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RAF Deenethorpe
RAF Deenethorpe is situated 9 miles North East of Kettering in Northamptonshire. The base opened in 1943. It was known as USAAF Station: 128 when home to the bombers of 612, 613, 614, 615 Squadrons of the 401st Bomb Group who flew 255 combat missions from here losing 95 B-17s between December 1943 and June 1945. For a year from June 1945 the site was used as No. 11 Recruitment Centre by the RAF. It was also used for many years by the Royal Observer Corps.
The airfield closed in 1946 and today the site is used for agriculture.
Squadrons stationed at Deenethorpe, Station 128.
- 612th Bomb Squadron. 401st Bomb Group
- 613th Bomb Squadron. 401st Bomb Group
- 614th Bomb Squadron. 401st Bomb Group
- 615th Bomb Squadron. 401st Bomb Group
Support Units at Station 128:
- 450th Sub Depot
- 78th Station Complement
- 379th Service Squadron
- 861st Chemical Company
- 1597th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Company
- 1199th Military Police Company - Photo
- 1209th Quartermaster Service Group
- 2966th Finance Detachment
- 860th Chemical Company
- 18th Weather Detachment
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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Those known to have served at RAF Deenethorpe during the Second World War 1939-1945. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
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The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
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Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
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Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted
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Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
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Want to know more about RAF Deenethorpe? There are:0 items tagged RAF Deenethorpe available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Sergeant Everett Wayne Stanley 613th Bomb Squadron 401st Bomb Group My grandfather was the ball turret gunner on a B-17G. On April 29, 1944, his aircraft was shot down over Holland after bombing the railway yards in Berlin. All of the crew made it safely out of the aircraft. All of the crew were captured by German forces with the exception of one man.
This man, Sgt. Watkins, was able to evade capture with the help of members of the Dutch Resistance and made it back to England.
The rest of the crew were taken to Dulag Luft for interrogation. All of the enlisted crew members were sent to Stalag Luft 4. My grandfather however was sent to Stalag Luft 3 with all of the officers. They arrived a little more than a month after "The Great Escape".
All of the crew members survived thier ordeal in the german prison camps and were later reunited after they were liberated by Gen. George Patton's 3rd Army.
Sadly, my grandfather passed away from cancer. He never spoke of his experiences during the war. After much research, I now understand why. God bless all that served and let us never forget thier sacrifice.
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T/Sgt. Joseph Luke Burns 613th Bomb Squadron 401st Bomb Group My father served as a B-17 Flying Fortress flight engineer/top turret gunner during the war. On 1 December 1943, his bomber took part in a raid on Solingen in Germany's industrial Ruhr region. During the return flight, he and some crew-mates bailed out over Belgium after their bomber was hit by flak. For a short time, they were able to evade capture thanks to help given them by heroic members of the Belgian Resistance. Eventually, though, they were taken prisoner and spent the rest of the war in confinement.
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Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
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Bomber Bases of World War 2, Airfields of 1st Air Division (USAAF) Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire Martin Bowman
Covers the units who flew the legendary B-17 Flying Fortress. This book looks at the history and personalities associated with each base, what remains and explores the favourite local wartime haunts where aircrew and ground crew would have gone. It covers museums and places that are relevant.
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