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Military site : airfield
Aerial photograph of Rackheath airfield looking south, the administrative site, barracks sites and technical site with a T2 hangar is on the right, the bomb dump and ammunition dump are at the bottom, the fuel store, firing butts and second T2 hangar are on the left, 16 April 1946. Photograph taken by No. 541 Squadron, sortie number RAF/106G/UK/1428. English Heritage (RAF Photography).
Eugene A. Garrett, brother of Robert D. Garrett, completed 34 missions over Germany in B-24s.
Tommy Thumper II, B24 42-94811. Crashed in Old Catton, Norwich, on a practice mission.
Belton, Norfolk. Belle of the East Way
Briefing Data 24th December 1944, Ops 467th BG
Plaque on memorial bench near Rackheath village sign.
Memorial bench near Rackheath village sign dedicated to by the 467th Bomb Group.
Close-up of memorial plaque next to Rackheath village sign.
Memorial plaque next to Rackheath village sign.
Close-up of Rackheath village sign.
First allocated to the Eighth Air Force as a bomber base in August 1942, Rackheath was then earmarked as a fighter base but, because of delay in construction, was never used as such. Built during 1943, the station had three concrete runways, 50 loop hardstandings and two dispersed T2 hangars. The 467th Bomb Group, equipped with B-24s, occupied Rackheath from March 1944 to July 1945. During that period it flew 212 combat missions and, during the last few months of the war, led the Eighth Air Force in bombing accuracy. Witchcraft , a B-24H of the Group, held the record of 130 combat missions, the most for this type of bomber in the Eighth Air Force. Returned to the RAF and closed in 1945, the airfield quickly reverted to agriculture, with most of the concrete surfaces broken up for aggregate. However, the technical site became the Rackheath Industrial Estate, with several of the wartime buildings modified or extended. The Control Tower has been preserved and renovated as offices.
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Group
The 467th Bomb Group, or the "Rackheath Aggies" as they came to be known, flew B-24 Liberators on missions from April 1944. Its air crews became known for their accuracy and the Group had the best overall standing for accuracy within the Eighth Air...
Group
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
Squadron
Squadron
Headquarters
Company
Company
Military | Sergeant | Waist Gunner | 467th Bomb Group
Flew on B-24 'Slick Chick'. MACR 9843. B-24H #42-95224 'LONELY HEART'. Returned to base on mission to Hamburg after CP fell from A/C bomb bay into the North Sea. RTD.
Military | Staff Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 467th Bomb Group
Damaged by flak and landed in Sweden on 6/21/44 in B-24 'Six bits' #4252525 INT
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 467th Bomb Group
Killed in Action (KIA) crashed into North Sea in B-24 'Umbriago' #4440068
Military | First Lieutenant | Navigator | 467th Bomb Group
Transferred 467th BG
Military | Sergeant | Supply | 467th Bomb Group
Military | Staff Sergeant | Right Waist Gunner | 467th Bomb Group
Prisoner of War (POW) Crashed near Aachen Germany on 10/14/44 in B-24 'Miss Judy' #42-52507.
...
Military | Colonel | Pilot | 467th Bomb Group
9 Months in Europe, Sept 44 to June 45, 18 Combat Missions (13 as Lead Pilot & Crew) . Also flew Air Sea Rescue during the Korean War stationed in Okinawa. Became Assistant controller of the Air Force. After retirement he became Comptroller of the...
Military | Lieutenant | Pilot | 467th Bomb Group
Military | Sergeant | Ground Crew - Mechanic | 467th Bomb Group
Mechanic on 'Witchcraft' which flew 130 non abort missions over Europe duriing WWII. (A 16 scale model is suspended from ceiling in this museum.)
Named his engine "Doris + ?". (Ray's wife was pregnant at the time he named the engine!)
Military | First Lieutenant | Co-Pilot | 467th Bomb Group
B-24 Liberator
Assigned to 790BS, 467BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) mission to Berlin.
Shot down assumed enemy fighters 29-Apr-44. 6 x POW 4 x KIA MACR 4942.
B-24 Liberator
Assigned to 790BS, 467BG, 8AF USAAF. Failed to Return (FTR) mission to Berlin. 3 Fw190's hit formation, A/C hit in #4 engine which began wind milling, also in starboard stabilizer causing it to drop out of formation. A/C turned over several times...
B-24 Liberator
B-24 disappeared into a cloud bank on its return from a mission to Stuttgart, Germany, on 4 March 1945. It crashed into the North Sea and only two of the crew, Sgt Perry and Sgt Moskowitz, were picked up in rescue launches. They thought the aircraft...
B-24 Liberator
On 29 June 1944, B-24 'Belle Of The East' #42110187 was shot down by flak and crashed near Brumby
B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
Damaged by flak and landed in Sweden on 21 June 1944. Crew interned.
B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
Mission to marshalling yards at Hannau, Germany. Shortly after leaving the target, the ship was observed to have #2 engine feathered and losing altitude until out of sight. The ship was last seen by aircraft of the 93rd BG approximately 35 miles SW of...
B-24 Liberator
MACR#7375 - Remarks: Ship had sustained suspected flak damage and dropped out the formation. Finally went into a spin where only the Pilot and Engineer successfully bailed out. Radio-operator fell out of bomb-bay prior to bailing out, Bombardier is...
B-24 Liberator
| Date | Contributor | Update |
|---|---|---|
| 23 January 2017 13:40:37 | Rob in Norwich | Changes to usaaf from date, usaaf to date and construction date |
| Sources | ||
Rob Edwards: Use start and finish dates from the memorial on Rackheath Industrial estate. Construction year from the text contant of this record. |
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| Date | Contributor | Update |
| 27 September 2014 18:02:18 | AAM | AAM ingest |
| 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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Rackheath |
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