Bottisham
AirfieldIWM, English Heritage Collection
The P-47 Thunderbolts of the 361st Fighter Group damaged the surfaces of the airfield so much in the first months of flying from Bottisham that American engineers were called in to lay a new runway. In January 1944 they constructed a 1,470-yard-long runway with pierced-steel planking in just three days. Accommodation on base was always tight and many of the temporary buildings put up to house the crews were in and around the village of Bottisham. As in many other cases, when the Americans came they seemed to take over the village as well as the airfield.
Connections
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People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 374th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: 19130141 / O-763028
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 376th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: 31180559 / O-886452
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Assistant Engineering Officer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 374th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: 17035819 / O-673303
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Fighter pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 374th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18025782 / O-380538
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Fighter pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group
- Service Numbers: 18035823, 2044539
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Flight Control Officer
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Snoopys Sniper Scarlet Kate
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 374th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Lou III
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 375th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Blue Eyes
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 376th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Suzy-G
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 375th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Peabody's Pet
- Unit: 357th Fighter Group 361st Fighter Group 364th Fighter Squadron 376th Fighter Squadron
Revisions
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978)