12 On Friday 22nd May, Northamptonshire County Council held a ceremony at Grafton Underwood Aerodrome to commemorate the handing over, seventy years previously, of the base from the United States Army Air Force 384th Bombardment Group back to the Royal Air Force.

The ceremony commenced at 11am with a service of remembrance, followed by a fl ypast at 11.50am of the last airworthy Flying Fortress B17 bomber in the UK, the ‘Sally B’, from Duxford. Residents of Grafton Underwood, Geddington and the surrounding villages attended in great numbers, alongside guests from both sides of the Atlantic.

Grafton Underwood’s place in history is an important one. The fi rst raid of the war by 8th Air Force bombers took off from Grafton Underwood on 17th August 1942 and the last raid of the war, against the tank factories in Pilsen, took off from Grafton on 25th April 1945. The 384th Bombardment Group fl ew 9,348 combat sorties in 316 missions, dropping 22,416 tons of bombs on enemy targets.

The unit lost 159 aircraft and 1,625 men in combat, while destroying 165 enemy airplanes, with 34 more ‘probables’ and seriously damaging 116 others. Through it all, the members of the 384th lived up to their motto: ‘Keep the Show on the Road’. Northamptonshire County Council felt that it was fi tting that, seventy years on, the sacrifi ces of the men and women who served at Grafton should be remembered.

 
Grafton Underwood Aerodrome 384th Bombardment Group Memorial