355th Fighter Group at Steeple Morden
History
The 355th Fighter Group was based at Steeple Morden airfield in Cambridgeshire, England, from July 1943 to July 1945.
The first commander of the 355th was Lt Col William J Cummings. The 355th Group Headquarters and the 354th, 357th and 358th Fighter Squadrons, respectively named the Bulldogs, Dragons and Angels, were under his command.
Initially the 355th were flying P-47 Thunderbolts and later P-51 Mustangs.
The group received a unit citation for its extraordinary heroism and outstanding performance and saw action in the D-Day landings.
It was also the highest-rated group for destroying aircraft on the ground, earning the nickname the Steeple Morden Strafers.
In July 1945 the group departed to Gablingen, Germany, to become a part of the Army of Occupation.
If you want to view various records relating to the 355th Fighter Group, Second Air Division Digital Archive.
Steeple Morden Airfield (Station 122)
Steeple Morden airfield was situated three miles west of Royston, between the villages of Steeple Morden and Litlington.
All sites are now private property and you will need permission before you visit.
The library has information on some base contacts and with their permission can pass this onto you. The Library itself is unable to organise site visits.
The memorial site is available for public access - see the following chapter on memorials for details.
Remaining buildings
A few buildings remain on and near the airfield technical site and at nearby locations.
Runways and all but the odd concrete area on the former flying field have been removed and the land returned to agricultural use.
355th Fighter Group Memorial
The 355th Fighter Group is honoured with an ornate propeller memorial and diorama of the airfield during the Second World War.
The memorial (pictured below) is sited next to Steeple Morden on the Litlington Road.
A brief service is held at the memorial on Remembrance Sunday.
There is also a memorial window in Litlington church, which was dedicated in 1993.
The church is usually open from 9am to 5pm, seven days a week.
Related websites
For more about Steeple Morden Airfield and the 355th Fighter Group, you may find these websites useful:
Bibliography
There are several good histories of the 355th Fighter Group available for use in the American Library.
Among those histories are:
- Bill Marshall: Angels, bulldogs and dragons: 355th Fighter Group
- Ken Wells: Steeple Morden Strafers: 1943-45
- Ken Wells: Wimpeys to Mustangs: a pictorial history of Steeple Morden airfield 1940-45
These are in addition to the standard histories of the Second Air Division and the Eighth Air Force.
For more about the airfield:
- Martin Bowman: Bomber Bases of WW2: 2nd Air Division 8th Air Force USAAF 1942-45
- Michael Bowyer: Action Stations Revisited: No 1 Eastern England
- Ken Delve: The Military Airfields of Britain: East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk)
- Roger Freeman: Airfields of the Eighth Then and Now
If you're interested in any of these books you can find and reserve them at the Norfolk Online Catalogue.