Wartime Legacy
South Lincolnshire has for too long
been Bomber County’s forgotten chapter,
with its airfields and actions pivotal to
milestones in airborne military conflict.
During WWII, Operation Chastise,
immortalised as the Dambusters raid,
Operation Overlord (D-Day), Operation
Market Garden (Arnhem) and the
deception pre-D-Day trickery of Operation
Glimmer all involved local airfields.
On the night of 617 Squadron’s
Dambusters raid by Lancaster bombers
in 1943, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur
‘Bomber’ Harris and bouncing bomb
inventor Barnes Wallis waited at
Grantham’s Bomber Command HQ in St
Vincents for news that Germany’s Möhne
and Eder dams had been breached. Many
hailed it as the turning point of the war.
In 1944, the building was HQ for the
USAAF Air Force’s 9th Troop Carrier
Command to co-ordinate the allied
airborne assault for D-Day.
On June 5th none other than General
Dwight Eisenhower, Allied Supreme
Commander, stopped by the North
Witham Pathfinder base to shake hands
with his 101st Airborne Paratroopers.
They took off late that evening as the first
combat troops to be dropped in France
four hours before the beach landings.
On 6 June, Folkingham, Saltby and
Barkston Heath launched waves of C-47
Dakota aircraft to drop allied paratroopers
in the main D-Day offensive.
Operation Glimmer, Bomber
Command’s deception operation in
advance of the D-Day landings involved
aircraft from Woolfox Lodge. Across the
district, other airfield sites played their part,
many with their own lasting memorials.
Our proud aviation heritage, from WWI
through WWII and into the Cold War, has
prompted the publication of ‘Heritage
of Flight’, inspiring imaginations and
evoking a thousand memories. We hope
it encourages you to explore, marvel at
the aviation heritage on the doorstep and
ponder the district’s significant role.
We owe a huge debt of thanks to the
service personnel from across the globe
who served here. It is our salute to
airborne endeavour and sacrifice.
Heritage of Flight is also available online
on www.heritageofflight.co.uk
Our ‘Aviation Trail’ pocket guide will help find
airfields and memorials, discover places to visit
and the charm of our market towns.
Aviation
in South Lincolnshire - Pocket Guide
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