Searching for information about Avon Park, Florida base

[Marlatt]

Looking for anyone who can tell me anything about an Army Air Force base in Avon Park, Florida. My father, Charles J. Marlatt and entire crew were forced to bail out of a B-17 that was crashing at that base on May 18, 1944. He was sent to Kimbolton, England and the 379th Bomb Group with the 527th Bomb Squadon in June 1944. One crew member, whose parachute did not open died in that bailout in Avon Park on May 18, 1944. If anyone knows anything about that base, I am very interested. Also, what part of the Amry Air Force, were they a part of while still in Avon Park, Floida?