Fersfield
AirfieldIWM, English Heritage Collection
Originally named Winfarthing when the site was allocated to the Eighth Air Force in 1942, it was renamed Fersfield when built for the Eighth Air Force 1943-44. USAAF and US Navy projects 'Aphrodite' 'Batty' and 'Anvil' (attempts to develop and use radio-controlled aircraft as precision weapons) were launched from the airfield in 1944, one of which resulted in the death of Lt Joseph Kennedy, elder brother of future US President John F Kennedy. The airfield was closed in 1946, and it has since been since returned to agriculture.
Connections
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People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 560th Bomb Squadron 388th Bomb Group 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39001781
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Nose Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 860th Bomb Squadron 388th Bomb Group 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 13145921
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 560th Bomb Squadron 388th Bomb Group 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38004355 / O-747539
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Wantta Spar
- Unit: 351st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Group Base Air Depot 1 510th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 9th Bomb Group
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Floozie Flossy | Mary Ruth | The WeWa Special
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 95th Bomb Group 336th Bomb Squadron 36th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 560th Bomb Squadron
Revisions
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Manual (London, 2001)
Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979)