RAF Polebrook (AAF-110) - 351st Bomb Group
This is footage of RAF Polebrook (AAF-110) and the 351st Bomb Group from the personal film collection of Robert Wiygul Burns, Group Commander Oct. 12, 1944 - Mar. 30, 1945. The footage was shot between April, 1943 and May, 1945.
RAF Polebrook was the location of the US Army Air Force’s 94th Bombardment Wing headquarters, and the headquarters (and operating base) of its subordinate unit, the 351st Bombardment Group. The 351st BG’s distinctive aircraft marking was the triangle-J insignia (clearly visible on the scenes of airplanes taking off and landing). The 94th Bomb Wing was subordinate to the USAAF 1st Air Division, located at Brampton Grange in Cambridgeshire. The 1st Air Division was one of three air divisions of the 8th Army Air Force (The “Mighty Eighth”, as it came to be known), located at High Wycombe, UK.
The 351st Bomb Group had four Bomb Squadrons: the 508th, 509th, 510th, and 511th.
Brigadier General Julius K. Lacey was commander of the 94th BW from 12 Dec 1943 to June 1945, when Col. Eugene A. Romig took command
The 351st BG had four commanders during WWII:
Col. William A. Hatcher Jr. Nov. 24, 1942 - Dec. 31, 1943 (when he was shot down and became a POW in Germany for the remainder of the war)
Col. Eugene A. Romig Jan. 3, 1944 - Oct. 12, 1944
Col. Robert W. Burns Oct. 12, 1944 - Mar. 30, 1945 (who shot the film)
Col. Merlin I. Carter Mar. 31, 1945 - Aug. 28, 1945
Lt. Col. James T. Stewart was commander of the 508th Bomb Squadron May 14, 1943 - Aug. 28, 1945. Lt. Col. Stewart’s squadron was where Clark Gable and his film crew were assigned when they joined the 351st BG in 1943 to shoot film footage for the movie Combat America. They had returned to the United States, I believe, when this film was shot.
1st Lieutenant Ruth J. Blackburn, a US Army nurse (who went on to marry my grandfather and become my grandmother) was stationed at:
Lilford Hall Manor House, near Polebrook, from early 1943 until June 1943 (this was where she met my grandfather)
Abergavenny, Wales, from June 1943 to October 1944
Bath, U.K., from Oct 1944 to March 1945
1:15
The man with the thick head of graying hair deplaning from a B-17 is Brigadier General Julius K. Lacey, commander of the 94th Bomb Wing, the parent organization of the 351st BG. Gen. Lacey retired as a USAF Major General. Did Gen. Lacey get out of the plane first seen taxiing to its shut-down location at 0:36? Easy to assume, but possibly not.
1:54
As he walks toward the camera, the stars on Gen. Lacey’s shoulders, indicating his rank as a Brigadier General, are clearly visible.
5:57
The grinning man with the flight cap set well back on his head is Lt. Col. James T. Stewart (not the American movie actor), who was commander of the 508th Bomb Squadron. Lt. Col. Stewart eventually retired as a USAF Lieutenant General.
6:35
The man doffing his cap for the camera is Lt. Col. Elzia LeDoux.
7:22
351st Lt. Col. Elzia LeDoux emerges from the 351st group HQ building
7:56
This man is wearing the Christian cross insignia of an Army chaplain, but I can find no reference as to who he is.
8:40
1/Lt Ruth Blackburn (my grandmother) and 1/Lt Bert Shannon (her closest friend), Army nurses. Most likely this film was taken at her medical station in Abergavenny, Wales, where she was posted from June 1943 to October 1944. My grandfather made flying trips there from Polebrook to visit my grandmother using a Piper Cub airplane the Bomb Gp. had somehow acquired. This film likely was shot during one such visit. My grandmother was subsequently posted to a medical station in Bath, U.K., from Oct 1944 to March 1945, but I believe (cannot be sure though) that was probably after these films were taken. After the war Lt Shannon married a Spokane WA dentist named Gates, and had two sons, Charles and Kenneth. Lt. Blackburn married Col. Burns and had a son, Andrew, and two daughters, Susan and Rebecca. Ruth died in 2006.
8:56
Lt. Blackburn (my grandmother) again, at either Abergavenny or Bath.
9:40
Col. Robert W. Burns (my grandfather) and my mother, Ruth Blackburn, at either Abergavenny or Bath.
