A random selection of photos from a past few visits.
Thurleigh was one of 28 fields listed for use by the U.S. Eighth Air Force on 4 June 1942, tentatively designated station B-4, and was allocated on 10 August 1942. The RAF had found that the initial construction of Thurleigh was inadequate for the combat weight of B-24 bombers. After the departure of the RAF, Thurleigh's runways were lengthened, increased in thickness, and additional hardstands constructed to Class A standards so it could accommodate a USAAF heavy bomber group.
With the essential construction completed, the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy)[4] deployed to Thurleigh on 7 September 1942 from Wendover AAF Utah.[5] The 306th was assigned to the 40th Combat Wing also at Thurleigh. The group tail code was a "Triangle H".[6] Its operational squadrons were:[6]
367th Bombardment Squadron (GY)
368th Bombardment Squadron (BO)
369th Bombardment Squadron (WW)
423d Bombardment Squadron (RD)
The group flew the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft, and remained at Thurleigh until 1 December 1945.That was the longest tenure of any U.S. air group at a UK base.
At Thurleigh, the group operated primarily against strategic targets initially in occupied France and the Low Countries, then later in Germany. The group struck locomotive works at Lille, railway yards at Rouen, submarine pens at Bordeaux, shipbuilding yards at Vegesack, ball-bearing works at Schweinfurt, oil plants at Merseburg, marshalling yards at Stuttgart, a foundry at Hannover, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, aircraft factories at Leipzig, and numerous other targets on the Continent.
Thurleigh was one of 28 fields listed for use by the U.S. Eighth Air Force on 4 June 1942, tentatively designated station B-4, and was allocated on 10 August 1942. The RAF had found that the initial construction of Thurleigh was inadequate for the combat weight of B-24 bombers. After the departure of the RAF, Thurleigh's runways were lengthened, increased in thickness, and additional hardstands constructed to Class A standards so it could accommodate a USAAF heavy bomber group.
With the essential construction completed, the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy)[4] deployed to Thurleigh on 7 September 1942 from Wendover AAF Utah.[5] The 306th was assigned to the 40th Combat Wing also at Thurleigh. The group tail code was a "Triangle H".[6] Its operational squadrons were:[6]
367th Bombardment Squadron (GY)
368th Bombardment Squadron (BO)
369th Bombardment Squadron (WW)
423d Bombardment Squadron (RD)
The group flew the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft, and remained at Thurleigh until 1 December 1945.That was the longest tenure of any U.S. air group at a UK base.
At Thurleigh, the group operated primarily against strategic targets initially in occupied France and the Low Countries, then later in Germany. The group struck locomotive works at Lille, railway yards at Rouen, submarine pens at Bordeaux, shipbuilding yards at Vegesack, ball-bearing works at Schweinfurt, oil plants at Merseburg, marshalling yards at Stuttgart, a foundry at Hannover, a chemical plant at Ludwigshafen, aircraft factories at Leipzig, and numerous other targets on the Continent.
