Inside the church, above the south door.

The insignia of the 390^th BG in the form of a hatchment. On the east side of the door, a paper attached inside a blue board explains the hatchment. The 390th Bomb Group flew B-17 Flying Fortresses from Framlingham, Suffolk, between July 1943 and the end of the war in Europe. The Group was engaged in strategic missions until the invasion of Europe when its role became more of a tactical one. This tactical role was more attuned to the needs of ground forces. For instance, the Group bombed the coast near Caen fifteen minutes before the landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944. The Group also carried out humanitarian missions, dropping food supplies for the Dutch in the final weeks of the war.

Source of information and images: www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk, www.americanairmuseum.com

On the paper:

The Hatchment above the South Door commemorates the fallen of the 390th

Bombardment Group USAAF which was stationed at Framlingham airfield

(Parham) between 1943 and 1945. In that time the 390th flew 301 combat missions

and lost 176 aircraft.

On 7 May 1994 the hatchment was unveiled by the Lord Lieutenant of the County

of Suffolk (Lord Belstead) and dedicated by the Bishop of Edmundsbury and

Ipswich (the Rt Revd John Dennis) at a service in the presence of representatives of

the USAF, the US Embassy and friends of the 390th from far and wide.

The hatchment is based on the original crest of the 390th and was designed and

painted by the College of Arms.