44th Bombardment group at Shipdham

History

The 44th Bombardment Group was stationed at Shipdham in Norfolk, England, from October 1942 until June 1945.

It was the first USAAF group equipped with the B-24 and in the United States it acted as a training unit for others scheduled to fly the Liberator.

The group was under strength until March 1943, as one of its squadrons was detached in the United States.

It had the highest missing in action losses (153 aircraft) of the Eighth Air Force B-24 groups and claimed more enemy fighters (330) than any of them.

The 44th received its first Distinguished Unit Citation for the raid on the naval base and shipbuilding centre at Kiel, Germany, on 14 May 1943.

The group then moved temporarily to North Africa that summer.

The attack on the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, on 1 August 1943 was among its missions.

The group commander, Colonel Leon W Johnson, was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading the attack and the unit was awarded its second Distinguished Unit Citation.

The 44th returned to Shipdham for nearly four weeks and then returned to North Africa again for 15 days.

This was the last detachment however and the group rejoined the growing bomber offensive from England.

Its total of 343 missions included 18 from North Africa and the 44th operated from England longer than any other B-24 group.

To see photographs and memorabilia relating to the 44th, visit our digital archive.

Shipdham Airfield (Station 115)

Shipdham was the first US heavy bomber base in Norfolk.

It was also continuous host to the B-24 Liberators longer than any other Eighth Air Force combat airfield in Britain.

All sites are now private property and you will need permission before you visit.

The library has information on some base contacts and with their permission can pass this onto you. The Library itself is unable to organise site visits.

The airfield is situated just to the east of Shipdham village.

The turning for the site is on the main Dereham to Watton Road, just before the King's Café (formerly the King's Head pub).

The airfield is about five or six miles south of East Dereham, which is on the main A47 road from Norwich.

Remaining buildings

Most of the tech site remains at Shipdham.

This includes the HQ building located on the right of the entrance to the airfield, the control tower, MT sheds (motor transport), bomb site store and the three original T2 hangars.

The hangars are now used as warehouses by Faber Parker.

The dispersed sites are to the south-east of the airfield.

Several huts remain on Site 2 (506th Bomb Squadron), while there are two buildings remaining on the communal site.

The 14th Combat Bombardment Wing (CBW) site is almost intact, along with the 464th sub depot site.

If you wish to visit the 14th CBW site you will need to do this by prior arrangement. Contact us for details.

Memorials

A granite memorial was dedicated to the 44th Bomb Group during a veterans' reunion in September 1983.

It stands in the churchyard of the parish church of All Saints, Shipdham.

Another marker was fixed to the side of the control tower. It was donated by Robert Lee Aston, a navigator with the 67th Bomb Squadron.

A third memorial (pictured below) is located outside the main entrance to Shipdham Flying Club's building and a small museum is housed within the club facilities.

The memorial to the 44th outside Shipdham Flying Club.

Museum

The 44th Bomb Group museum is at Shipdham Airfield.

It is a three-room complex incorporating two display rooms, plus a small library and study room.

There are photographic displays and a small collection of artefacts.

If you want to visit, you will need to contact Shipdham Flying Club - see their website for more information.

Bibliography and website

There are several good histories of the 44th Bomb Group available for use in the American Library.

Among those histories are:

Turner Publishing: 44th Bomb Group: The Flying Eightballs
Ron Mackay: The 44th Bomb Group in World War II: The 'Flying Eightballs' over Europe
Will Lundy: 44th Bomb Group Roll of Honor and Casualties

Information about the individual bases comes from George H Fox's 8th Air Force Remembered.

For more on the history of the airfield, see:

Martin Bowman: Bomber Bases of WW2: 2nd Air Division 8th Air Force USAAF 1942-1945
Michael Bowyer: Action Stations Revisited: the complete history of Britain's military airfields Volume 1 Eastern England
Ken Delve: The Military Airfields of Britain: East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk)
Roger Freeman: Airfields of the Eighth Then and Now

If you're interested in any of these books you can find and reserve them at the Norfolk Online Catalogue.