Duxford Air Museum Photos

In early June Alan Johnson and I went to the huge air museum at Duxford, not far from Cambridge. It reminds me very much of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Not only does it have a great collection of aircraft, but it also has many other war exhibits relating to Great Britain. Here are some photos from that visit.The first Concorde, test model.
Concorde Interior.
Messerschmitt

Alan in front of display honoring English servicemen in the Malaya Campaign. He fought there in the early fifties.
This B-17 was used in 'The Memphis Belle' movie.
It still has one side decorated to that effect.
Lancaster--the greatest British bomber.
Mosquito--the greatest recon aircraft of the war.

Another Messerschmitt
V-1 Rocket and Launch Pad.
B-24 Liberator---Lovely plane.
Rommel's staff car.
Montgomery's mobile field office.

A Trip Back in Time: Horham, Suffolk and the 95th Bomb Group

The tiny village of Horham, in Sussex, as seen from the tower of the church. During the war, Horham had a population of around 50. In contrast, the adjoining American base had 3,000 men.
Aerial view of the town of Horham today.

Aerial view showing the town of Horham and the airfield. Main runway at center.

When they hired me to write the history of the 95th Bomb Group, the 95th BG Association felt it was important that I visit the places where most of the 95th history occurred--at and around the air base at Horham, a small English hamlet in the rolling green hills of Suffolk, East Anglia. The 95th also felt that a major chapter in the story of the 95th should focus on the relationships between the young American airmen and the local villagers among whom they lived for three brief but intense years--years during which the wide, crop-lined runway at Horham was the last place on earth that many young flyers ever stepped. As one of the first American bomb groups up and running in England during the war, the 95th flew many missions with inadequate fighter escort against a still-powerful Luftwaffe. Losses were staggering. The terror of the flak-filled skies over the continent was a dramatic juxtaposition to the bucolic, peaceful village of Horham for these young airmen. Fighting loneliness and knowing that each mission could bring sudden death, the Americans bonded with the kind people of Horham. The villagers welcomed them into their homes, and the young village children ran to the base each day to visit their favorite Americans. Alan Johnson came by this spot many days to visit his American friends on the base. The guard box was near the spot where the phone booth is located in this photo. A hundred yards or so down the lane in center, and a child was on the base.

"Got any gum, chum?" was a common refrain by English children when meeting American GIs. One meticulous English child saved all the wrappers after eating the gum, and these are now in the 390th Museum at Framlingham.

The Blue Dragon Pub in Horham, frequented by Americans and Brits alike during the war, fostered many enduring friendships. It is now a private residence.

In return, the Americans often brought hard-to-find gifts to the locals--who were suffering under strict war rationing and had very little. The relationship between the locals and the airmen became very close--and for many in Horham, it continues to this day.

During the war, young Alan Johnson loved to run over to the base and hang out with the ground crewmen. Alan Johnson today, in his vintage Jeep. Alan was the driving force behind preserving the history and buildings of the 95th Bomb Group in Horham.

Many years later, realizing that the former air base was falling into disrepair and could soon vanish completely, Alan and other members of the 95th Association in England purchased the land upon which sat the non-commissioned officers' club, named the Red Feather Club.

The Red Feather Club's exterior as it looked when Alan began his crusade to rebuild it.The Red Feather's interior before restoration began.

Alan and others set out to rebuild it, and spent fifteen years working to bring the old building back to life. Working alone at first, and then with a few dedicated partners, the Red Feather Club now lives again in the form of the 95th Bomb Group Museum. The Red Feather Club today. (Photo from Tom Philo's website: http://www.taphilo.com/)

The Red Feather's Bar is up and running again, restored to its original specs.

The 95th Bomb Group presence at Horham is completely run by Brits, though it does get some funding help from the American 95th Association. A registered museum in Britain, the museum continues to expand. While I was there, a grant was awarded to build a large dance hall back onto the front of the club, where today all that is left is a concrete pad. Over the past two years, the Red Feather Club has hosted big band dances and parties, and Alan says when he walks outside into the night and listens, he feels like he is back in 1943 all over again. It's an amazing story.

