Geedee and Rocketeer's 8th Army Air Force Tailwheel Tour 2012

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And heres some shots from the inside of the Museum. Some very well known A/C names presented on that door !!
 

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Finally, a place I know very well that has particular importance to me - great shots as always.
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Cheers dude, you should think about doing a seperate thread perhaps ?

Very emotional reading that door. Brings all those old black and white nose art photos to life.
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Thats it certainly does Glenn

Thank you Gary and Tony
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Aaron, no worries mate, it was a real blast and its great being able to share with you guys

After leaving the Tower, we made a fairly shortish trip to Duxford for the Autumn Air Display. We've decided that we'd only post a few pics of the 51's and 17' instead of filling the page with general air show shots. Duxford is probably no longer a stranger to you guys so wont post too much at this time .
 

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Cannot add much to Gary's excellent pix.....maybe just a few....the ubiquitous wheel shot....! The American Air Museum is in the background. Duxford is a spiritual home of mine....it has it all......BoB, Stangs etc.
 

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When we'd managed to drag ourselves away from Duxford, it was mad dash to Framlingham.

Framlingham was the home of two Bomber Groups, the 390th and the 95th and is about 3 miles SE of the town.

There is a museum in the origional Watch Tower, but unfortunately, when we got there, it was getting late, it was absoulutely 'chucking it down' and the Museum was also closed, so there are no pics from inside.

(This is not a problem as we will be making a return trip to catch up on this site...we also missed out on the following places by spending too long at duxford...
Bodney, home of the 352nd fighter group...Control tower and a few buildings remain, used by the Army, Memorial stone by Camp Entrance
Deopham Green, home of the 452nd Bomb Group...lots of runway and a Memorial by one of the taxi ways.)

Also at this Museum is a section on the British Resistance Organisation 1940 - 1944.

The 390th Bomb Group Home Page
The 390th Bomb Group
The 390th Bomb Group History Page

The 95th Bomb Group Memorials Foundation
95th Bomb Group

We did drive by a large hangar on the run in to the tower and there appeared to be some taxiway still in use, but I'm afraid I didn't get any pics of these.
 

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Framlingham is not far from my parents and holds many memories for me. Just after it opened (as a museum), my Grandad took me there; We heard a piston engine, ran out side to see a Pilatus P2 beating up the airfield 'on the deck'. It was being flown by John Watts who was a superb display pilot. He was one of the power houses behind bringing a Catalina to the UK in the 1980s. Sadly he was killed in a Tornado collision. These are two of my aviation heroes, both long gone...but not in my memories and my heart for my Grandad.
As GD says, very wet....took a few photos.
 

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Just down the road are the graves of two more aviation heroes....Ray and Mark Hanna. Again, I cannot pass the area without going and paying my respects and saying hello. Their graves have very fitting dedications
 

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I have regretfully neglected following this thread but spent the last two hours reading back from page 1 on this Remembrance Day. Gary, Tony, you guys have done a fantastic job of chronicling this trip and making us feel part of it. Thanks so much.
 
As Tony says, a great tour but a hint of sadness at the losses recorded.

And now onto the last day of the tour (Monday) and we jumped in the 'mail cart' and headed off in an 'over there' sort of direction to Leiston. Leiston was the home turf to the 357th Fighter Group (51's) and the 358th Fighter Group (47's) and a great memorial...errrr, two actually !... can be found on what is now a caravan site.

The 357th became know as the 'Yoxford Boys'. the story of how this happened is in one of the links

As we arrived at the site, we had a chat with a guy working (who turned out to be the site owner and a great bloke indeed) and he told us about a seperate memorial building farther down on the site itself and he then volunteered to go down and open it up for to have a look. Top bloke !!.

At the site entrance you are met by two things...a large metal pilot and a large scale '51. The pilot character was a rather jovial looking guy who had a lot of thought put into his construction (we met his brother at a location later on in the day !). Why is he holding a cup ?...simples really, the caravn site is called the Cakes and Ale. A little farther down the main road is a second memorial and we also found some peri-track.

The friends of Leiston Airfield, FOLA, UK airbase, 358th Fighter Group, 357th Fighter Group
357th Fighter Group
The 357th Fighter Group
8th Air Force Fighter Group - Littlefriends.co.uk

358th Fighter Group
8th Air Force 358FG


We have quite a few pics form this site so there is more to come. I'm also hoping to take my '51 there next year for their Memorial day...would be neat as I am friends (On FB) with one of the guys who flew here and he sometimes makes it over the Pond to come and pay his respects. Would love to be able to get him in my '51 !
 

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More good stuff guys. You really should think of putting all this together, along with maps, airfield plans and so on, into some sort of publication. Great work, and looking forward to more.
 
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