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 376th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-710063
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 374th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-710679
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 375th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: 14107185 / O-810498
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot and 375th FS "D" Flight commander
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 374th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13116893 / O-820495
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 374th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13067139 / O-733888
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Lou iv / athelene
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group Headquarters (361st Fighter Group)
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Sweet Thing IV
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 374th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 376th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: Sky Bouncer, Alice Marie
- Unit: 361st Fighter Group 375th Fighter Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-51 Mustang
- Nicknames: “U’ve Had It” Toolin Fool
- Unit: 357th Fighter Group 361st Fighter Group 362nd Fighter Squadron 375th Fighter Squadron
Revisions
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978)