Bomb Group: The Eighth Air Force's 381st and The Allied Air Offensive Over Europe

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They were crewed by thousands of young American airmen, most of whom were volunteers. This book tells the story of just one "Bomb Group" - the 381st, which crossed the Atlantic in May 1943. If you could give a piece of advice to your younger self, either as a student or when you first started out as a writer, what would it be? There would be so many – Eric “Winkle” Brown, Winston Churchill, Douglas Bader, to name but a few. If it had to be only one, I would have to say James Good Brown. Not a household name, but one I’ve come to respect and admire. As chaplain of the 381st Bomb Group (and author of The Mighty Men of the 381st: Heroes All) he has become something of a hero of mine. Bomb Group leans heavily on his book, which was largely written as a diary during the Second World War. Evocative, inspiring and touching in equal measure, the character of the man shines through in his words. In the months that followed, they formed the Eighth Air Force - an organization that grew at an astonishing rate.

It could accommodate around 3,000 people at any one time—we don’t know exactly how many were based at Ridgewell throughout its entire existence,” he said. “It is stated in Roger Freeman’s Airfields of the Eighth; Then and Now that public roads use more old taxiways at Ridgewell than on any other Eighth airfield.”FACTS ARE THAT GERMAN PRODUCTION NUMBERS WENT UP PROGRESSIVELY IN EVERY MILITARY CATEGORY, UNTIL 1945, WHEN MILITARY INDUSTRIES WERE OVERRUN BY ALLIED AND RUSSIAN GROUND FORCES, THIS INCLUDED BALL BERINGS BY THE WAY, THE 8TH’S MOST PREFERRED & BLODDIEST TARGET. AIR CREW LOSSES WERE UNSUPPORTABLE AT THE END OF THE DAY. Bingley noted that the landlords, Robert and Vanda Root, “have been unstinting in their support for the museum.” Paul has described writing Bomb Group as “penance” for not knowing he lived just nine miles from the former Eighth Air Force base at Ridgewell – the Essex home of the 381st Bomb Group. For a self-confessed aviation geek, it was an awkward discovery.

They really are walking in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfathers.” Sarah Allen, Ridgewell Airfield Commemorative Museum volunteer Paul’s first book, US Air Force Bases in the UK, retraced the concrete paths of 50 of the UK’s past and present American air force bases. The book examines how the so-called “special relationship” has helped shape the land we see today. In 2021, we were sent an entire collection of uniforms, medals, and personal items from the U.S. by the son of a 381st tailgunner,” he said. “His father survived 30 missions before being transferred to the Pacific, which he also survived. It’s an awesome collection, which includes his secret combat diary, sunglasses, and ‘short snorter.’” While flight crews were rotated home after a set number of missions—at first it was 25, then it was raised to 35 missions—there was no such rule for ground crews, Madar said, although as the war in Europe was starting to wind down, duty schedules relaxed a bit. B-17 Stage Door Canteen christening by Mary Churchill. [Courtesy: Ridgewell Airfield Commemorative Museum] An intimate history of a B17 Bomb Group at the heart of the US Eighth Air Force's daylight bombing offensive against Hitler's Germany.

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The 381st Bombardment Group formed up at an airfield in Texas, trained, and then crossed the Atlantic to England in May 1943. They arrived at RAF Ridgewell, one of seventy air bases hosting units of the United States’ Eighth Air Force, America’s primary bomber force for the war over Northwest Europe. US military strategists were convinced that daylight precision bombing was the key to destroying Nazi Germany’s war industries and set about to prove it. The aircrews of the 381st were soon in the skies over Europe, braving enemy fighters and flak to deliver their payloads against factories, railroad yards and other vital targets. They flew the B-17 Flying Fortress; by the war’s end the 381st flew 297 missions over Germany. During the course of researching Bomb Group, I discovered that Ridgewell was the temporary home of 90 Squadron – an RAF Short Stirling unit. The interesting thing about 90 Squadron is that it had previously been the first outfit to take the B-17 Flying Fortress over Germany. During the summer of 1941, 20 B-17s were transferred to the British as part of the US Lend-Lease programme. The RAF reactivated a dormant 90 Squadron to operate the bombers. I’m now working on a project to tell the stories of those 20 B-17s and the crews who flew them. The men of RAF Bomber Command were only given their own memorial 10 years ago,” he said. “Winston Churchill didn’t help by failing to mention them in his victory speech, as he had done with ‘The Few.’ Museums like Ridgewell help to tell the story of those bomber boys who answered the call of duty—most of them volunteering, before serving thousands and thousands of miles away from their friends and families,” he said. He’d been sending his money home and he bought his parents a house. They had a room waiting for him.” Don Madar, nephew of a Ridgewell ground crew member In February 1942, 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. To accommodate it, almost seventy airfields were hastily built across the eastern counties of England.

If you could meet any figure from history, who would it be and why? Also, if you could witness any event throughout history, what would it be? The Ridgewell Airfield Commemorative Museum was created in 2000 as a means to protect and preserve the legacy of the men who lived, worked, and flew from Ridgewell. 532nd Bomb Squadron crew members. [Courtesy: Ridgewell Airfield Commemorative Museum] According to Bingley, while Americans view all airmen as heroes, the men in the RAF Bomber Command were not seen in the same light, as the attention was more focused on the pilots who flew fighters. In February 1942, a reconnaissance party of United States Army Air Force 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. To accommodate it, almost seventy airfields were hastily built across the eastern counties of England. The authors do a good job using the diaries, interviews, and books written by group members to convey a vivid--sometimes too vivid--picture of war at its most elemental." --The Journal of the Air Force Historical FoundationIf I could witness any historical event it would have to be aviation-related. The Eighth Air Force’s 760th mission on Christmas Eve, 1944, would certainly have been a spectacle. Imagine clear skies extending all the way into Europe. Now visualise over 2,000 heavy bombers escorted by more than 800 fighters, all winging their way towards western Germany to strike at its airfields and communication centres. This “maximum effort” raid proved to be the largest air strike operation of the Second World War. Every American bomb group and all but two of its fighter groups took part. Despite the clear weather over Europe, it wasn’t the case in England. When the groups returned, bad weather over their home bases forced many bombers to divert. In the case of the 381st Bomb Group, its base at Ridgewell was open. The Essex airfield subsequently saw the arrival of more than 125 B-17 Flying Fortresses. With another 700 mouths to feed, Christmas turkey for the 381st’s men had to be supplemented by plates of Spam. After such a long and challenging day, I can just imagine there was many a glum face at Ridgewell. In June of 1943, the USAAF’s 381st Bombardment Group, which was assigned to the 8th Air Force, arrived from Pueblo, Colorado. The group flew Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, with tails sporting the Triangle-L insignia. The 381st was made up of several squadrons, each with its distinctive fuselage code: the 532nd (VE), the 533rd (VP), 534th (GD), and 535th (MS). In the fall of 2020, I was researching a story about Texas Raiders, the B-17 owned by the Commemorative Air Force Gulf Coast Wing. The aircraft, which is still airworthy, is painted in the colors of the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) 381st Bomb Group. All I knew about the 381st is that it had been based at Ridgewell Airfield in England during World War II.