page_title: RAF Chelveston
section_title: 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Chelveston / United States Army Air Forces use / 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
caption_attribution_description: English: B-17G Serial 42-30647 of the 305th Bomb Group, based at RAF Chelveston, England, on a raid to Stuttgart, Germany.
context_page_description: Royal Air Force Chelveston or more simply RAF Chelveston is a former Royal Air Force station located on the south side of the A645, 5 miles east of Wellingborough, near the village of Chelveston in Northamptonshire, England. During the Second World War the airfield was occupied by both the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces. It was given the USAAF designation Station 105.
  During the Cold War, Chelveston housed some flying units, however its main role was that of a readiness station to receive USAF units from the United States in case of an emergency. In the mid-1970s, the majority of the airfield was sold by the Ministry of Defence to private landholders, with the exception of a military housing area occupied by U.S. servicemembers assigned to RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth.
context_section_description: The next group to use Chelveston was the 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), moving in from RAF Grafton Underwood in December 1942.  The 305th Bomb Group was one of the most decorated USAAF bomb groups in the European Theater.
  The 305th BG was assigned to the 40th Combat Wing at RAF Thurleigh. The group tail code was a "Triangle G". Its operational squadrons (and fuselage codes) were the 364th(WF), 365th (XK), 366th (KY) and 422d (JJ) Bomb Squadrons, each initially equipped with B-17Fs, then upgraded to the B-17G in 1944.
  During the winter of 1942/43, the 305th was commanded by Colonel Curtis LeMay and pioneered many of the techniques of daylight bombing used by the USAAF over Nazi-controlled Europe.  These fundamental procedures and techniques were later adapted to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress which fought the war to its conclusion in the Pacific.
  The 305th BG bombed the navy yards at Wilhelmshaven on 27 January 1943 when heavy bombers of Eighth AF made their first penetration into Germany.  Through mid-1943, the group attacked strategic targets as submarine pens, docks, harbours, shipyards, motor works, and marshalling yards in France, Germany, and the Low Countries.
  The 305th BG received the Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission on April 1943 when an industrial target in Paris was bombed with precision in spite of pressing enemy fighter attacks and heavy flak.
  During the second half of 1943, the unit began deeper penetration into enemy territory to strike heavy industry.  Significant objectives included aluminum, magnesium, and nitrate works in Norway, industries in Berlin, oil plants at Merseburg, aircraft factories at Anklam, shipping at Gdynia, and ball-bearing works at Schweinfurt.
  First Lieutenant William R Lawley Jr and 1st Lt Edward S Michael, pilots in the 364th Bomb Squadron, each received the Medal of Honor for similar performances on 20 February and 11 April 1944, respectively. In each case a B-17 was severely damaged by fighters after it had bombed a target in Germany, crew members were wounded, and the pilot himself was critically injured; recovering in time to pull his aircraft out of a steep dive, and realising that the wounded men would be unable to bail out, each pilot flew his plane back to England and made a successful crash landing.
  A second Distinguished Unit Citation was awarded to the 305th for withstanding severe opposition to bomb aircraft factories in central Germany on 11 January 1944.  The unit participated in the intensive campaign of heavy bombers against the German aircraft industry during Big Week, 20–25 February 1944.
  In addition to bombardment of strategic targets, the 305th BG often flew tactical interdictory missions and supported infantry units.  Prior to the Normandy invasion in June 1944, it helped to neutralize enemy installations such as V-weapon sites, airfields, and repair shops. On D-Day, 6 June, the unit bombed enemy strongholds near the battle area.  During the Battle of Normandy the 305th attacked enemy positions in advance of ground forces at Saint-Lô in July 1944 and struck antiaircraft batteries to cover the airborne invasion of the Netherlands in September.
  The 422nd Bomb Squadron became a specialist unit in the summer of 1943, taking part in experimental night bombing missions with the B-17 and carrying out leaflet dropping sorties in the darkness.  In 1944, the squadron extended its activities to pathfinder techniques using the H2X airborne radar.
  The 305th took part in the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 − January 1945, by bombing military installations in the battle zone, and supported the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945.
  After V-E Day, the 305th moved to St Trond Airfield, in Belgium in July 1945 and Chelveston was returned to the RAF in October 1945.  The 305th Bomb Group became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe, performing occupation duty at Lechfeld Air Base, Germany, December 1945 - 25 December 1946.  The group was inactivated in Germany on 25 December 1946.
caption: Boeing B-17F-115-BO Flying Fortress, AAF Serial 42-30647 of the 366th BS on a mission to Stuttgart, 6 September 1943. On 23 September 1943, this aircraft crashed at Chevelston returning from a mission, killing all on board.
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