Fersfield
AirfieldIWM, English Heritage Collection
Originally named Winfarthing when the site was allocated to the Eighth Air Force in 1942, it was renamed Fersfield when built for the Eighth Air Force 1943-44. USAAF and US Navy projects 'Aphrodite' 'Batty' and 'Anvil' (attempts to develop and use radio-controlled aircraft as precision weapons) were launched from the airfield in 1944, one of which resulted in the death of Lt Joseph Kennedy, elder brother of future US President John F Kennedy. The airfield was closed in 1946, and it has since been since returned to agriculture.
Connections
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People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 385th Bomb Group 388th Bomb Group
- Highest Rank: Captain
- Role/Job: Pilot
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 560th Bomb Squadron 388th Bomb Group 458th Bomb Group 753rd Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 18199268
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 20th Fighter Group 55th Fighter Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-730630
- Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
- Role/Job: Fighter Pilot; Squadron Operations Officer
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 560th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: Corporal (RAF)
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 325th Photographic Reconnaissance Wing 25th Bomb Group 654th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: O-886174
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Pilot
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Lady Lillian
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group 561st Bomb Squadron 803rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Yankee Doodle Dandy
- Unit: 94th Bomb Group 333rd Bomb Squadron 803rd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Nicknames: Avenger
- Unit: VIII Air Force Service Command 381st Bomb Group 388th Bomb Group 487th Bomb Group 532nd Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: 388th Bomb Group
- Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
- Unit: VIII Air Force Service Command 306th Bomb Group
Revisions
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Manual (London, 2001)
Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979)