RAF / USAAF Debach memorial
Introduction
The photograph on this page of RAF / USAAF Debach memorial by Adrian S Pye as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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RAF / USAAF Debach memorial
Image: © Adrian S Pye Taken: 7 Dec 2019
Debach (pronounced Deb-itch) was one of the last Eighth Air Force heavy bomber stations to be occupied. being built by the 820th Engineer Battalion (Aviation) of the US Army during 1943/1944. It was assigned USAAF designation Station AAF 152, call sign 'DC'. USAAF Debach was the last USAAF station to become operational and carried out its first mission on D-Day. Stationed there was the 493rd BG(H) with four squadrons of both the Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The runway however started to break up and by the end of 1944, was so bad that the group had to move temporarily to RAF Little Walden while runways were repaired and strengthened. They returned to Debach in March 1945. The unit returned to Sioux Falls AAF South Dakota and was inactivated on 28 August 1945. After the war, Debach was used first as a camp for German POWs and later for displaced persons before being abandoned about 1948. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6338599
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Image Location
Latitude
52.139591
Longitude
1.258424