Ridgewell was the location of a military airfield during the Second World War.


For a short time it was home for a bomber squadron of the R.A.F., details of which will soon be on a separate page, but for most of the War it was home for the 381st Bomb Group of the American Eight Air Force.

Here is a typical war-time photograph taken 24th February 1944:

Photograph of B17 and crew

Shown above is OUR MOM a Boeing B17 of the 534th Squadron. This 'plane, 42-29832 GD-H took part in at least 23 missions,(gaps in micro-film records cannot help).It was assigned to the Group from 305th BG on 22/8/43 and returned to the US 29/5/45.
The crew above were assigned 17th Sep '43.Back row left to right: Joe Doerfler (CP), Ed Klein (B), Dave McCarthy (N), Bob Miller (P). Front row: Asa Bush (TG), Joe Fern (RO), John Bristow (WG) Nat Kosdan (WG), George Lemnos (ETTG) and Jimmy West (BTG). Doefler and Bush were not original assigned crew; they were crew replacements. At the time of writing,(Nov 11th,1997), Klein is currently president and director of the 381st BG Memorial Association, Doerfler is also a director, and West is a member.

STOP PRESS! Ridgewell Airfield Commemorative Museum is now open!

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