10:57
Around the time I believe this was filmed (Oct ’44), my grandfather became C.O. of the 351st BG, succeeding Col. Romig, who moved up to command the 94th Bomb Wing. This appears to me to be him entering the base, and then the 351st BG HQ as the new commander.
This film was digitized by the Texas Archive of the Moving Image.
RAF Polebrook / Station 110 - 1941 to 1968 : a history
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RAF Polebrook opened in 1941 and after a brief residence by No 90 Squadron was turned over for USAAF use - first with the 97th Bomb Group and later the 351st Bomb Group.
Unwanted at the end of the war Polebrook opened briefly as a Thor Missile site before finally closing for good in 1968
Today RAF Polebrook has almost vanished from the landscape
This one especially for my good friend Larry Lawson (Indian River Hauntings)
Credit
Pathe - First Stratosphere Raid By Flying Fortresses -1941
Music Credits
Artie Shaw - Frenesi
Artie Shaw - Begin the Beguine
Glenn Miller & The Army Aircorps Orchestra - The St. Louis Blues March
Glenn Miller - In the Mood
Glenn Miller - Moonlight Serenade
Memorial service for crew of RAF Flying Fortress AN534, 90 Squadron, Polebrook
Many years after Boeing AN534 crashed in a field in England during World War II, the long-misunderstood circumstances of the flight finally became known thanks in large part to historian Steve Vincent, and a memorial service was held in 2007, near the site of the crash, to properly honour the memory of all aboard that day, July 28th, 1941.
Flight Sgt. Reginald G. Bradley, RAFVR
Flight Sgt. Hubert C G Brook, RAFVR
Sgt. Robert Henderson, RAFVR
1st Lt. Laird W Hendricks, USAAC
Flight Sgt. Ronald C A Muir, RAF
Sgt. Philip S Pugh, RAFVR
Sgt. Roy Smith, RAFVR
Flight Sgt. Bradley was my grandfather. I am humbled by the depth of his service to the Royal Air Force, and ultimately his sacrifice for his country.
Polebrook AAF 351st Bomb Group
A look at the home of the 351st Bomb Group, during the time frame my Dad was there. Some of my photos married with the help of some home movie footage. My Dad was assigned to the 510th Squadron as an aerial gunner, surviving 35 Missions. I visited the base in 2008 and have more footage to put together.
351st BG Association: 351st.org
My website: kratzmc.com
Polebrook airfield..351st bomb group...
10.20 mins .Main entrance to airfield..2 mins start of main runway..pilots view of coming in to land..
Raf kingscliff not polebrook
Raf kingscliff not polebrook i kept saying the wrong name all day tut.
now a local nature walling /rambling area with a lot the site still inprivate hands .was used as raf base then usaf bomber and fighter base with up to 3/4 nations flying from there.
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351st Bomb Group, Polebrook, 1943
351st Bombardment Group (Heavy)
On April 15, 1943, the 351st Bomb Group arrived at RAF Polebrook. It was assigned to the 94th Combat Wing, also at Polebrook. The group tail code was a Triangle J. It's operational squadrons were:
508th Bomb Squadron (YB)
509th Bomb Squadron (RQ)
510th Bomb Squadron (TU)
511th Bomb Squadron (DS)
Boeing B-17G-85-BO Flying Fortress, Serial 43-38465 of the 510th Bomb Squadron. This aircraft survived the war and returned to USA on 8 June 1945
Douglas-Long Beach B-17G-30-DL Flying Fortress Serial 43-38116 of the 509th Bomb Squadron.The 351st's first completed combat mission took place on May 14, 1943, when 18 B-17's targeted a German Luftwaffe airfield at Kortrijk, Belgium. As the war progressed, the 351st operated primarily against strategic objectives in Germany, striking such targets as ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt, communications at Mayen, marshalling yards at Koblenz, a locomotive and tank factory at Hannover, industries at Berlin, bridges at Cologne, an armaments factory at Mannheim, and oil refineries at Hamburg.
The group also struck harbor facilities, submarine installations, airfields, V-weapon sites, and power plants in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Norway.
The 351st Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for performance of 9 October 1943 when an aircraft factory in Germany was accurately bombed in spite of heavy flak and pressing enemy interceptors. It received another DUC for its part in the successful attack of 11 January 1944 on aircraft factories in central Germany. The group participated in the intensive air campaign against the German aircraft industry during Big Week, 20-25 Feb 1944.
