Bovingdon

Airfield
Aerial photograph of Bovingdon airfield looking south, the technical site with four T2 hangars is on the left,30 April 1942. Photograph taken by No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, sortie number RAF/HLA/510. English Heritage (RAF Photography). eh-723.jpg RAF_HLA_527_V_6012 Aerial photograph of Bovingdon airfield looking south, the technical site with four T2 hangars is on the left,30 April 1942. Photograph taken by No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, sortie number RAF/HLA/510. English Heritage (RAF Photography). Historic England

IWM, English Heritage Collection

Object Number - RAF_HLA_527_V_6012 - Aerial photograph of Bovingdon airfield looking south, the technical site with four T2 hangars is on the left,30 April 1942. Photograph taken by No....

Bovingdon, in Hertfordshire (often confused with Bovington, Dorset), was built in 1941-42 as a bomber station but was never developed into a fully-fledged heavy bomber airfield as it did not have the required 2,000 yard runway.



The airfield was used by the USAAF as a operational training base between summer 1942 and the end of the war.



The 92nd Bomb Group was not a combat group while stationed here; instead it formed a B-17 combat crew replacement unit. Some of its personnel stayed when the 92nd moved to Alconbury in September 1943 and formed the basis of the 11th Combat Crew Replacement Center at Bovingdon.



Most combat bomber crews arriving in Britain were trained for operations in the European theater from this base.



It also hosted the Eighth Air Force HQ Squadron and the Air Technical Section, because of its proximity to Eighth Air Force HQ at Bushy Park and VIII Bomber and Fighter Command HQs at High Wycombe and Bushey Hall respectively; meanwhile, Hangar 1 housed General Eisenhower's personal B-17 Flying Fortress.



When the 11th CCRC disbanded in September 1944, Bovingdon was taken over by the European Air Transport Service and many Americans returned to the States from the airfield.



Post-war, the airfield was used by the US Air Force as a transport base, as well as by civil airlines, before the RAF took full control in the 1960s, Bovingdon then becoming the home of communication squadrons serving Fighter and Coastal Command HQs at Stanmore and Northwood.



Three movies were filmed at Bovingdon in the 1960s – 'The War Lover', '633 Squadron' and 'Mosquito Squadron' – and, in the 1970s, 'Hanover Street'.



The airfield closed when the RAF left in 1968 and it is now the site of a prison.

Connections

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People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 327th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 34241096
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 92nd Bomb Group 358th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 34211267
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 327th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 31035541
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator / Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: No 1 Combat Crew Replacement Center Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron (No 1 Combat Crew Replacement Center)
  • Service Numbers: O-685561
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 92nd Bomb Group 327th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 19011638
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Tail Gunner

Aircraft

A P-38 Lightning nicknamed "Droop Snoot".
  • Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
  • Nicknames: Droop Snoot
  • Unit: Base Air Depot 3
A bomber crew of the 303rd Bomb Group, with their B-17 Flying Fortress (GN-V, serial number 42-2966), after a raid on Germany. From left to right they are: Sergeant Ward W. Kirkpatrick (Kalispel, Montana); Technical Sergeant Lucian W. Means, (Luguna Beach, California); First Lieutenant Milton K. Conver (Cincinnatti, Ohio); Second Lieutenant John W Dillenger (Avoca, Iowa), Co-Pilot; Captain B.B. Southworth (Columbus, Ohio), Pilot; Sergeant Jack Belk (Temple, Texas); Sergeant William Fleming (Burdine, Kentu
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: No 11 Combat Crew Replacement Center No 1 Combat Crew Replacement Center 303rd Bomb Group 427th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: No 1 Combat Crew Replacement Center 384th Bomb Group 547th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
  • Unit: Base Air Depot 3 495th Fighter Training Group

Revisions

Date
ContributorSavvyGA
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Sources

Warning of confusion with Bovington, Dorset, a British Army base.

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Films added

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Films added.

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ContributorSavvyGA
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Films added

Date
ContributorSavvyGA
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Added civil airlines' use

Date
ContributorSavvyGA
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Added civil use

Date
ContributorSavvyGA
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Added civil usage.

Date
ContributorSavvyGA
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Added post-Badotville civil airlines' usage

Date
ContributorSavvyGA
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Added HQ locations.

Date
ContributorSavvyGA
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Post-war summary added.

Date
ContributorSavvyGA
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Corrected spelling; and amended official designation 'Center' - instead of 'Unit' (ie 11th CCRC).

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

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

Bovingdon: Gallery (23 items)