About Eric Ratcliffe

Eric Ratcliffe is a British aviation historian, author and pilot with a long-standing connection to Tibenham Airfield in Norfolk, the wartime home of the USAAF 445th Bomb Group.

Having flown from Tibenham for many years and become closely involved with the history of the airfield, Eric's interest naturally developed into research into the men who flew from there during the Second World War. A particular interest in the disastrous Kassel Mission of 27 September 1944 eventually grew into a much wider study of the 445th Bomb Group, its aircraft, missions and, above all, the men who served with it.

His books include The Kassel Raid and Hostile Skies and Empty Tables: The Men and Missions.

The 445th Bomb Group Historical Database and this website are the result of years spent collecting, checking and bringing together information from wartime records, photographs, personal accounts and material supplied by veterans and their families.

Eric created 445th.com not simply as a home for his research, but to preserve it. His intention is that the information, photographs and documents gathered over the years should remain together and publicly accessible after he is no longer here to maintain them.

The website is therefore intended as a permanent historical resource and a tribute to the men of the 445th Bomb Group, helping to ensure that their service, their stories and the records that survive them are not lost.