This was to prove a busy year for Alconbury with a significant number of unit changeovers. January saw the first 8th Air Force attacks on Germany by Liberators and Fortresses and on the 6th the 325th (NV) and 327th (UX) Bomb Squadrons of the B-17 equipped 92nd Bombardment Group (B), arrived from Bovingdon in Hertfordshire. The Groups 326th (JW) and 407th (PY) Bomb Squadrons arriving later. The crews of the 92nd had been the first to fly the Atlantic non-stop, a feat for which the Group received a special commendation. The 92nd Bomb Group's main role while at Alconbury was as a Combat Crew Replacement Unit (CCRU), but this did not preclude them from operations.
April saw the arrival of the B-17s of the 95th Bombardment Group [B] for a two month stay. On the 13th of May the group flew its first operational sortie to bomb St Omer airfield. Regrettably though the 95th's deployment to Alconbury was not to be a happy one for on the evening of the 27th of May the accidental detonation of a 500lb bomb being loaded onto B-17 42-29685 of the 412th Bomb Squadron destroyed 4 aircraft and damaged 11 others, not to mention killing some 18 plus personnel and injuring 21 more.
May brought with it the successful conclusion of the Allied campaign in North Africa and on the 8th of May 12 secret YB-40 experimental Flying Fortress Gunship arrived at Alconbury. These aircraft, equipped with extra crew armour, an additional mid-upper gun turret and carrying some 12 400 rounds of ammunition were issued to the 327th Squadron. They were used operationally for the first time on the 29th of May when they escorted the 305th Bomb Group to St Nazaire, but it was soon realized that these aircraft were not the hoped for counter to the German fighter force and bomber losses were not curtailed. As a result, the YB-40 was withdrawn from its airborne destroyer role just two months later.
YB-40 showing its extra armament, Lockheed
In June, the 334th (BG), 335th (OE), 336th (ET) and 412th (QW) Bomb Squadrons of the 95th Bomb Group departed for Framlingham having lost more aircraft and personnel to accidents than enemy action during their stay at Alconbury. On the 13th, it earned the dubious distinction of being the first Bomb Group to lose a general officer on operations when Bigadier General Nathan B Forrest was killed when the aircraft he was flying in as an observer was shot down.
On the 19th of June Squadron Leader O'Brien officially transferred Station 102 to Colonel Reid of the 92nd Bombardment Group of the 8th Bomber Command and the Camp's postal address became APO 634. Its telephone number being Woolley 49.
During a raid on Hanover on the 26th of July Ruthie II of the 92nd Bombardment Group experienced a head on attack by a FW 190 and the captain was mortally wounded and slumped over the controls. The second pilot Flying Officer Morgan pressed on to the target and then recovered the seriously damaged aircraft to RAF Foulsham. For this remarkable achievement he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour (see Decorations).
Smithsonian
On the 10th of August 1943 the 482nd Bomb Group (Pathfinder), the only USAAF Group to be activated in the United Kingdom, was constituted at Alconbury with 812th (MI), 813th (PC) and 814th (SI) squadrons supported by the 41st Station Complement Squadron. This Group had a special role in developing techniques and equipment for “blind bombing” and “bombing through cloud” within the USAAF thus beginning Alconbury's long association with radar ground imaging. To aid this task, the British passed eight H2S radar set, codenamed “Stinky”, to the 8th Air Force and these were installed at Defford, Worcestershire, in a distinctive chin radome on the B-17. (see Radar)
The Group's first operational mission was mounted on the 27th of September when it dispatched two B-17 “Pathfinder” aircraft to each of the 1st and 3rd Air Divisions in support of a raid against Emden. This was the first raid conducted by the USAAF aircraft equipped with “Stinky” and P-51 Mustangs carrying long range fuel tanks in the fighter escort role. In the early days of these “pathfinder” operations, the group detached aircraft equipped with “Stinky” to other groups and hence held on its strength 30 B-17s and 18 B-24s.
In September Allied forces landed at Salerno “Operation Avalanche”, and the 92nd Bomb Group departed for Podington, today the “Santa Pod” drag racing track. However, before leaving, the Group participated in the punishing “PointBlank” raids on Stuttgart and Schweinfurt where it met the Luftwaffe fighter force in strength. During the latter attack on the 17th of August the 8th Bomber Command lost over 60 aircraft and the day was christened “Black Thursday”. Forty five aircraft out of 338 sent against the target where shot down and a further 20 ditched in the sea or crash landed when they ran out of fuel. The 92nd losing seven crews and an additional aircraft had to be written off on return due to the extent of the damage it had received.
92nd bomb a French airfield
In November the first AN-APS-15 H2X “Mickey” radar sets arrives from the United States and technicians started to install them in the 482nd's B-17Gs. The initial conversions placed the H2X in a retractable radome behind the forward gun turret, but in later fits the H2X was moved to the ball turret position behind the wing.
In December the first H2S modified B-24 arrived from Defford with the radar scanner mounted in a retractable dustbin or “trashcan" on the underside of the aircraft. A radar installation which could be was lowered in flight being required as the B24s had a very low ground clearance.
