Hethel
HETHEL: Military aerodrome later private airfield
Note: Both of these pictures were obtained from Google Earth ©
Although the markings for the two runways can still be seen in the 1999 picture, were they still in use? In the 2017 picture, although just a few clues can be seen, to all intents and purposes these runways were now test tracks. I had expected to see a helipad marked out, but cannot find any visual evidence.
Military users: WW2: 8th USAAF 2nd Bombardment Wing 389th Bomb Group
564, 565, 566 & 567 Sqdns (Consolidated B-24 Liberators)
Post WW2: RAF Fighter Command
316 (Polish) Sqdn (North American P-51 Mustangs)
A MICHAEL T HOLDER GALLERY
We have Mike Holder, a great friend of this 'Guide', for investigating this location to see what might be available to illustrate the WW2 period and just a bit later.
These three items are all from the Mighty Eighth War Manual by Roger A Freeman. Note Col. James Stewart on the far right in Photo One, later becoming a major Hollywood film star.
These three photos are from Barefoot to Wings by Albert V Malone. In Photo Two he is on the far right. Photo Three shows a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt escort in close formation.
There is something of interest here in Photo Three. Perhaps the pilot of the Thunderbolt moved in close for the photo? But, it seems, far too often fighter escorts did stay close to the bombers, making them far less effective in defending them should the Luftwaffe attack. There is an account I found stating that by far the very best fighter escort squadron was the 'Red Tails' flying P-51 Mustangs from North Africa during the invasion of southern Italy.
A one time during this campaign, the 'Red Tails' could not land at their allotted airfield so diverted to a USAAF bomber base. The people there were astonished, (appalled?), to discover that all the pilots were 'black' Americans. I once saw an interview with one of these black pilots. They were trained at Tuskegee air base in Alabama, and confirmed that they were very good indeed, mainly because they were trained and trained and trained before somebody decided to put them on operations.
That decision may well have been influenced by Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the President, who took some interest in what was going on at Tuskegee. Indeed, she made at least one visit and went flying with a 'black' pilot in a Piper J-3 Cub. There is a TV movie made in 1995 about the Tuskegee Airmen.
These three items are also from the Mighty Eighth War Manual by Roger A Freeman. Photo Four is of a navigators breifing.
The article in two parts is from Action Stations 1 by Michael J F Bowyer.
The first two items are from the Mighty Eighth War Manual by Roger A Freeman. The picture of the Cletrac tractor shows that the USAAF bases in England were very much self-contained facilities and in effect small townships. All the equipment and supplies were shipped in from the U.S.A. including it appears Coca Cola and American ice cream. The last two pictures are from the American Air Museum.
Note: The aerial photo also shows the domestic site.
Operated by: 1990: Lotus Cars Ltd (Before and beyond)
Location: 3nm ESE of Wymondham, 5nm SW of Norwich
Period of operation: Military: 1942 to 1947 Civil: ? to -
Note: This map is reproduced with the kind permission of Pooleys Flight Equipment Ltd. Coyright Robert Pooley 2014.
Runways: WW2: 06/24 1829x46 hard 12/30 1280x46 hard
17/35 1280x46 hard
1990: 06/24 1112 hard 17/35 777 hard
1993: 06/24 800 hard 17/35 777 hard
(Although most unusually no runway widths were given in this 1990 Flight Guide it does appear that a fairly narrow strip to the eastern side of these two runways could have been used. This is not as haphazard as it seems; visiting pilots flying in with classic tail-dragger aircraft were undoubtably invited and would have been briefed).
NOTES: Just like nearby HARDWICK, this was a pretty big base with exactly the same number it appears, (2972), of USAAF personnel in late 1944. This does of course beg the question if these figures are really accurate or simply a guesstimate of the actual number of people involved?
SPOTTERS NOTES
In 1977 the Piper PA-31 Navajo 300 G-AZME, Enstrom F-28A G-BAAU and Piper PA-31 Navajo Chieftain 350 all of Group Lotus Car Companies were based here.
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