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Miscellaneous Documents and Materials,
306th Bomb Group--Thurleigh, England
We have documents and materials we currently classify as miscellaneous; click the the type you wish to review below:
DAILY BULLETINS: Daily bulletins, like special orders, were published daily
throughout the war and numbered sequentially from January 1st. They were informational bulletins providing the men with
important information to know regarding what was happening around the base. At a minimum the daily bulletin would tell
the hours that blackout was to be imposed on the base, list who was assigned as Officer of the Day for each of the next seven days,
and detail officers who would be in charge of liberty runs for the next seven days.Then there would be notes of general interest
to everyone such as war bond drives, blood drives, church services, lost and found items, or such important items as
"Transportation for dates of Officers attending 'Left Over Party' will leave from Officers Red Cross Club, Bedford, at 2000."
Our collection of daily bulletins is incomplete but covers from December 1943 through September 1945.
These daily bulletins are a fun read and provide a background of what it was like at Station 111 and Thurleigh as the war was proceeding.
TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES: Here are two telephone directories for the the 306th Bombardment Group
while stationed at Thurleigh, one from the earlier part of WWII and the second during the Casey Jones Project period before the 306th left
Thurleigh for operations from continental Europe. From September 1943, the first directory provides a good overview of the command organization
at the time including a listing of all the ground support units at Thurleigh. At this time the 306th BG was assigned to the 1st Bomb Wing and
the 102nd Combat Wing. The 1st Bomb Wing would later be redesignated 1st Bomb Division and the 306th would be assigned to the new 40th Combat Wing
under command of 1st Bomb Division. The second directory is from summer/fall 1945 with the 306th now assigned to the 9th Army Air Force conducting Casey Jones
just prior to their departure from Thurleigh in December. Note the new ground support commands. They are the result of a major AAF reorganization
that took place on April 15, 1945 that dissolved some commands while combining other units into new organizations (see Special Order #101 in the 1945
listing of special orders under the Archives tab to see how this reoganization affected 306th units such as the 4th Station Complement Squadron and
the 39th Service Group).
SPECIAL SERVICE BULLETINS: Fifteen Special Services Bulletins
covering weeks from the period 5 Nov 44 through 29 May 45 are included in our archives. These bulletins were posted each week on Sunday,
and provided the men with a variety of recreational, entertainment, and sports news for the happenings around AAF Station 111 and
in nearby Thurleigh and Bedford. Included were scores, schedules and reports for the Group and Squadron sports teams; base movie
schedules as well as movie and entertainment schedules for theaters out in town; the schedule for all religious services for the week;
and a variety of other items of interest regarding the morale and welfare of the men of the 306th Bomb Group and the personel of the
ground support units stationed at AAF Station 111.
SQUADRON NEWSLETTERS: Over the course of the War, individual bomb squadrons
would sometimes "publish" newsletters for the benefit of their men, informing them of upcoming events, bringning them up to date on the latest
squadron sports teams and scores, adding in a few jokes and poems here and there, and generally keeping everyone informed of happenings of interest
to the men. In our archives we have a few of these "squadron newsletters" from early days at Wendover (423rd Squadron) and from late '44 and '45
(the 367th "Pigeon Poop"). Again, fun to read "documents" that can give you some insight into life around Wendover and Station 111, with an
occasional chuckle or two thrown in.