Alan in front of the 95th Museum.

Stay tuned----Much, much more to follow. Next entry--the old 95th base, then and now.

Home From Travels for 95th Bomb Group

The 95th's main runway at Horham.

An old hardstand on the 95th Base at Horham, rapidly being reclaimed by the verdant vegetation of the region. My host Alan Johnson, who put me up in his house for six nights. We had fish and chips, went to a party, and hoisted a few beers when not working. Here Alan stands in front of the Red Feather Club, a passion of his for many year. Alan grew up near the base and has dedicated his life to remembering the American servicemen who came to the small town many years ago.
With my mentor and co-author of our upcoming history, Mr. Ian Hawkins, at his home in Bacton.
Christine and Richard Havers outside their home in the Scottish Borders. In the background is the spacious, luxurious guesthouse where they put me up for the night.

Looking out a window in the old base hospital at Horham, home of the 95th Bomb Group.
James Mutton in front of his old school in East Anglia.
Traveling in style with Alan and James, we took their wonderfully-restored original JEEP to the 100th BG base at Thorpe Abbotts.
One of several brilliant murals painted on the wall of the Red Feather Club on the 95th base at Horham, lovingly restored by the Brits who keep the memories alive.

Temple Bar, downtown Dublin. River Liffey, Downtown Dublin.
Roses of Tralee, Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland.

Just home today from my business trip to the England with a side trip to Scotand and Ireland. There to write the 95th Bomb Group (H) history, one of the great B-17 outfits of WWII, based near the small town of Horham in East Anglia.

Looking out towards Dingle Harbor, County Kerry.

I will post a travelogue over the next few days of the trip.

My thanks to my hosts, including Alan Johnson, Norman Feltwell and James Mutton in Suffolk and Richard and Christine Havers in the Scottish Borders. Such gracious hosts! I can't thank you enough.

The Box in the Barn: Finding Dewayne Long

He was a young airman with a worn instrument case, and when he showed up to listen to the popular British dance band, instead of dancing like everybody else, he sat in front and listened. Finally, he got up the courage to ask if he could sit in with them. He took a battered trumpet from his case, and a mouthpiece from his pocket, and started to play. "We were just gob-smacked," remembers one of the band members. "He was an awesome player."

So began the young man's gig with one East Anglia's top bands. Occasionally, he would ride his bicycle twenty miles to join them for a gig. He dated a local girl, and then, as with all the American airmen who descended on Fortress Britain in the dark days of World War Two, one day he was gone, back to the States. The band missed their trumpeter, and an English girl missed her former boyfriend. The trumpet mouthpiece stayed behind, and is now in the 95th museum at Horham.


Sixty years later, 95th Bomb Group historian James Mutton was given a small cardboard box that had been found in a local barn. Inside the box, there was an 8th Air Force shoulder patch, some V-for-Victory matches, a container of aspirin, and several identification cards for one Dewayne Long. Intrigued, Mutton decided to track the young man down. Long had served in the 95th Bomb Group as a cook, and hailed from Martin, South Dakota. After sleuthing around for some time, he was able to locate Dewayne at a nursing home in Phoenix, Arizona, only a short distance from Tucson where the 95th Bomb Group was holding its annual reunion.


Dewayne made a surprise appearance at the reunion, accompanied by relatives. Frail and in a wheelchair, he is still sharp of mind.


"I never met an English person who wasn't beautiful," he remembered in a short speech at the reunion. He remains a huge devotee of the great Glenn Miller, "way ahead of his time", and told the assembled vets and their families that "War is hell. It may even be worse than hell. I don't know. But I don't want to find out".

Dewayne Long prepares to speak at the nightly fireside. Assisting him with the mike is moderator Tom Cozens, son of 95th pilot Bob Cozens.


Dewayne Long, thanks for your service, for the music you gave while in England, and for making it to the reunion.

Dewayne Long holds his trumpet mouthpiece. At left is James Mutton, the Englishman who tracked him down, holding the box; center is Englishman Alan Johnson, also a 95th BG historian; right is Long's son.