Memorial 55th Fighter Group USAAF, Nuthampstead, Herts, UK - World War II Memorials / Monuments on Waymarking.com

The memorial is in the form of an engraved black marble slab. The memorial shares a grass plot near to a memorial to the 398th Bombardment Group, who also flew out of Station 131 at Nuthampstead.

Both memorials are sited adjacent to the Woodman Inn, a hostelry that would have been used by members of both the 398th and 55th Groups. The plot is a slightly raised mound. The mound is grassed with a gravel path between the monuments and a small bench. There is a hedge behind the monument plot and the entrance to the Woodman Inn to the front.

The memorial was unveiled on June 7th 2006.

The inscriptions on the memorial are as follows.

Front

PURSUIT TO DEFEND
[GROUP CREST]

55th Fighter Group and 442nd Air Service Group
66th Fighter Wing, VIII Fighter Command, USAAF

[3 SQUADRON CRESTS]
38th Fighter Squadron 338th Fighter Squadron 343rd Fighter Squadron

This stone commemorates all those that served with the 55th Fighter Group
and 442nd Air Service Group and remembers the following pilots who lost
their lives whilst flying from Station F-131 from October 1943 to April 1944

Always remembered

[NAMES]

So it’s home again our mission ends, we all join up ‘The Little Friends’
It’s a good feeling victory brings, as England’s coast slips under our wings.
Out task was great but it’s not quite done, so we fly again with the rising sun.

But should tomorrow bring me sleep, remember my deeds and try not to weep.
Think not of me as legend or myth, but a proud young warrior of the 55th.

Rear Plaque

This memorial has been erected
by the 55th Fighter Group Association
under the auspices of
The Nuthampstead Airfield Research Society.
It is owned and maintained by the
398th Bombardment Group Association (H) in
memory of The Little Friends’.

Station 131 at Nuthampstead was home to the 55th Fighter Group of the USAAF from September 1943 until April 1944. Construction of the airfield began in 1942 and was built by 814th and 630th Engineer Batallions of the US Army.

The group was under the command of the 67th Fighter Wing of the VIII Fighter Command and began operations on 15 October 1943 with Lockheed P-38H Lightnings. The 55th were the first to use these aircraft on long-range escort missions from the UK.

The pilots of the 55th provided cover for missions against aircraft plants during the Big Week attacks of February 1944. Lt. Col. Jack Jenkins led the group on 3 March 1944, when they became the first Allied fighters to reach Berlin on an escort mission.

On 16 April 1944 the group moved to RAF Wormingford to accommodate the arrival of the 398th Bomb Group.

Date of Dedication: 07/06/2006 Property Permission: Public Location of waymark: Woodman Inn Nuthampstead, Herts UK Commemoration: 55th Fighter Group USAAF Access instructions: Not listed Access times: Not listed Website for Waymark: Not listed

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