In addition to its strategic missions, the group often operated in support of ground forces and attacked interdictory targets. Bombed in support of the Battle of Normandy in June 1944 and the St Lo breakthrough in July. The group hit enemy positions to cover the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September 1944. Struck front-line positions, communications, and airfields to help stop the German counteroffensive in the Battle of the Bulge, Dec 1944-Jan 1945. Flew missions in support of Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.
In 1944 Polebrook also became the headquarters of the 94th Combat Wing, which controlled the 351st, the 457th Bomb Group at RAF Glatton and the 401st Bomb Group at RAF Deenethorpe.
The 351st conducted routine 8th Air Force missions from RAF Polebrook until the end of the war. The unit completed 311 combat missions from Polebrook. The 351st lost 175 B-17's and their crews. The gunners in the Group fired off 2,776,028 rounds of ammunition and were credited with destroying 303 enemy aircraft. The 509th Bomb Squadron completed 54 consecutive missions without losses between June 1943 to January 1944.
The unit returned to the US soon after V-E Day with the air element leaving May 21 and the ground echelon sailing June 25. Reassigned to Sioux Falls AAF, South Dakota during August 1945. the 391st Bomb Group was inactivated on 28 August 1945.
RAF Polebrook was subsequently returned to the RAF on August 28, 1945, and the base was placed on care and maintenance status.
[edit] Medal of Honor
Two members of the 351st, Lt. Walter E. Truemper and S/Sgt. Archibald Mathies, were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. On a mission to Leipzig, Germany, February 20, 1944 their B-17 Ten Horsepower was attacked by German fighters. The co-pilot was killed and pilot Lt. Clarence Nelson was badly wounded. Truemper and Mathies flew the badly damaged B-17 back to England where the remainder of the crew bailed out, then attempted to land the plane to save the life of the unconscious pilot. On their third attempt Ten Horsepower crashed on final approach and all three airmen were killed.
Legacy
During the Cold War, the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command 351st Strategic Missile Wing stood alert with Minuteman I and later, Minuteman II ICBMs starting in 1963 at Whiteman AFB Missouri. The wing was bestowed the lineage, honors and history of the World War II USAAF 351st Bomb Wing upon activation.
The 351st SMW won the SAC missile combat competitions and Blanchard Trophy in 1967, 1971, and 1977. Named as SAC's best Minuteman wing in 1972. It stood down from alert and was deactivated in 1995.
WW2 Grafton Underwood USAAF Air Base - UK B-17 Bomber with a ghostly sound caught on video.
With the premiere of the Film Documentary The Cold Blue it inspired me to produce this documentary on this old Air Base.
The Link to the Trailer:
Just in time before this huge American Air force Base is demolished. We were unaware of instructions to demolish this once important WW2 American Air force Base when we filmed this location which is very sad.
Grafton Underwood was built in 1941 by George Wimpey and Co. Ltd. It was the first airfield in England to receive an Eighth Air Force flying unit, when in May 1942 personnel of the 15th Bomb Squadron took up residence. As a satellite airfield for Polebrook, the airfield was then home to two squadrons of the 97th Bomb Group. The airfield became home to succession of Bomb Groups, including the 305th, 96th, and 384th, all equipped with B-17s. The RAF's No. 236 Maintenance Unit occupied the airfield after the war, before being declared surplus to requirements in 1959. A memorial to the crews that flew from the airfield was erected in 1977.
The 384th Bomb Group flew B-17s from Grafton Underwood, Northamptonshire, between May 1943 and June 1945. They were engaged in daylight bombing missions over Germany as part of the Allies' efforts to destroy the effectiveness of the Luftwaffe by bombing aircraft assembly plants, ground strafing aircraft and hitting associated industrial sites. The Group were awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations. The first was awarded to the 1st Bomb Division as a whole for flying without fighter protection to bomb aircraft factories at Oschersleben on 11 January 1944. The second was for bravery under fire when leading the 41st Wing on a mission to bomb an aircraft factory and airfield at Oberpfafenhafen, southern Germany, on 24 April 1944.
