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Gosfield

Military site : airfield

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First used as an airfield during the First World War, when known as Royal Flying Corps/RAF Sible Hedingham, it was built as Gosfield for the Eighth Air Force and then Ninth Air Force in 1942-43. Home to first the 365th Fighter Group, then the 397th Bomb Group 1944 and 410th Bomb Group, it was handed back to the RAF in 1945. The airfield was closed and mostly returned to agriculture in the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was also used as a car test track 1968-87, and for light engineering and plant hire from the 1990s to date.

Service

Units

People

  • Julius Almond

    Military | Lieutenant Colonel | Fighter Pilot | 365th Fighter Group
    Assigned to 387FS, 365FG, 9AF USAAF. Flew 94 missions over France, Belgium, and Germany. Completed Tour Duty (ETD). ...

  • Owen Azling

    Military | Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade) | Aircraft Crew Chief | 365th Fighter Group
    Retired from the USAF with the rank of Master Sergeant

  • Carrol Barnard

    Military | Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade) | 365th Fighter Group

  • David Baumeister

    Military | Captain | Pilot | 365th Fighter Group
    On DS (detached service) for operational training. Flew four missions with the 335th Fighter Squadron. Awards: DFC, AM (13OLC), WWII Victory, EAME.

  • Norman Beaman

    Military | Captain | Fighter Pilot | 365th Fighter Group

  • Valmore Beaudrault

    Military | Captain | Fighter Pilot | 365th Fighter Group

  • Fermin Bennett

    Military | Corporal (5th Grade) | 365th Fighter Group

  • Maurice Bigger

    Military | Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade) | Aircraft Mechanic | 365th Fighter Group

  • Alfred Blade

    Military | Sergeant (Technician Fourth Grade) | Aircraft Armorer | 365th Fighter Group

  • Clifford Boxer

    Military | Master Sergeant (1st Grade) | Aircraft Crew Chief | 365th Fighter Group

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Aircraft

  • 42-21732 'Maxine IV'

    A-20 Havoc
    Assigned to 646BS, 410BG, 9AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) bombing mission to Germany, ...

  • 43-10205

    A-20 Havoc
    Assigned to 645BS, 410BG, 9AF USAAF. On 7 June 1944 aircraft A-20 Havoc 43-10205 was assigned a target at LaHaye, France. On return the pilot John Metz called that the aircraft was on one engine and he was leaving the formation over the English channel...

  • 43-22065 'Paula E II' 'Bootsie'

    A-20 Havoc
    Assigned to 671BS, 416BG, 9AF. Transferred to 646BS, 410BG, 9AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) mission to Ahute railhead. Hit in wing by flak, 2 chutes seen to emerge before A/C impacted. 1 x KIA, 2 x POW. 25-Dec-44. MACR 11899. ...

  • 43-9489 Angel II

    A-20 Havoc
    Crashed at Brest, France on 6 September 1944, possibly as result of bomb exploding in bomb bay. Pilot 1Lt Earl Ray Bever, Jr., Armorer/Gunner SSgt Chester Walter Dunaj and Mechanic/Gunner SSgt Fred Lowell Yoos were killed. MACR 9102 & 16128

  • 43-9490

    A-20 Havoc
    Shot down by AA fire at Ouerre on mission to Dreux, France on 6 July 1944. Gunner SSgt James Fredrick Gage and Mechanic/Gunner SSgt Henry Edward Happel were KIA, the pilot 2Lt Theodore Roosevelt Stablein evaded capture and returned to Allied lines....

  • 43-9502

    A-20 Havoc
    Shot down by AA fire E of Grand-Couronne on a mission to Rouen, France on 4 August 1944. Pilot 1Lt Thomas Gerald Walsh KIA, gunner Sgt Karl Waldemar Haeuser POW and gunner SSgt Fred Herman POW. MACR 7932

  • 43-9894 'Thunderbird'

    A-20 Havoc
    Assigned to 647BS, 410BG, 9AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) Saulautern mission hit in starboard engine, aflame and streaming white smoke, dropped out of formation and bellied in. Crew believed they were in friendly territory till L-4 landed, Arm/Gunner...

  • 43-9904 Mary Ruth

    A-20 Havoc
    Hit by flak 2km west of Allery, 15km south of Abbeville, France on 6 June 1944. ...

  • 44-182

    A-20 Havoc
    Assigned to 647BS, 410BG, 9AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) mission to Gerolstein RR Bridge. Took direct flak hit to Bombay, fell out of formation in flames, one chute seen to emerge before A/C hit ground and exploded. 22-Jan-45. [3 x KIA] MACR 11925. ...

  • 43-9441

    A-20 Havoc
    Written off in a landing accident at Grantham on 11 July 1944. Pilot Gerald F. Dale.

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Number
154
Known as
Not yet known
Construction date
Not yet known
USAAF from date
Not yet known
USAAF to date
Not yet known
Closure date
Not yet known

Revisions

Date Contributor Update
27 September 2014 18:02:16 AAM AAM ingest
Sources

Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Ninth Then and Now (London, 1994)

Roger Freeman, Mighty Eighth War Manual (London, 2001)

Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979)

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