471st Sub-Depot
Group
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Military site : airfield
Lavenham was built as a standard USAAF bomber airfield, with fifty hardstandings, T2 hangars and 2,000 and 1,400 feet runways. John Laing and Son Ltd. carried out the work in 1943, and the airfield opened in April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group occupied the base until the end of the war in Europe. Initially equipped with B-24 Liberators, the Group switched to B-17 Fortresses, and it was with these aircraft that the Group completed most of its 185 missions by April 1945. The airfield was not used by any other military flying units after the war.
On the control tower, there are now two memorial plaques. Some original paintwork has also been preserved inside the building, which is STRICTLY PRIVATE. It is possible to visit the site, but not the inside of the building, and permission must be obtained from the Lavenham Tourist Information Office before visiting.
Not yet known
Group
Group
The 487th Bomb Group began operations as preparations for D-Day were reaching their crescendo and played their part by bombing airfields in northern France. Like the 486th Bomb Group, the 487th switched to B-17 Flying Fortress for missions from 1...
Squadron
Browse 18th Weather Squadron photographs and other documents in the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library digital archive here: www.2ndair.org.uk/digitalarchive/Dashboard/Index/60
Squadron
Squadron
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Headquarters
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Military | Staff Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 487th Bomb Group
Crashed near Neustadt on 9/28/44 in B-17 #44-6463, Prisoner of War (POW).
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner and Top Turret Gunner | 487th Bomb Group
Assigned to 839BS, 487BG, 8AF USAAF. ETD
Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Second Lieutenant | Pilot | 486th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) crashed near Dresden on 17 Apr 45 in B-17 'Old Miss Agnes' #4338001
Military | Staff Sergeant (Technician Third Grade) | Flight Engineer | 487th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) when B-17G #43-38926 'Weary Willie' piloted by Lieutenant William J. Waldron was attacked by fighters.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 487th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) when B-17G #43-38926 'Weary Willy' piloted by Lieutenant William J. Waldron was attacked by fighters on 24 Dec 1944.
Military | First Lieutenant | Pilot/Command Pilot | 487th Bomb Group
nthony Owen "Tony" Bamberg was the fourth of five children born to Lorenz and Mayme (Kain) Bamberg. He was born on April 14, 1920 in Alton, Iowa. Tony enlisted in the US Army on February 10, 1941 and ultimately transferred to the Air Corps (which would...
Military | Sergeant | Ball Turret Gunner | 487th Bomb Group
Assigned to 837BS, 487BG, 8AF USAAF. Flew aboard B-17 43-37901 'Miss Bea Havin'. ETD
Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME.
Military | Technical Sergeant | Top Turret Gunner | 487th Bomb Group
Entered service October 1942 at New York City, NY. Aircraft Mechanic training at Keesler Fld, MS and Gunnery Inst at Kingman Fld, AZ. Flew new B-17 from Langley Fld, Va via Northern Route to Valley Wales. Arrived in Lavenham August 1944. Flew 30...
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 487th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Crashed near Neustadt on 9/28/44 in B-17 #446463
Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 487th Bomb Group
Assigned to 837BS, 487BG, 8AF USAAF. 22 x combat missions. Flew aboard B-17 43-37901 'Miss Bea Havin'. ETD
Awards: AM, WWII Victory, EAME.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 9/3/44; Hunter 10/4/44; Dow Fd 29/4/44; Assigned 836BS/487BG [2G-A] Lavenham 1/5/44; Missing in Action Darmstadt 24/12/44 with Willard Curtiss, Frank Callaghen, Salvaged Saporito (3 Killed in Action); Tom Collins, Ed Ghezzi, Jim...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 11/5/43; Gore 24/5/43; Smoky Hill 29/5/43; Dow Fd 3/6/43; Assigned 525BS/379BG [FR-M] Kimbolton 13/6/43 TENDER TIT TILLIE, then RAGIN' RED II; transferred 837BS/487BG [4F] Lavenham 15/7/44; 78th Fighter Wing 24/10/44; transferred...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 9/8/43; Gore 10/8/43; Cheyenne 11/8/43; Assigned 510BS/351BG [TU-J] Polebrook 22/9/43; on practice mission 23/5/44 with Chas Walker fire broke out in cockpit, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Rob Martin burned when oxygen bottle...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Cheyenne 20/2/43; Presque Is 20/4/43; Assigned 407BS/92BG [PY-P] Alconbury 23/5/43; transferred 1 Base Air Depot, Burtonwood 8th FC 29/1/44; 381BG RR aircraft Ridgewell 6/3/44; 838BS/487BG RR aircraft Lavenham 17/7/44; Salvaged 14/6/45.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Tulsa 15/7/43; Scott 20/10/43; Assigned 613BS/401BG [IN-D] Deenethorpe 26/10/43; transferred 838BS/487BG Lavenham 15/7/44; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) South Plains 1/10/45. DUFFY'S TAVERN.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 27/7/43; Pendleton 15/8/43; Assigned 509BS/351BG [RQ-V] Polebrook 23/9/43; transferred 487BG Lavenham 16/7/44; 24m transferred 819ASG/78FG Duxford, in landing accident with Paul Patterson 14/5/45, Salvaged 21/5/45. SHADY LADY II.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 19/8/43; Assigned 532BS/381BG [VE-F] Ridgewell 20/9/43; after 6 missions transferred AFSC, 487BG Lavenham; APH & Azon duties at Knettishall /44. AVENGER.
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 26/8/43; Scott 20/10/43; Assigned 401BG Deenethorpe 27/10/43; transferred 511BS/351BG [DS-G] Polebrook 18/11/43; on 26/4/44 with Tony Zotollo force landed base with only one u/c wheel, no injuries; {24m} transferred 836BS/487BG [2G- ]...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Denver 29/8/43; Assigned 545BS/384BG [JD-B] Grafton Underwood 2/11/43; transferred 836BS/487BG Lavenham 16/7/44; transferred 34BG Mendlesham; retUS Bradley 24/6/45; 4168 Base Unit, South Plains, Texas 12/9/45; Reconstruction Finance...
B-17 Flying Fortress
Delivered Long Beach 24/8/43; Scott 18/11/43; Assigned 401BG Deenethorpe 11/11/43; transferred 509BS/351BG [RQ-M] Polebrook 25/11/43; {30m} transferred 838BS/487BG [2C- ] Lavenham 16/7/44; about to t/o on training flight 26/7/44 with Clayton Hutcheson,...
Date | Contributor | Update |
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05 October 2016 10:33:22 | Lucy May | Changes to aircraft associations |
Sources | ||
Connected aircraft records that have 'Lavenham' in their biography fields. |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
01 April 2015 16:50:41 | usxpat | Changes to history |
Sources | ||
Date | Contributor | Update |
08 March 2015 11:52:48 | VeronicaLavenham | Changes to known as |
Sources | ||
VeronicaLavenham |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
08 March 2015 11:51:23 | VeronicaLavenham | Changes to usaaf from date, usaaf to date, construction date and closure date |
Sources | ||
VeronicaLavenham |
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Date | Contributor | Update |
27 September 2014 18:02:17 | AAM | AAM ingest |
Sources | ||
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Michael Bowyer, Action Stations 1: Wartime Military Airfields of East Anglia 1939-1945 (Cambridge, 1979) |