Grafton Underwood
Airfield
384thbombgroup.com
Object Number - US_7PH_GP_LOC309_V_5020 - Aerial photograph of Grafton Underwood airfield looking north east, Geddington village is on the left, 22 April 1944. Photograph taken by 7th...
Grafton Underwood was built in 1941 by George Wimpey and Co. Ltd. It was the first airfield in England to receive an Eighth Air Force flying unit, when in May 1942 personnel of the 15th Bomb Squadron took up residence. As a satellite airfield for Polebrook, the airfield was then home to two squadrons of the 97th Bomb Group. The airfield became home to succession of Bomb Groups, including the 305th, 96th, and 384th, all equipped with B-17s. The RAF's No. 236 Maintenance Unit occupied the airfield after the war, before being declared surplus to requirements in 1959. A memorial to the crews that flew from the airfield was erected in 1977.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 547th Bomb Squadron 384th Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: O-717660
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 545th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Tail Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: 12138829
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer / Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 384th Bomb Group 544th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 39332710
- Highest Rank: Sergeant (RAF)
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 547th Bomb Squadron 384th Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: O-675361
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot / Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Arkie
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 366th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Boomerang
- Unit: 305th Bomb Group 422nd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
![Ground crew work of the 305th Bomb Group work on the engines of a B-17 Flying Fortress, nicknamed "Target for Tonite". Handwritten caption on reverse: '30/6/43. 305[BG].'](https://assets.americanairmuseum.com/s3fs-public/styles/teaser_thumb_x2/public/freeman/media-407692.jpg.webp?itok=Vkvl3p1l)
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
Revisions
Removed media associations which do not depict, or cannot be positively identified to depict Grafton Underwood
Connected up aircraft records with 'Grafton Underwood' in their biography field.
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978).
