Harrington
AirfieldIWM, Roger Freeman Collection
Harrington was built by the 826th and 852nd Engineer Battalions of the US Army in 1943. Completed in 1944, it was the furthest Eighth Air Force combat airfield from the east coast.The Eighth's Special Operations Group was based at the airfield, first known as the 801st Bomb Group and then, from August 1944, the 492nd Bomb Group. The crews in their black-painted Liberators supported the resistance in occupied Europe. The USAAF left in July 1945, and the airfield was unused until the 1960s, when it became one of the RAF's Thor missile sites, part of Britain's nuclear deterrent. The site is now home to a museum which explores the history of the airfield.
Connections
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People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 801st Bomb Group 850th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: O-693995
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 406th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32837652
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 490th Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 850th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: 17157294
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
- Role/Job: Flight Engineer - Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 406th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16089661 / O-696381
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 857th Bomb Squadron 492nd Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: T-128655
- Highest Rank: Flight Officer
- Role/Job: Bombardier
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: War Eagle
- Unit: 34th Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 406th Bomb Squadron 4th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Baby Bug, Baby Bug II, Baby Bug III
- Unit: 490th Bomb Group 493rd Bomb Group 801st Bomb Group 406th Bomb Squadron 850th Bomb Squadron 862nd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: A-26 Invader
- Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 856th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
- Unit: Base Air Depot 3 492nd Bomb Group 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group 801st Bomb Group 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron 36th Bomb Squadron 857th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: P-38 Lightning
- Unit: Base Air Depot 3 801st Bomb Group 36th Bomb Squadron
Revisions
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978).