The bombing of Pearl Harbor marked the entry of the United States of America into the Second World War and drew her into the European conflict.

With most of continental Europe under German occupation the only obvious way to take the war to the enemy was going to be by air power. To accommodate the anticipated influx of American aircraft, the already frantic wartime airfield expansion programme would need to be further extended, and so commenced the final major airfield construction period of World War Two in the United Kingdom.

In mid-1942, help with airfield building came to England in the form of the US Army's Aviation Engineer Battalions who were to construct a total of 14 airfields as part of the programme code named "Bolero". All were "war duration only" and built to Class `A' bomber airfield standard. Of these 14 sites, no fewer than eight were in the county of Essex.

Airfields Constructed by U.S. Engineer Battalions in Essex

The Ninth Air Force became operational November, 1942 when the U.S. Middle East A.F. was re-designated the Ninth under command of Major General Lewis H. Bremerton. Its air support of the British and U.S. Armies in North Africa against the Nazis' Rommel were critical. General Brereton was ordered to take the 9th HQ to England in October 1943 to build a Tactical Air Armada for the coming invasion of Europe. By June 6, 1944, D-Day, it had become the largest air force ever assembled under one command - 250,000 people with 3,500 airplanes in 1,500 units. It consisted of Fighter, Bomber, Troop Carrier, Air Defense, Engineer and Service Commands. During the invasion, their massive parachute and glider drops were guarded by P-47's, P-38's, and P-51's some of which doubled as pin-point dive bombers at the front lines, while the A-20 and B-26 bombers took out key rail and bridges to isolate the Nazis from reinforcing the battle for the Normandy Beaches. Within hours of the beach assaults, the 9th's Engineers were building airstrips in Normandy so our planes could operate with the minimum time lost in direct support of the front line soldiers. Thereafter, by continuously moving our fighters to strips just behind the front lines. The "NINTH" supported Armies dashing across Western Europe ending up deep in the heart of Germany on VE Day. This great mobility with combat pilots riding at the head of every armored column providing forward air control plus a Tactical Air Command Headquarters working directly alongside each U.S. Army Commander proved to be the most effective use of the air-ground cooperation in the history of warfare. Since World War II, the 9th has continued its role of readiness while providing fighting Tactical Air Power in Peacetime, in Korea, in Vietnam, and more recently in the Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East where its performance has been applauded worldwide.

386th Bombardment Group

Officers of the 386th Bombardment Group, 554th Bombardment Squadron, World War 2

Left to Right:

Kneeling:  J.L. Moore, Jr.; W.C. Wolfert; H.G. Reed; Commanding, M.M. Mikita; C.C. Oates.

Seated:  P. Devlin; J.E. Seibold; T.M. Smatana; S.O. Falk; T.A. Mulcahy; D.J. Amiot; R.J. Marcellino; J.E. Gabrio; D.C. Altenberger; G.M. Horn; D.D. Dickson.

Standing:  F.G. Knight; F.J. Demeter; C. Cusworth; R.D. Kiefer; J.C. Plunkett; R.T. Mersereau; P.B. Connal; R.E. Tuttle; H. Posey; G.F. Turner; R.S. Brinkerhoff; G.B. LeFever Jr.; R.M. Mason; J.J. McSweeney, J.T. Brennan, E.A. Tucker Jr.; R.D. Klink; R.B. Hazel; M. Mallinoff; A.B. Blackett; H.K. Erb; R.C. Kennedy; W.A. Rosser, Jr.; G.R. Lee; E.M. Weicherz.

Rear Row:  L.J. Herbert, Jr.; W.W. Lamar; E.M. Heitzman; R.A. Korn; H.T. Reis; P. Tomasello 3rd; G.E. Ridgway; K.W. Huckaby; A.M. Major; H. Michelson; H.J. Gruskowski; F.A. Carson; M.P. Kloet; J.F. Manfield; R.F. Oliver; A.F. Griffith; J.L. Coddington Jr.

THE SEA JOURNEY from the United States took around twelve days and nights. The vessels used were often Liberty Ships able to carry about two thousand men. Ports of arrival were usually Gourock in Scotland, or Liverpool.

The Americans were always pleased to be back on dry land after crossing the Atlantic Ocean but they then had to endure long train journeys to Bishop’s Stortford Station, before boarding trucks for the final journey to Stansted.

Their personal recollections recall the strange experience of travelling at night, through towns darkened by the war time ‘black-out’. They soon realised that ‘The War’ was very close to British people with nearly every other man in uniform and many women working in jobs previously done by the men. The visible evidence of German bombing also gave the Americans their first experience of the reality of war.

People in the Gt. Dunmow and Stansted area soon developed friendships with the ‘Yanks’ after their arrival in the summer of 1942.

The Yanks quickly grew fond of the many hospitable pubs in and around Stansted and Bishop’s Stortford. The Ash at Burton End and Stansted’s Dog & Duck, still look today very similar to their traditional appearance of fifty years ago, despite some modernisation over the period.

The Barley Mow in Stansted is now a private house, while in Bishop’s Stortford, only the Nags Head survives, The Reindeer and Grapes pubs having long since made way for more shops.

Saturday night dances in Long’s Ballroom, Bishop’s Stortford were very popular despite the occasional ‘friendly punch-ups’. Long’s remained an important centre for social activities for many years after the war, until it too was demolished in 1988 to make room for a modern shopping arcade.

Another popular venue, situated in the Causeway Bishop’s Stortford, opened in 1943.This was a special hostel and canteen for American servicemen. The club had accommodation for 300 ‘residents’ together with large lounges, a reading-room, dining-room, barber’s shop, tailor’s shop and shower rooms.

A local paper of that period reported that The Lord Lieutenant of Essex received from the Commanding Officers of various American Units stationed in the county the most remarkable tributes to the kindness of the people of Essex at Christmas time 1943.

A typical extract, quoted from a letter by a Brigadier General stated: “The County of Essex has been most kind to us throughout our stay. We have all made many good friends here, whom we will remember with pleasure in many years to come.”

The hospitality was reciprocated by the Americans in many ways, including a special War Orphans Fund, organised by the “Stars & Stripes” newspaper and, as a result, the 344th Engineering Battalion adopted a local nine year-old orphan, whose parents had been killed in an air raid. Life in the UK for some Americans during the war years was no picnic. Some of their impressions are vividly described in the poem “England 1944” written by an unknown ‘Yank in England’. The poem is reproduced below.