Thorpe Abbotts
AirfieldIWM, Roger Freeman Collection
Home of the 'Bloody Hundredth’, a Bomb Group with a reputation for high casualty rates, Thorpe Abbotts was under USAAF control from June 1943 to the end of the war. Some of the airfield survives today, and the control tower houses the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum, which tells the stories of the base and the men who flew the 100th's B-17s in combat over Germany.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
English Heritage's Record Description
A former World War Two military airfield, opened in 1943. The airfield was constructed by John Laing and Sons to "Class A" standard: that is to say it was provided with three intersecting concrete runways and a perimeter track, with Type T2 aircraft hangars. There were fuel storage facilities on the north and east sides of the airfield; the technical site buildings, ammunition dump and barracks were dispersed in fields and woodland to the south of the flying field. The control tower on the north side of the airfield is extant and is now a museum. The main unit using the airfield during World War Two was the United States Army 8th Air Force 100th Bomb Group, nicknamed the "bloody 100th" because of the losses they sustained in their missions. The airfield was designated as USAAF Station 139 by the Americans. After the war the airfield transferred to Royal Air Force control but was inactive until its closure in 1956. After closure the airfield was used for agricultural purposes, however the perimeter track has survived, and a number of ruined huts were still evident in woodland in 2000.
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 100th Bomb Group 350th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 100th Bomb Group 350th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Master Sergeant
- Role/Job: Flight Chief
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 350th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 349th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 100th Bomb Group 349th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-687102
- Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Co-Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Picklepuss
- Unit: 100th Bomb Group 418th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Wild Cargo
- Unit: 100th Bomb Group 418th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Mugwump, Rum Boogie II
- Unit: 100th Bomb Group 96th Bomb Group 413th Bomb Squadron 418th Bomb Squadron 803rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Phartzac
- Unit: 381st Bomb Group 388th Bomb Group 561st Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Tweedle-O-Twill
- Unit: 100th Bomb Group 350th Bomb Squadron
Revisions
Removed reference to 'Masters of the Air' TV Show from biography, as it is not historical information pertaining to the history of Thorpe Abbotts.
Connected aircraft records that have Thorpe Abbotts in their biography fields.
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978).