Aaron Brooks Wolters
Brigadier General
More excellent material and thanks for clearing that big chunk of aluminum. I have some photos somewhere of a B-17 with one of these slung underneath. I am enjoying this tour immensely. Keep up the good work.
Geedee and Rocketeer's 8th Army Air Force Tailwheel Tour 2012
- Thread starter Geedee
- Start date
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Nice shots Tony! Thanks for taking us on the tour guys.
B-17 Buff
Recruit
Great thread and great trip by the looks and sounds of things... something I also have dreamed of doing for about 20 years since having a map of all the 8th's bases marked on my wall!! I have been lucky enough to do a 'tour' of many from the air though... 8th AF East Anglian bases aerial shots 18/10/08 - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums
Also thanks for introducing me to this forum, I wouldn't have known about it otherwise!
Keep up the good work Geedee and Rocketeer - looking forward to seeing the rest.
Also thanks for introducing me to this forum, I wouldn't have known about it otherwise!
Keep up the good work Geedee and Rocketeer - looking forward to seeing the rest.
fubar57
General
Great shots and info Gary and Rocketeer.
Geo
Geo
- Thread starter
- #66
- Thread starter
- #67
Okeydokey, as I said in the last entry, that wraps it up for the Friday of the tour....now its on to the Saturday and boy, what a belter that was !!
Up at Sparrow f*rt and off to the first stop of the day at Fersfield. Fersfield is about 16 miles SW of Norwich and was the home of the Aphrodite and Anvil projects. I will leave Tony to provide more details on this aspect of the base as he is quite passionate and knowledgable about its history. Its pretty much now all laid over to agriculture.
When we arrived a the co-oridnates given, we stopped at a T junction with two Nissen huts on the left hand side and some houses on the right. and that was pretty much all we could find of the airfield at this point. Once we'd had a chat with house owners and got permission to go and take some pics....we walked into a...well, you'll see. Loved the old round pin mains plugs !! This is one of those sites where Nature has done her best to take over and has produced some very haunting photo opportunities. On the plus side, the Farmers are in the process of restoring the two huts by the road side !
After some pics we then moved on up the road a short didtance and found some original peri-track, took some more pics including a hedge that was actually a complete building...and still in use !!!..and then an even shorter trip we came across an Ops building and stopped and a chat with the farmer who was very helpful !.
Tony will also add more on this bit....
Up at Sparrow f*rt and off to the first stop of the day at Fersfield. Fersfield is about 16 miles SW of Norwich and was the home of the Aphrodite and Anvil projects. I will leave Tony to provide more details on this aspect of the base as he is quite passionate and knowledgable about its history. Its pretty much now all laid over to agriculture.
When we arrived a the co-oridnates given, we stopped at a T junction with two Nissen huts on the left hand side and some houses on the right. and that was pretty much all we could find of the airfield at this point. Once we'd had a chat with house owners and got permission to go and take some pics....we walked into a...well, you'll see. Loved the old round pin mains plugs !! This is one of those sites where Nature has done her best to take over and has produced some very haunting photo opportunities. On the plus side, the Farmers are in the process of restoring the two huts by the road side !
After some pics we then moved on up the road a short didtance and found some original peri-track, took some more pics including a hedge that was actually a complete building...and still in use !!!..and then an even shorter trip we came across an Ops building and stopped and a chat with the farmer who was very helpful !.
Tony will also add more on this bit....
Attachments
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Great stuff Gary. I remember a friend telling me of a visit to Fersfield over 20 years ago. At that time, there were still things like bomb carriers lying around, and a wall board still with Ops orders chalked up !
Fersfield was a highlight for me. It was where Joe Kennedy and his co-pilot took off in the highly Torpex load War Weary B24 (Anvil Project). We walked around the accommodation blocks and then moved onto the main airfield. The hangars have gone but the peri track is still there. We ended up in the Ops Block which was better than that at Steeple Morden - it still had its ducting. There was an angle poise lamp which was hanging off the wall. The farmer let me have it! I could just imagine the B17 and B24 crews looking at their maps prior to their flight. The same farmer also has the old gym. A very kind gent. We did not have much time to look around so will go back next year. One of the most evocative sites we have been to. The accommodation blocks were particularly poignant and especially so as they are being recovered by nature.
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B-17 Buff
Recruit
Thanks for the warm welcome guys.. a mini bus tour could be fun. A great start to Saturday's journey too!
A great start to Saturday's journey too!
Good shots Gary!
Aaron Brooks Wolters
Brigadier General
WOW! This just keeps getting better and better!
