DNIF: Duties Not Involving Flying--Some Photos of the 95th BG in Horham--It took a lot of Men on the Ground to Keep 'Em Flying!!

More English Air Base Photos

Road to Bomb Dump, Horham. (Most of these photos will supersize if you double-click them. You'll get a lot more detail.)
95th Bomb Group Hospital, Horham.
Perimeter Taxiway, Horham.
34th BG Indian on Bomb, a piece of wall removed and displayed at the 95th Museum.
Singing farmer, on display at 390th Base.

'Tony' Anthony, (L) who was an RAF officer at Horham during the war, poses with his beautifully restored American staff car. My good friend Alan Johnson, whom I stayed with in Horham, is at right.
Inside a bomb shelter, Horham.
Hospital CO's office, 95th BG Base Hospital, Horham.
Old 100th buildings, Thorpe Abbotts.

100th Bomb Group hut.
390th Bomb Group Theater.
390th Bomb Group Tower.
100th Bomb Group Operations Office.
Bomb Shelter.

This Blog off the Air Till June 20

This blog will have no new entries until June 20 or 21. I am leaving tomorrow for England to do research for the unit history on the 95th Bomb Group, stationed at Horham, England during World War Two. The 95th was one of the first bomb groups to fly in the war, and distinguished itself throughout the war in combat, earning three Distinguished Unit Citations and becoming the first American heavy bomber group to strike Berlin.

Time will be spent in Horham, at the Cambridge American Cemetery, at Duxford Air Museum, at the old bases at Horham, Framlingham (390th Bomb Group) and the 100th Bomb Group at Thorpe-Abbotts. All three bases are in East Anglia.

44th Bomb Group, Shipdam, Today

I'm posting some photos taken by British aviation historian Trevor Hewitt.

They were taken at the old 44th BG Base at Shipdam, England. I have several friends who served at this base, Dan Culler and Will Lundy, so perhaps they will be able to shed some light on the places shown.

The 44th was a famous B-24 Liberator unit that flew the amazing Ploesti mission.

Photos of Air Bases in England Today

If you imagine it, you can hear the roar of the engines as Flying Fortresses line up to fly a mission to Germany. Many never returned.

The ruins of the control tower at Beccles.

One of the surviving murals that was painted in the 95th Bomb Group's Red Feather Club. The Horham Base is now a museum.

The 95th Bomb Group hospital at Horham today.

At an abandoned air base in East Anglia, a window overlooks a farm field nearby.

The control tower at one base has been redone.


Parham control tower, Open Day.

Research Trip to England

Framlingham Castle, near one of the 95th's early bases, later to become home to the 390th.

New developments in my attempt to get school district approval for my research trip to England, mostly good.

Worst-case scenario is that I would put off the trip until school let out for the summer. The 95th Association has indicated this will not be a problem. Best-case scenario--the district decides to let me go and not forfeit my salary. We won't know until January 23.

The old 95th runway at Horham.

Aerial view of the city of Horham, near the 95th's base in East Anglia.

The trip to the 95th Reunion in Tucson will not be a problem at all.

Stained glass window in the church in Grafton Underwood.

My next order of business for England is to make contacts with the East Anglian towns where the 95th was based, and get an advert in the papers there asking for memories from townspeople who were alive at the time the 95th was there. That way I can line up interviews ahead of time.