Sunday 9th February 2020 at 14.30hrs:

“Grafton Underwood and the 8th Air Force”

by Matt Smith

Grafton Underwood was built in the winter of 1941 & 1942, and was handed over to the

United States 8th Air Force.

It will forever be associated with a number of firsts; the first USAAF bomber unit in

England, the first USAAF Boeing B-17 unit in England who also flew the first B-17

mission from England in August of 1942.

Grafton would be occupied by B-17 units for the rest of the war.

After the war, the RAF’s No. 236 Maintenance Unit occupied the airfield, before it was

declared surplus to requirements in 1959. A memorial to the crews that flew from the

airfield was erected in 1977.

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