And welcome to the asylum B-17 Buff!
And welcome to the asylum B-17 Buff!
WOW! This just keeps getting better and better!
Agreed!
- Thread starter
- #74
Moving on from Fersfield, we fired up the trusty 'Mail Van' and headed off Thorpe Abbotts Museum.
Why the 'Mail van ?...simples really, we reckon that some of the small little windey roads we where travelling on between the airfields (remember they are only about 10 miles apart !) would have been used for the mail delivery between the bases. We really wanted to be doing this part in a genuine Willy's....but thats probably going to be another adventure in a few years time
So, whats at Thorpe Abbotts ?. This was the home of the 100th Bomb Group. Though they didn't have the highest overall loss rate, the group experienced heavy losses during several of its missions resulting in the group's nickname – 'The Bloody Hundredth'.
Home page
Official Site of the 100th Bomb Group Foundation
100th Bomb Group
The Museum is based in the original Watch Tower and a few Nissen Huts. The grounds are very well maintained and the Museum itself has some brilliant exhibits, very well worth a visit.
Tony and I ended up ontop of the Watch Tower looking out at the flat land...now laid to agriculture... and with no wind, deep blue skies and a few whispy clouds and almost eerily silent except for a solitary Skylark signing away for her worth, it was quite an extraordinary moment. You've all seen the scenes from various War films with the planes returning from a raid, damaged and shot up, wounded and dead on board, trailing smoke, not all the wheels down etc...and I will freely admit that standing ontop of that Watch Tower at that moment, seeing it all unfold in the minds eye was quite an emotional experience !.
There will be quite a few pics from this visit so I'll start my set off with some shots inside one of the Nissen Huts...and the last pic is something unusual I havent seen before ....
Why the 'Mail van ?...simples really, we reckon that some of the small little windey roads we where travelling on between the airfields (remember they are only about 10 miles apart !) would have been used for the mail delivery between the bases. We really wanted to be doing this part in a genuine Willy's....but thats probably going to be another adventure in a few years time
So, whats at Thorpe Abbotts ?. This was the home of the 100th Bomb Group. Though they didn't have the highest overall loss rate, the group experienced heavy losses during several of its missions resulting in the group's nickname – 'The Bloody Hundredth'.
Home page
Official Site of the 100th Bomb Group Foundation
100th Bomb Group
The Museum is based in the original Watch Tower and a few Nissen Huts. The grounds are very well maintained and the Museum itself has some brilliant exhibits, very well worth a visit.
Tony and I ended up ontop of the Watch Tower looking out at the flat land...now laid to agriculture... and with no wind, deep blue skies and a few whispy clouds and almost eerily silent except for a solitary Skylark signing away for her worth, it was quite an extraordinary moment. You've all seen the scenes from various War films with the planes returning from a raid, damaged and shot up, wounded and dead on board, trailing smoke, not all the wheels down etc...and I will freely admit that standing ontop of that Watch Tower at that moment, seeing it all unfold in the minds eye was quite an emotional experience !.
There will be quite a few pics from this visit so I'll start my set off with some shots inside one of the Nissen Huts...and the last pic is something unusual I havent seen before ....
Attachments
Thorpe Abbotts is one of the first and best preserved tower based museums. It is lovely! I have always loved their trailer with 4 x B17 tailwheels fitted to it! Temporarily, it adopted another one! It is a must see museum and memorial
Anyway....must fly!
Anyway....must fly!
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Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Excellent! That last shot Gary, is that a bunker entrance?
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- #77
It looks quite unobtrusive doesn't it...which is good cos thats what its supposed to be.
Its a Pickett-Hamilton Fort. It was designed to help protect airfields and was raised on hydraulics by the two man crew so they could get their machine guns out and ready for use. When not needed, it was lowered back on the rams to fit flush with ground so that it didn't became a hazard to taxying aircraft. Apparently they were prone to flooding and couldn't stand up to the weight of a plane going over it as they got heavier during the war. I believe there is one in operaing condition somewhere here in the UK at a museum
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
AH, thanks Gary. I've seen diagrams of them, but not one in situ. There's a similar thing at the entrance to Elvington, but it's the armoured steel turret type, set above ground.
Aaron Brooks Wolters
Brigadier General
I know the feeling you describe when standing on the tower. I get it when I am taking a tour of a bomber. Quite overpowering. Excellent shots you to and thank you for taking the time and spending the energy and effort to do this tour.
- Thread starter
- #80
Check you to 10 decimal places on that one mate !!
Heres a selection of shots from the Tower and surrounding units. As Tony said, you've got to visit this place !
