RAF Ridgewell

52.0460, 0.5566 — view on OpenStreetMap ↗

About

RAF Ridgewell opened in Essex in December 1942 and was used briefly by RAF Bomber Command — No. 90 Squadron flying Short Stirlings — before being handed to the United States Army Air Forces as Station 167. It became the home of the 381st Bombardment Group, whose Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses flew on the Eighth Air Force’s daylight campaign until 1945. After the war it was used for bomb storage and then largely cleared; a gliding club now flies from the site, where a memorial museum recalls both No. 90 Squadron and the 381st.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including RAF Ridgewell — Wikipedia and Ridgewell — Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Photographs

Aerial photograph of RAF Ridgewell, the bomb dump is to the right of the airfield, 29 February 1944. Many B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 381st Bombardment Group are visible in the photo, parked on hardstands around the perimeter track. Photograph taken by 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, sortie number US/7PH/GP/LOC188. English Heritage (USAAF Photography)
ⓘ licence & creditUnited States Army Air Forces / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAF_Ridgewell_-_29_Feb1944_Airphoto.jpgView source & full licence →
U.S. Army Air Force Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress bombers of the 381st Training Group from RAF Ridgewell, en route to a target over Nazi-occupied Europe. The aircraft marked "VE" belong to the 532nd Bomb Squadron, the ones marked "MS" to the 535th BS. In front is B-17G-20-BO 42-31443 ("Friday the 13th"). This aircraft was shot down by German fighters on mission to Oschersleben on 22 February 1944. The plane was shot down by fighters near Munster in Germany on 22 February 1944 and crashed near Bielefeld. , four of the crew became POWs, six were killed (MACR 2930).
ⓘ licence & creditUSAAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:B-17Gs_381st_BG_en_route_to_target_c1944.jpgView source & full licence →
"Chug-A-Lug IV" B-17G-45-BO s/n 42-97330 535th BS, 381st BG, 8th AF Lost on the November 6,1944 mission to Hamburg,Germany. MACR 10154 Photo taken at: RAF Ridgewell (USAAF Station 167), England
ⓘ licence & creditUnited States Army Air Forces / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:535th_Bombardment_Squadron_-_B-17_Flying_Fortress.jpgView source & full licence →
Boeing B-17G-55-BO Fortress 42-102664 "Happy Bottom" with Edward G Robinson at Ridgewell Airfield, England, 1944.
ⓘ licence & creditassumed USAAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:391bg-happybottom.jpgView source & full licence →
B-17s of the 381st Bomb Group, Ridgewell Airfield, England, enroute to targets over Nazi-occupied territory.
ⓘ licence & creditassumed USAAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:381bg-ridgewell-b-17gs.jpgView source & full licence →

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