Rongstad Crew Gets a Memorial

Official Army crash photos taken after the crash.

Crash site, Green Farm, Redlingfield, Suffolk. Many artifacts from this aircraft have been recovered from the site. (Photo by Rob Morris, June 2008)

Old barn across the lane from Green Farm. (Photo by Rob Morris, June 2008)

The farmhouse built on the spot of the detroyed original Green Farm. (Photo by Rob Morris)

Green Farm Accident Report, 95th Bomb Group Archives.

Crash report.

Lt. Rongstad's obituary in the Daily Interlake, Kalispell, Montana.

Green Farm burns after the B-17 crashed next to it.

B-17 tire.

Memorial (Photo by Richard Flagg)

Photo by Richard Flagg.

Three 95th vets pay homage to the downed crew. (Photo by Richard Flagg)

Photo by Richard Flagg.

Photo by Richard Flagg.

Veterans and family members and friends at the Dedication Ceremony. (Photo by Richard Flagg)

Earl Jostwick at the memorial. (Richard Flagg photo)

The Rongstad crew perished in a fiery crash after taking off from Horham on November 19, 1943. The pilot, fellow Montanan Kenneth Rongstad of Kalispell, banked his B-17 sharply after takeoff, the aircraft stalled, and it plunged to the ground, narrowly missing the Green Farm farmhouse, setting the farm house and another across the lane on fire. The men who possibly survived the initial crash were killed when the ordnance went off.

The photos of the memorial ceremony were taken by a friend of mine, professional photographer Richard Flagg, at Open Day yesterday, May 15, at Horham, Suffolk, England.

The Day I Visited the Ruins of the 95th Bomb Group Base at Horham, by Ken Hutcherson

The Vergene W. Ford Crew, 335th Squadron, 95th Bomb Group. Back Row: Vergene Ford, Pilot; Murray Saylor, Copilot; Julian Meyer, Bombardier; Cletus Comisky, Navigator. Front Row: Ken Hutcherson, Radio Operator; Willis Perry, Top Turret Gunner/Engineer; Robert Evans, Waist Gunner; Richard Peterson, Ball Turret Gunner; Marvin Casaday, Armorer/Waist Gunner; Leonard Styczynski (Stevens); Tail Gunner. (Photo from 95th BG website)

Another crew photo. Ken Hutcherson is in the back row, second from left. (Photo from 95th BG Website)

95th Bomb Group Veteran Kenneth Hutcherson poses at the crossroads near Horham during his return visit in August, 1972. Hutcherson flew with the 335th Squadron as a Radio Operator on a B-17 Flying Fortress during World War Two. (Photo courtesy of Kenneth Hutcherson)

This is one of my favorite written accounts of a World War Two bomber crewman's return to his old base. The full version will be appearing in the 95th BG history, out next year. Kenneth Hutcherson was a young radio operator on a B-17 crew when he first saw Horham during the war. He wrote of his return in August of 1972:

"It was a beautiful summer day the likes of which we rarely saw during the summer of 1944," he begins, "The train for Ipswich, Diss and Norwich, left at 8:30 AM so we got up at 7, had a quick breakfast at the Hilton (not like the ones we used to get at the Regent Palace) and took the tube to the Liverpool Street Station...

"We finally managed to get a seat in a compartment not unlike the ones all of us remember vaguely with the webbing overhead for packages and luggage...

After arriving at the train station at Diss, Hutcherson hailed a cab to Horham. The driver was not certain how to find the old base in nearby Horham, and had to stop several times to ask for directions. But finally, "after travelling the eight miles to Horham, we pulled onto a hard stand at the edge of a wheat field and said we were there. It was hard for me to get my bearings at first. There was a farmer across the road on a combine mowing his wheat. He stopped his tractor and came over to assist us and everything started to fall into place.

"One of the headquarters buildings was still there and the farmer took us through the briars and underbrush to get inside. You would find it hard to believe but there were still pin-up pictures pasted on the wall from Yank Magazine and also a Sad Sack cartoon stenciled on one wall. Over one doorway was stenciled 'Through These Doors Pass the Best Damn Flyers in the World'. What an experience!

"Our barracks from the 335th Squadron was a crumbled mess of corrugated rusty steel. We couldn't get back there because of the crops and no roads but I took a picture of it from the distance. The control tower crumbled last year but the main runway was still there. We drove down the runway which is still used for small planes for crop dusting. We took pictures there and also at the crossroads with the signs--Horham, Diss, Ipswich, Norwich and Eye. On the way back to Diss we stopped and took pictures of the thatched roof houses which I did not remember."

Upon arrival at Diss, the Cockney taxi driver refused to accept a tip, though he had stayed with them all day long. "I'm a cockney from London...and my word is my bond," he told Hutcherson."

Hutcherson finally persuaded the cabbie to take two pounds. Interestingly, Hutcherson had never visited the town of Diss during the war, as it was off-limits.

He then boarded the train, the mists of time again wrapped his memories in a comfortable embrace, and he returned to London.

Green Farm Accident Report, November 19, 1943

This goes with the post immediately preceding it. Read that one first.

