British Historians Cliff Bishop, Stan Bishop, and Malcolm Osborn

British Historians Cliff Bishop, Stan Bishop, and Malcolm Osborn stand in front of the same RAF Molesworth Hangar where sixty-six years earlier the Comedian Bob Hope gave a show for the members of the 303rd Bomb Group on July 6, 1943, Click on VIEW ALL IMAGES above to see the original photo. The three men visited RAF Molesworth on July 21, 2009. (Photo Courtesy of Malcolm Osborn)

Noted British Aviation Historians Visit Molesworth

Published July 22, 2009
By Peter G. Park, Commander's Action Group
JIOCEUR Analytic Center

ROYAL AIR FORCE MOLESWORTH, England -- As small boys growing up in England they listened to the drone of American aircraft during and after WWII, and each in his own way became fascinated with the U.S. Army Air Forces.

Cliff Bishop and his brother Stan have published books on both the 8th and 9th Air Forces in World War Two and Malcolm Osborn is a noted historian and lecturer on U.S. Air Forces and expert on the 398th Bomb Group (Heavy) at Nuthampstead south of Cambridge, which like the 303rd Bomb Group (Heavy) at Molesworth flew B-17s against Nazi Germany.

During their visit to RAF Molesworth on July 21st, the historians viewed the three remaining WWII Hangars on this base and captured a sense of the wartime and post wartime activities on Molesworth. The focus was not only on the WWII history of the 303rd Bomb Group here, but also on the Cold War mission of the 582nd Aerial Resupply and Communications Group at Molesworth with modified B-29 bombers and SA-16 amphibious aircraft, and the later Cruise Missile mission of the 303rd Tactical Missile Wing during the late 1980's.

Cliff and Stan Bishop wrote "Fortresses of the Big Triangle First: History of the Aircraft Assigned to the First Bombardment Wing and First Bombardment Division of the Eighth Air Force from August 1942 to 31st March 1944" which catalogs the fate of every aircraft serving at Molesworth and other fields of the First Bombardment Wing during the period. Both authors have written several other notable books about U.S. Army Air Corps units and activities during the war.