North Pickenham
AirfieldIWM, English Heritage Collection
Built comparatively late during 1943-44 as an Eighth Air Force bomber base, North Pickenham was rather cramped as an airfield site so the main runway was shorter than typical. It had three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. This station was first occupied by the 'hard luck’ 492nd Bomb Group from May to August 1944, operating B-24s, which was withdrawn from combat after losing 51 aircraft to enemy action during 64 missions. It was replaced by the highly successful 491st Bomb Group, also equipped with B-24s, which remained at North Pickenham until August 1945. The station was then used for a variety of purposes by the RAF and USAFE from 1945 to 1965, most notably as a Douglas Thor IRBM site during 1958-63, and as a Hawker Siddeley P1127 Kestrel trials airfield during 1964-65. It has since reverted mostly to agriculture plus turkey farming, a wind farm and light industry.
Connections
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People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 856th Bomb Squadron 801st Bomb Group
- Service Numbers: O-564743
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 852nd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 38281424
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Flight engineer / Top turret
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 857th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 0-810985
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 467th Bomb Group 492nd Bomb Group 859th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-702882
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 389th Bomb Group 466th Bomb Group 489th Bomb Group 492nd Bomb Group 785th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-690845
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Bombardier
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Problem Child
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 853rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Unit: 458th Bomb Group 492nd Bomb Group 755th Bomb Squadron 856th Bomb Squadron 857th Bomb Squadron 858th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Bold Venture
- Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 859th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Wham Bam Thank You Mam
- Unit: 491st Bomb Group 854th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Little Lulu
- Unit: 492nd Bomb Group 856th Bomb Squadron
Related videos and documents
- Media Type: Video
- Collection Name: Rob Edwards collection
- Object Number: UPL 29177
- Description: Video and photographs of the memorials to the 492nd and 491st Bombardment Groups (Heavy) who served at North Pickenham Station 143.
- Media Type: Document
- Collection Name: The Eighth in the East
- Object Number: Document 17666
- Description: Official Air Ministry Record Site Plan- Airfield site 1944. North Pickenham.
- Media Type: Document
- Collection Name: The Eighth in the East
- Object Number: Document 17667
- Description: Official Air Ministry Record Site Plan- Dispersed sites 1944. North Pickenham.
- Media Type: Document
- Collection Name: The Eighth in the East
- Object Number: Document 17668
- Description: Official Air Ministry Record Site Plan- Bomb Stores 1945. North Pickenham.
- Media Type: Document
- Collection Name: Chris "Drake" Dracopoulos.
- Object Number: Document 39084
- Description: A biography of ' "The Rhythm Bombshells" 1944 to 1945 - Metfield and North Pickenham, England.' by Chris "Drake" Dracopoulos, 491st Bomb Group.
- Media Type: Document
- Object Number: UPL 65441
- Description: "Brunswick, Germany - Ernie Gavitt's Story" By Ernest Gavitt, Navigator, Arnett Crew 717, 857th BS, 492nd BG
- Media Type: Document
- Object Number: UPL 65455
- Description: "Is This Trip Really Necessary?" by Lt Col Charles Arnett, USAF (ret). 492nd BG, 857th BS, 44-40171, Mission No. 358
- Media Type: Document
- Object Number: UPL 65468
- Description: Remembering Uriel F. Robertson, Waist Gunner, Arnett Crew, 857th BS, 492nd BG, KIA 19 May 1944, 44-40171, Mission No. 358
- Media Type: Document
- Object Number: UPL 65568
- Description: On the evening of June 4, 1944, a B-24 Liberator bomber of the 856th Bomber Squadron, 492nd Bomber Group, piloted by Second Lieutenant Raymond J...
Revisions
The 492nd and 491st Bomb Groups in Norfolk Peter Bodle, Liberator Publishing.
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978)
Roger Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Manual (2nd edn, London, 2001)
Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979)
Owen Thetford, Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918 (London, 1979)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_North_Pickenham
http://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/north-pickenham
http://www.airfieldinformationexchange.org/community/showthread.php?246…