Issue 37 Spring 23 WEB - Flipbook - Page 93
Bomb Group
To continue their successful series of lectures, author,
historian, and battlefield guide Mike Peters returned to
the Army Flying Museum, Middle Wallop, Hampshire on
the evening of 27 March.
This latest lecture begins in February 1942, when a
reconnaissance party of United States Army Air Forces
officers arrived in England. Firmly wedded to the doctrine
of daylight precision bombing, they believed they could
help turn the tide of the war in Europe. In the months
that followed, they formed the Eighth Air Force - an
organization that grew at an astonishing rate and to
accommodate it, almost seventy airfields were hastily built
across the eastern counties of England.
Bomb Group follows the 381st's path from its formation
in the Texan desert, to its 297th and final bombing mission deep into the heart of Hitler's Third Reich. It is the
remarkable story of one group and the part it played in
the strategic bombing campaign of "The Mighty Eighth."
At the heart of the Eighth Air Force were its bombardment groups, each equipped with scores of heavily armed,
four-engine bombers. These Boeing B-17 Flying
Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators were soon
punching through the enemy's defences to bomb targets
vital to its war effort. They were crewed by thousands of
young American airmen, most of whom were volunteers.
This special event will also be live streamed on the
Museum’s website, as well as available to a limited
audience at the Museum itself. A live Q&A session will
take place following the talk with both live and online
audience members able to participate.
For further information or to book, visit www.armyflying.com
This lecture tells the story of just one "Bomb Group" - the
381st, which crossed the Atlantic in May 1943. Arriving
at RAF Ridgewell on the Essex-Suffolk border, its airmen
quickly found themselves thrown into the hazardous and
attritional air battle raging in the skies over Europe.
The talk will also be recorded for catch up viewing after
the event through the museum website.
Above, Bomb Group Airmen
Below, Image from Mike Peters
Conservation & Heritage Journal
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