Snetterton Heath

Airfield
B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 96th Bomb Group at Snetterton Heath. Image via Mark Brown, AFA. Written on slide casing: 'BX dispersals Snetterton.' media-387762.jpg FRE 5869 B-17 Flying Fortresses including (serial number 42-37716) of the 96th Bomb Group on the 338th Bomb Squadron's dispersal area at Snetterton Heath in August 1944.

Image via Mark Brown, AFA.

Written on slide casing: 'BX dispersals Snetterton.' Roger Freeman Collection

Aircraft identified by Roger Freeman in Mighty Eighth in Colour, p 127

Object Number - FRE 5869 - B-17 Flying Fortresses including (serial number 42-37716) of the 96th Bomb Group on the 338th Bomb Squadron's dispersal area at Snetterton Heath in...

Intended to be an RAF bomber base, construction of Snetterton Heath started in Autumn 1942 but continued until mid-1943, because it was extended after allocation as an Eighth Air Force bomber base. It had eventually three concrete runways, 50 hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. Three more T2 hangars were erected on the nearby site of Eccles Air Depot but that was never completed. The 386th Bomb Group equipped with B-26s occupied this station for a week in early June 1943, and was replaced in mid-June by the 96th Bomb Group equipped with B-17s. After some 300 missions from Snetterton Heath, the 96th Bomb Group left for the USA during November-December 1945. The station was then placed under Care and Maintenance by the RAF and kept in operational condition until closed in the late 1940s. The airfield was bought privately in 1952 for development as a motor cycle and motor car racing circuit, the first race meeting being held in 1953. The much modified and upgraded circuit has since become a thriving venue for local club, national and international racing, and also for development and testing of motor vehicles.

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: 96th Bomb Group 337th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Co-Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 337th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 13131697
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Aerial Gunner
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 3rd Air Division 3rd Bomb Division 45th Combat Bomb Wing 96th Bomb Group 337th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 6 907 762
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner/Engineer
Alfred Drabnis
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: T-000072
  • Highest Rank: Flight Officer
  • Role/Job: Co-Pilot, Pilot
  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 32586126
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Radio Operator

Aircraft

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 337th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Marzi Doats
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 338th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Boots II
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 337th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Unit: 96th Bomb Group 339th Bomb Squadron

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added "known as" info per info on the web.

SOURCE:  https://wartimememoriesproject.com/ww2/airfields/airfield.php?pid=4064

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Sources

Connected aircraft records that have Snetterton in their biography fields.

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
Sources

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)

http://www.snetterton.co.uk/

Snetterton Heath: Gallery (219 items)