Shipdham
AirfieldIWM, Roger Freeman Collection
Shipdham was built in 1941-1942, the first US heavy bomber airfield in the English county of Norfolk. It was a standard design, with T2-type hangars and a domestic site dispersed to the south east. Improvements were carried out to increase the number of hardstandings for aircraft, and more accommodation was built. It was briefly home to the 319th Bomb Group, before the 44th Bomb Group and its B-24 Liberators moved in. Although detached twice to North Africa, this unit operated from the airfield from November 1942 to the end of the war. In 1946-1947, the airfield was used as a transit camp for German Prisoners of War. The airfield was sold in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Today, it is still operated as a General Aviation airfield, and it is also home to a museum telling the story of Shipdham and the 44th Bomb Group.
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English Heritage's Record Description
A former World War Two military airfield, opened in 1942 and closed in 1945, later a civilian airfield. It was the first United States heavy bomber base in Norfolk, used by the 44th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force, as Station 115. The airfield comprised three tarmac runways with the technical site and three aircraft hangars (Type T2) on the south side of the airfield. A bomb dump was located to the south-west of the airfield. Accommodation for around 3000 personnel was dispersed across fields to the south-east of the airfield. The 44th bomb group flew B-24 Liberators and were involved in 343 missions, including a raid on the Romanian oil fields at Ploesti that were vital for the Axis war effort. After the war from 1946-1947 the airfield was used as a holding camp for German Prisoners of War who were to be repatriated. Parts of the former military site were disposed of between 1957 and 1963. In 1970 the airfield reopened as a small civilian airfield with a new aircraft hangar and other buildings. The wartime hangars at the site were reused for industrial purposes. The civilian airfield closed in 1999. The remains of the wartime control tower are on private land to the south of the airfield.
People
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 466th Bomb Group 66th Bomb Squadron 784th Bomb Squadron 786th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 32729517
- Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant (3rd Grade)
- Role/Job: Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 68th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 35292580
- Highest Rank: Sergeant
- Role/Job: Waist Gunner
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 68th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 12164582
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Role/Job: Radio Operator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 66th Bomb Squadron
- Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
- Role/Job: Navigator
- Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
- Nationality: American
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 66th Bomb Squadron
- Service Numbers: 11045878
- Highest Rank: Sergeant (RAF)
- Role/Job: Ball Turret Gunner
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Mary Harriet
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 68th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Annie Oakley
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 67th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: - Snafu
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 66th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: GI Gal
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 67th Bomb Squadron
- Aircraft Type: B-24 Liberator
- Nicknames: Scrappy II
- Unit: 44th Bomb Group 66th Bomb Squadron
Revisions
Barry Anderson, Army Air Forces Stations (Alabama, 1985) / Roger Freeman, Airfields of the Eighth Then And Now (London, 1978).