Molesworth
Airfield
IWM, English Heritage Collection
Object Number - RAF_106G_UK_889_RP_3040 - Aerial photograph of the east end of Molesworth airfield looking north, the control tower and two T2 hangars are right of the vertical runway, 5...
Molesworth was one of the early stations used by the Eighth Air Force in the UK, first occupied by the 15th Bomb Squadron’s Douglas Bostons in June 1942. Built in 1940 and extended and improved in 1942, Molesworth is most associated with the 303rd Bomb Group, popularly known as 'Hell’s Angels' which moved in with its B-17s in September 1942 and remained at the base until June 1945. Molesworth reverted to RAF control in 1945 and was closed in 1946. It was re-opened in 1951 for use by the US Air Force, and it remains a US base today: home to the Joint Intelligence Operations Center Europe Analytic Center. It was announced in January 2015 by the US Department of Defense that RAF Molesworth will close as a USAFE base in 2022. The USAF intelligence and support elements currently located at RAF Molesworth and RAF Alconbury will be combined in a new complex at RAF Croughton, Northamptonshire. RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, will also close as a USAFE base after 2020.
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: 303rd Bomb Group 358th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18090254
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 427th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32885973
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Airplane Armorer-Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 359th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 33286269
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 360th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 16064831
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Engineer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 303rd Bomb Group 358th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-670288
- Highest Rank: Major
- Role/Job: Bombardier
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Prowler
- Unit: 97th Bomb Group 342nd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Miss Lace
Revisions
Connected aircraft records that have 'Molesworth' in their biography fields.
USAFE-AFAfrica Press Release, 08 January 2015. See http://www.mildenhall.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123435803.
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978)
