Anatomy of a Mission

In October a military historian and a journalist came to the museum to record an episode of the Mighty Eighth Podcast. 

Just how do you put hundreds of B17 Flying Fortresses into the sky, send them on a bombing mission over occupied Europe – and then bring them home again?  In this episode, we find out during a visit to USAAF Station 153 (Framlingham) – home to the 390th Bomb Group during World War Two

Archivist Jennie Smith explains the museum’s Faces of the Fallen project. And we pay our respects in the Chapel Room which houses a Veterans Wall, where returning airmen from the 390th have signed their names. 

We discuss the mission procedure – from the sending out of the initial Field Order to the formation of a protective bomb group – or Combat Box – of aircraft in the sky. We do so with the help of the museum’s rare collection of recovered aircraft engines, artefacts and memorabilia.

We visit the museum Nissen Hut, which houses a recreated barrack room, showing how the airmen lived.

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