Kim Discovering History
Sky High asp -
Members of the East Midlands Drone Seekers
Filmed Using:
DJI Mavic 2 Pro in Auto everything
Osmo Pocket in Auto mode
Editor: Cyber Link Power Director 17
Raf Glatton Memorial Service 2010
Glatton Airfield was first used by the USAAF (United States Army Air Force) 457th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses and operated as part of the 94th Combat Bombardment Wing with the 401st (Deenethorpe) and 351st (Polebrook) Bomb Groups of the 1st Bombardment Division. Its tail code was Triangle U.
The 457th Bomb Group consisted of 4 operational squadrons:
· 748th Bombardment Squadron
· 749th Bombardment Squadron
· 750th Bombardment Squadron
· 751st Bombardment Squadron
The 457th Bomb Group flew its first mission on 21 February 1944 during Big Week, taking part in the concentrated attacks of heavy bombers on the German aircraft industry. Until June 1944, the Group engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic targets, such as ball-bearing plants, aircraft factories, and oil refineries in Germany.
To Hell and Back: The 351st Bomb Group
Documentary about the 351st Bomb Group stationed in Polebrook, England 1943-1945.
Polebrook airfield communial areas 351stBG.
381st Bombardment Group (Heavy)
My tribute to the 381st Bombardment Group (H) of the 8th Air Force, Ridgewell, England, Station 167...the old Triangle L. This video tribute features actual color photos of the 381st from World War II as well as a still-flying B-17G, Yankee Lady, with 381st Bomb Group markings.
Film 01: P-51s at Station 367: King's Cliffe
A film showing P-51s of the 20th Fighter Group taxiing and taking off from Station 367, King's Cliffe, in late 1944/45.
20thfightergroup.com
facebook.com/groups/248605168641868/
457th Bomb Group - Raf Glatton - Reunion Memorial Service 2010
Glatton Airfield was first used by the USAAF (United States Army Air Force) 457th Bombardment Group (Heavy). The Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses and operated as part of the 94th Combat Bombardment Wing with the 401st (Deenethorpe) and 351st (Polebrook) Bomb Groups of the 1st Bombardment Division. Its tail code was Triangle U.
The 457th Bomb Group consisted of 4 operational squadr748th · 749th Bombardment Squadron
· 750th Bombardment Squadron
· 751st Bombardment Squadron
The 457th Bomb Group flew its first mission on 21 February 1944 during Big Week, taking part in the concentrated attacks of heavy bombers on the German aircraft industry. Until June 1944, the Group engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic targets, such as ball-bearing plants, aircraft factories, and oil refineries in Germany.
353rd Fighter Group - The Last Hurrah
22nd August 2015
353rd Fighter Group - The Last Hurrah
Tribute to 447th Bomb Group
This was a short compilation of interviews and footage gathered at various re-unions of the 447th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force formed during WWII. My father was part of the group for his service as a Crash and Rescue Chief on a base in England during the war. These are the insights of some of his comrades. I documented a number of detailed experiences from a number of men in the group. They were too long and detailed to fit for this tribute. Someday .....
Combat America WW2 - 351st Bombardment Group
Follows the Flying Fortress crews of the 351st Bombardment Group from the end of their training at a Colorado training field to actual combat over Germany. Narrated by Clark Gable.
A United States B-17 bomber in flight over the Royal Air Force Base Polebrook in ...HD Stock Footage
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A United States B-17 bomber in flight over the Royal Air Force Base Polebrook in England.
A United States B-17 bomber taxis and takes off from the Royal Air Force Base Polebrook in England. View over wing of the B-17 in flight. The B-17 backs away to the right, levels off, flies right to left and bombs away to, and down under camera plane. Aerial view of the rugged terrain with low hazy clouds. Propellers spinning in the foreground. The B-17 in flight during the late evening hours. Location: Northamptonshire England. Date: June 1943.
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35 Missions 2 wmv
This is part of a documentary that my students and I produced about a US bomber crew during WWII. We researched the topic, interviewed a historian and three bomber crew members, shot footage at an air museum, and poured through letters, diaries and photographs loaned by the daughter of one of the crew members. Then we wrote the script, chose music, directed actors, and edited the final production with FinalCut Pro. This clip begins with a letter from one of the crew members' mothers, and then moves into firsthand descriptions of air battles, discussion of wartime strategies and technologies, and documents the personal relationships among the crew under intense pressure.