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RAF Kingscliffe
RAF Kingscliffe is situated 12 miles west of Peterborough in Northamptonshire. Construction work on King's Cliffe commenced in 1940 and the base opened in October 1941.
Kingscliffe was utilized as a satellite to Wittering and the first R.A.F. squadron, 133 Fighter Squadron moved in with Spitfire Vb's on September 29th 1941. This unit was the third "Eagle Squadron" formed in the Fighter Command from American volunteers. 266 (Rhodesian) Squadron arrived in October 1941. The base was also home to 485 (New Zealand) Squadron and later 93 Squadron.
Kingscliffe became USAAF Station 367 in January 1943, it was home to the 20th Fighter Group of the USAAF 8th Airforce who flew P38 Lightnings and later P51 Mustangs on bomber escort duties.
The Airfield closed in 1959 and today is used for agriculture.
8th September 1942 Prepared for overseas
13th November 1942 To North Africa
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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Those known to have served at RAF Kingscliffe 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
Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. |
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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 Kingscliffe? There are:2 items tagged RAF Kingscliffe 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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T/Sgt Orville Dean Hooper 77th Fighter Squadron My dad was stationed at Kings Cliffe during the War. He maintained the planes and painted nose art. He was at Glen Miller's final concert, it was apparently a really great concert. He spent much of his off time in Peterborough at a fish & chips shop run by Catherine Cullip. During the course of the war he and Catherine grew close and he fathered her daughter, named Eileen, even though he was married and had a child at home.
I took him back to Kings Cliffe in 2008 to see how it looked and get his perspective on the War. He remembered clearly the layout of the base and described many of the daily activities during the war. One of his most vivid memories was of the bombers forming up before heading to Germany. He recalled many incidents of planes getting too close to others in the formation and crashing before even leaving their home base area. He clearly described the D-Day prep he performed, all night long, on the fighters, painting the stripes on the wings to help identify the friendlies. Dad died June 4, 2008.
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Capt. Harold O Binkley 20th Fighter Group Captain Harold O Binkley flew P51 Mustangs and later Lockheed P38 Lightning aircraft from Station 367 King's Cliffe during the second world war. He is related to me, a cousin, and during his service he shot down two German Aircraft and was reprimanded for flying too low and snagging tree branches in his undercarriage.
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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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