The Green Farm Crash, Redlingfield, November 19, 1943

This quiet, leafy grove of trees behind the replacment farm house at Redlingfield, Suffolk, contains many relics of Rongstad's crashed B-17 Flying Fortress. (Rob Morris Photo)

The same grove on the fateful day. (Army photo)

The farmhouse burns down. The Army Air Force paid the farmers to erect a new one, and it is still there. (Army photo)

The thatched farmhouse roof goes up in flames. (Army Photo)

The replacement farmhouse, June 2008. (Rob Morris photo)
Old shed across the lane from Green Farm, survived intact. (Rob Morris photo)

Wreckage from the Green Farm crash, possibly the ball turret. (Army photo)

This blogger site has gotten increasingly hard to use lately. First, I can't figure out how to move the photos around. Second, I can't copy-and-paste from other sites of my writing, so this is going to be short and sweet.

Twisted, charred wreckage of the Rongstad B-17. (Army Photo)

On November 19, 1943 a B-17 of the 95th Bomb Group piloted by Montanan Kenneth Rongstad took off from its base at Horham. Rongstad, an experienced pilot, banked too close to the ground, stalled, and crashed into a farm in nearby Redlingfield. All members of the crew were killed either in the initial crash or in the detonations of the 500-pound bombs on board.

I just got word that the English in the area are considering erecting a monument to the crash victims, so I thought I'd post some photos to help out the cause.

I visited the crash site in June 2008 and took the color photos above. The black and white photos are from the official Army Air Force reports, 95th archives.

95th Bomb Group Video: The Final Cut

This is the final cut of a video dedicated to the 95th Bomb Group.

New Header Photo on Blog

(Photo credit, Co de Swart)

In May, 12 members of the 95th Bomb Group returned to their base "somewhere in England"--the B-17 Flying Fortress base at Horham, Suffolk, near the North Sea.
My new header photo, taken by Co de Swart, shows some of the 95th's bomber boys with reenactors outfitted in World War Two Air Corps fight gear.
The 95th flew 321 combat missions from May 13, 1943 to April 20,1945. In addition, it flew 7 'Chowhound' missions, dropping 465 tons of food to the starving people of Holland in 1945 and four 'Revival' missions to pick up POW's and Displaced Persons.
156 B-17s were lost in combat; 36 in other operations. Over 1,000 received battle damage.
599 95th Bomb Group airmen paid the ultimate price and were killed in action, with seven missing and presumed dead. An additional 851 men became POWs, internees, evaders, and 171 were wounded in action.
The 95th was the first American bomb group to bomb Berlin, on March 4, 1944.
I am currently writing the unit history of the 95th Bomb Group, and the book on this prestigious and tight-knit outfit will be out next year, I'm thinking.
I visited Horham last year while researching the book, and made many new friends "on the other side of the pond". Hope to return someday.

Englishman Ray Howlett Completes 95th Base Diorama

One of the new crewman at the 95th Horham is Ray Howlett. Ray is the gentleman who put together the excellent museum display of Leonard Herman's 95th BG artifacts. But it turns out that Ray is a man of many talents. Here are photos, used with permission, of a diorama Ray built of the Horham air base, 95th BG, during WWII. It's amazing. Can't wait to see it in person.

Ray writes: "Firstly my diorama, it measures 11 ft 7 ins X 8 ft 3 ins [ 3.5 mtrs X 2.5 mtrs ] which includes the full airfield, bomb dumps, Horham Village and the Technical Site.
To try and cover the time span of 1943 through to 1945 I have included such events as B-26 Marauders, C-47 Skytrains, B-24 Liberator and a A-10 Catalina ASR. In the road transport, 6x6 trucks, jeeps, runway control vehicles plus many civilian vehicles. Finally, people and base personnel.

All is in 1/700th scale. All the buildings are made from scratch-- built from plasti-card and plasti-strip. I must say I was amazed at the interest especially from the local people, the one big and continuous question is, "where is the Red Feather Club"? I am pleased to say that I have started work on the Group's living quarters, hospital and communal sites [ including the RFC]. This section will measure 5 ft X 6 ft 6ins [ 1.53 mtrs X 2.00 mtrs This will complete the picture and help the school children that visit see the size of Station 119."



Main street through Horham, base on left. Where the road turns to the right at top, you can see the St. Mary Church. One of the base entrances was right next to it and the Old School.

Model of the 95th celebrating the first daylight raid over Berlin. The 95th was the first heavy bomber group to bomb Berlin in daylight.

Town of Horham, with St. Mary church (tall gray structure) in lower center. While I was in Horham, I stayed with Alan Johnson in the house at the very bottom of this phot in the center. the brown area is the village green, and the buildings right below it are the Horham Community Center.

Hardstands.

Base visitors.

95th Base in Horham, Suffolk Adds a New Building

When I visited Horham, Suffolk (a small town in East Anglia not far from the North Sea) last June, the British museum board was just writing a grant proposal to the English government to help raise funds to build a long Nissen hut perpendicular to the existed entrance to the Red Feather Club on the 95th Bomb Group's old air base at Horham. The Red Feather Club served during the war as the enlisted men's club and bar, and was rebuilt from derelict condition by British volunteers some years ago. This is my favorite museum anywhere, not because it is the biggest but because it presents its topic so lovingly and accurately.

The 95th at Horham has been very fortunate to gain the services of Roy Howlett, who since joining the group, has done some great things. More about those in the next post. First of all, some photos, sent by Roy, of the building of the Blue Room Nissen hut--from foundation to Big Band celebration in well under a year. Congrats, and hope to see it in person soon.

British readers, I would appreciate names of those in the photos if you can help me out. I'd like to post them.

Visit the 95th Horham Museum here, and consider making a donation: http://www.95thbg-horham.com/index.html
I recognize John Blott in the blue denim. Help me out with the other workers.