Mighty Eighth in Colour, p 127

Object Number - FRE 5869 - B-17 Flying Fortresses including (serial number 42-37716) of the 96th Bomb Group on the 338th Bomb Squadron's dispersal area at Snetterton Heath in...

Intended to be an RAF bomber base, construction of Snetterton Heath started in Autumn 1942 but continued until mid-1943, because it was extended after allocation as an Eighth Air Force bomber base. It had eventually three concrete runways, 50 hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. Three more T2 hangars were erected on the nearby site of Eccles Air Depot but that was never completed. The 386th Bomb Group equipped with B-26s occupied this station for a week in early June 1943, and was replaced in mid-June by the 96th Bomb Group equipped with B-17s. After some 300 missions from Snetterton Heath, the 96th Bomb Group left for the USA during November-December 1945. The station was then placed under Care and Maintenance by the RAF and kept in operational condition until closed in the late 1940s. The airfield was bought privately in 1952 for development as a motor cycle and motor car racing circuit, the first race meeting being held in 1953. The much modified and upgraded circuit has since become a thriving venue for local club, national and international racing, and also for development and testing of motor vehicles.

Connections

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People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-726104
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Bombardier
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 37416663
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 12155334
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator / Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 338th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-825101
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 482nd Bomb Group 813th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Flight Engineer / Top Turret Gunner

Aircraft

A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-9089) nicknamed "Johnny Reb" of the 92nd Bomb Group, formerly of the 97th Bomb Group takes off. Image stamped on reverse: 'New York Times Photo.' [stamp], 'Air (Boeing) FLY.' [annotation] and '219847.'[Censor no.] A printed caption was previously attached the the reverse however this has been lost. Handwritten caption on reverse: '4/9/42, marsh ground. Johnny Reb.'
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Johnny Reb
  • Unit: 97th Bomb Group 414th Bomb Squadron
A P-38 Lightning and a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 41-9129) of the 305th Bomb Group.
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Wildfire
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Paisano
  • Unit: 95th Bomb Group 96th Bomb Group 335th Bomb Squadron 336th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 338th Bomb Squadron

Revisions

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Connected aircraft records that have Snetterton in their biography fields.

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)

Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979)

http://www.snetterton.co.uk/

Snetterton Heath: Gallery (219 items)