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).
The nose art of a B-24 Liberator (serial number 42-51832) nicknamed "School Daze" of the 467th Bomb Group. Image by Charles E Jackson
Charles E Jackson, third from the left, top row, and his comrades of the 467th Bomb Group at Rackheath. Image via Jackson's son. Handwritten caption on reverse: ‘Daddy and a bunch of “Sloppy Joes.”’
An airman of the 467th Bomb Group holds up the tail section of a German aircraft by the tail of B-24 Liberator 42-52303 'TOPPER'. Taken at the recently liberated airfield at Clastres, France during the gas Truckin' missions of September 1944.
An aerial view of the 467th Bomb Group base at Rackheath.
"Witchcraft" 100 mission celebration. Sgt. Raymond Betcher a member of the maintenance ground crew of B-24H-15 FO 42-52534 " Witchcraft" receives his certificate of Meritorious service signed by General Peck and presented by Major General William E. Kepner, Commanding General of the Second Air Division, on the occasion of completion by "Witchcraft" of 100 missions with no aborts through any form of mechanical problem. "Witchcraft" went on to complete a total of 130 missions without an abort becoming one of the most celebrated aircraft in 8th Airforce history.
"Witchcraft" 100 mission celebration. S/Sgt. George Dong, Assistant crew chief of the maintenance ground crew on B-24H-15 FO 42-52534 " Witchcraft" receives his certificate of Meritorious service signed by General Peck and presented by Major General William E. Kepner, Commanding General of the Second Air Division, on the occasion of completion by "Witchcraft" of 100 missions with no aborts through any form of mechanical problem. "Witchcraft" went on to complete a total of 130 missions without an abort becoming one of the most celebrated aircraft in 8th Airforce history.
The nose art of Liberator B-24H-15-FO (42-52623) nicknamed "Wabbit" of the 467th Bomb Group, 789th Squadron.
Two B-24 Liberators, (Q2-P_, serial number 41-29446) nicknamed "Tangerine" and (Q2-C_, serial number 41-29406), of the 467th Bomb Group fly together. Image via Allan Healy. Handwritten caption on reverse: 'ND 44. 467 BG, Rackheath. Q2-P_, 41-29446, Tangerine. Q2-C_, 41-29406. 790 BS.'
A poster celebrating the 100th mission of the 467th Bomb Group.
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...
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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
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Headquarters
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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' #42-52525 Interned (INT).
Military | Sergeant | Tail Gunner | 467th Bomb Group
Crashed into North Sea in B-24 'Umbriago' #44-40068, Killed in Action (KIA).
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
Crashed near Aachen Germany on 10/14/44 in B-24 'Miss Judy' #42-52507, Prisoner of War (POW).
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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
Original aircraft with the 789th Squadron; second Group aircraft lost on the 11th July 44 mission to Munich. Three of the Lt. Underwood crew were killed, the remainder taken POW.
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...
| 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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