Ridgewell's Flying Fortress: The 381st Bombardment Group (H) in World War II

In June 1943 the quiet English countryside around the village of Ridgewell in northwest Essex was transformed by the arrival of the 381st Bomb Group with its B-17 Flying Fortresses. The subsequent battle in the skies over Europe witnessed the 381st, in concert with their fellow-airmen with the Mighty Eighth, striking 297 times at Hitlers "Fortress Europe" and dropping over 22,000 tons of ordnance in the process.