RAF Polebrook
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Origins
RAF Polebrook was the first airfield to be completed out of a number in the Northamptonshire/Huntingdonshire area which were laid down for RAF Bomber Command during late 1940 and early 1941.
Like other airfields in the construction program at the time, Polebrook was built by George Wimpey & Co., Limited. The initial construction was of three runways, the concrete runway lengths were 08-26 at 1,280 yards, 14-32 at 1,200 yards and 02-20, 1,116 yards. In addition, thirty square hardstands most on the eastern side, were reached by very long access tracks.
The weapons store was unusual in that it lay within the perimeter track at the southern end. One Type J and two Type T-2 hangars were erected on the technical site outside the northern perimeter with the domestic sites dispersed in woodland beyond.
RAF Use 1941 - 1942
One of the first units to operate from the airfield was 90 Squadron, RAF, which carried out operational trials from June, 1941 to February 1942. Several of the hardstands and taxiways were still under construction when the squadron arrived.
90 Squadron was equipped with the American B-17C, called "Fortress 1" by the RAF. No. 90's Fortress's were used for very high-altitude attacks in daylight, the first operation from Polebrook being flown on July 8, 1941 when three Fortresses were dispatched to a target at Wilhelmshaven. Their last raid launched from Polebrook was on September 2, 1941.
While at Polebrook, No. 90 was then the sole operational squadron assigned to No. 8 Group and, before it was disbanded on February 12, 1942, its remaining aircraft and crews were only involved in experimentation and training. Although two Fortresses were missing from operations, the only loss resulting from a raid flown from Polebrook involved a badly battle-damaged aircraft that crash landed at a south-coast airfield.
The short runways at Polebrook were found to be quite unsatisfactory for the operation of the heavy-loaded, four-engine B-17. In 1942, the main runway was extended to 1,950 yards and the secondary runways to 1,400 yards each. In addition, additional hardstands were constructed, increasing the total number from 30 to 50. This enlargement resulted in the unusual situation that the ammunition storage area was inside the extended perimeter track. The living and communal sites were dispersed in woodlands north of the airfield. They provided accommodations to about 2,000 personnel.
USAAF Use 1942 - 1945
Combat operations by the USAAF began on August 17, 1942, when the 97th BG flew the first Eighth Air Force heavy bomber mission of the war, attacking the Rouen-Sotteville marshalling yards in France. The lead aircraft of the group, Butcher Shop, was piloted by the Group Commander, Colonel Frank A. Armstrong, and squadron commander Major Paul W. Tibbets (who later flew the Enola Gay to Hiroshima Japan on the first atomic bomb mission). In the leading aircraft of the second flight, Yankee Doodle, flew General Ira C. Eaker, the commanding general of the Eighth Air Force Bomber Command.
The 97th BG conducted a total of 14 missions from RAF Polebrook. The group sortied 247 aircraft, dropped 395 tons of bombs on Nazi-controlled territory, and lost 14 aircraft. On October 21, 1942, the 97th Bomb Group was transferred to the Twelfth Air Force in the Mediterranean theater and Polebrook was unoccupied until April 1943.
On April 15, 1943, the 351st Bomb Group arrived at RAF Polebrook with four Bombardment Squadrons, the 508th, 509th, 510th and 511th. This was the host USAAF unit until the end of the war in Europe. 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's first completed combat mission took place on May 14, 1943, when 18 B-17's targeted a German Luftwaffe airfield at Courtrai, Belgium.
RAF Polebrook was the site of a tragic aircrash on November 10,1943. Three former Luftwaffe aircraft---a Messerschmitt Bf-109F, a Junkers Ju-88A-4 and a Heinkel He-111H---now part of the RAF's 1426 Flight from RAF Collyweston arrived to provide a ground and flying demonstration. Coming in to land from opposite ends of the main runway, the Ju-88 and He-111 nearly collided head-on. The pilot of the He-111 went to full power in an attempt to avoid the collision but climbed too steeply and stalled. The former German bomber spun into the ground and exploded in flames, killing all seven aboard.
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.
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 and was awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations. 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 351st Bomb Group redeployed to the US in May and June 1945, with the air element leaving May 21 and the ground echelon sailing June 25. RAF Polebrook was subsequently returned to the RAF on August 28, 1945, and the base was placed on care and maintenance status.
Clark Gable at Polebrook
During much of 1943, Major Clark Gable was stationed at Polebrook to produce an air gunnery training film for gunner replacements, and flew five combat missions as an observer. Much of the film was shot by MGM cameramen who accompanied Gable, who had enlisted with him in the USAAF.
Major Gable's first mission was with the 303rd Bomb Group, RAF Molesworth, flying in the lead aircraft Eight Ball II to Antwerp, Belgium, on May 5, 1943. Missions to Villacoublay, France, on July 10 aboard the 91st Bomb Group's Delta Rebel No. 2, and Gelsenkirchen, Germany on August 12 followed. On Gable's mission to the Ruhr, the 351st B-17 Ain't I Gruesome came under heavy attack and was hit 15 times. Gable's fifth and last mission on September 23, 1943, was to Nantes, France with the Group Commander of the 351st, Colonel William Hatcher.
At the end of September, the filming was completed and Major Gable and his film crew returned to the United States. Over 50,000 ft of 16mm film was shot and in 1944 the film Combat America was shown in theaters that year.
Postwar Uses
Post-war the station came under No. 273 Maintenance Unit and the airfield was kept in useable state until October 1948 when it was closed.RAF Polebrook was kept in caretaker status until 1959, when much of the land was sold for various agricultural uses. However, No. 130(SM) Squadron was formed at what was retained for RAF use at Polebrook to operate three Thor missile emplacements which were constructed in the center of the former airfield area.
The Thor missiles were operational until August 1963, when the rockets were removed and the unit disbanded. The remnants of RAF Polebrook were sold back to the Rothchild estate in 1967 and the St Ives Sand and Gravel company broke up all concrete apart from the ends of runways 02 and 32 during the next decade.
Polebrook Today
Today, the airfield has few reminders of its wartime past. There is a memorial and some old buildings remaining. Also the massive J-style Hangar at Polebrook exists and is still in use for agricultural purposes. The owners are very American friendly and very respectful of the hangar's place in historyExternal links
- [97th Air Mobility Wing, USAF]
- [351st Bombardment Group Website]
- [United States Army Air Forces - Polebrook]
- [Historic Polebrook Photo Gallery]
See also
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