Author: Aviationtrails

B-17 – A Fascinating Film of ‘A Bit O’ Lace’

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RAF Rattlesden, was home to the 447th Bomb Group, this consisted of the 708th, 709th, 710th and 711th Bomb Squadrons.

Possibly the most famous aircraft from this group was the B-17 ‘A Bit O’ Lace’ immortalised by Airfix as their 1:78 scale model.

I recently had the good fortune to come across this film on ‘You Tube’, taken by one of the crew members of ‘A Bit O’ Lace’.  It was taken at various points during the war and gives an insight in to the lives of the young crew of the B-17 during World War 2.

The film includes, scenes around bombed London, RAF Rattlesden and on missions over Europe, the exact locations are not clear.

The film also includes a Lancaster, believed to be N0. 100 Squadron Lancaster III ED587, HW-V, which shot down  on the night of 9th/10th March 1943 over Munchen.

Other ‘guest’ aircraft include P-51s and P-47s.

The film is priceless.

I visited Rattlesden earlier this year and it appears in Trail 15.

Their memories lay in tatters.

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Losing more aircraft to accidents than enemy action, in over 170 bombing missions, the 34th never received any unit decorations.

Based at RAF Mendlesham (Station 156) in Suffolk, the memorial is dilapidated and vandalised and the brass plaque has been stolen. Plans are afoot to rectify this, but it takes time and money to honour the fallen.

Mendlesham is part of Trail 15 which tours central Suffolk, England.

RAF Mendlesham

RAF Mendlesham

 

A B26 – that holds a remarkable record…

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B-26B of the 449th BS (322ndBG)  – ‘Flak Bait‘  – went on to complete a total of 207 missions; more than any other American aircraft during World War II, a record only surpassed by a DH Mosquito of the RAF. This aircraft returned to United States after the war and is now housed in the Smithsonion National Air and Space Museum as a reminder and memorial.

Station 468, Bury St Edmunds (RAF Rougham) is now a museum and small active airfield that pays homage to the crews of the USAAF. Visit Trail 16 and see what remains.

Photo by MSGT Bernard Leroy Oligschlaeger (1921-1976) USAAF – Gunner/Radioman in 394th BG/586th BS

Cold and unhomely, it was home to 2000 personnel

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“The admin blocks were designed to accommodate 1,845 men and 250 women, in a large area to the south of the airfield. Tuddenham had a total of 12 administration and technical areas spread across the entire site. Hurriedly built, the accommodation blocks were unheated, cold and un-homely“.

RAF Tuddenham, located in the western side of Suffolk, close by to RAF Mildenhall, one of the USAF’s busiest bases, was home to Stirlings and Lancasters of RAF Bomber command. They suffered heavy losses in the bombing campaign over europe.

Visit Tuddenham today in Trail 16.

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Tuddenham village sign depicts a Lancaster of 90 Squadron RAF flying overhead.

The 1000th Douglas built B-17 served at RAF Glatton

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The 1000th B-17 constructed at the Douglas Long Beach Plant, USA, number 42-38113, went to serve with the 457th BG at RAF Glatton. Named ‘Rene III’ by its crew, it served its last mission, No. 214, on March 21st 1945 over Hopsten, when it was hit by flak, and crashed. Luckily all but one of the crew, Aircraft Engineer, Sgt William Wagner, evaded capture. Glatton has now been updated and added to ‘American Ghosts‘.

A small active airfield, it was once a thriving community, housing a vast number of American crews and support staff. All that remains is a water tower, sections of the runway and a superbly crafted memorial stone. But, hidden away in the local church, someone is watching out for missing comrades.

Col Luper with ‘Rene III’ the 1000th Douglas built B17 at Glatton, England.

For the Fallen – Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

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To all those who went before, Laurence Binyon’s 1914 poem is widely used in remembrance services across the world. It was published 100 years ago today. http://wp.me/P4xjD9-8u

For the Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death August and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England’s foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

(Published in The Times newspaper, 21st September 1914).

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For the Fallen – Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

A Heroine Meets an Ungainly Ending.

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Originally designated ‘Louie the Creep’, B-17 42-97976 was repaired and  returned to Rattlesden as ‘Bit o’ Lace’. She went on to complete 82 missions in total before being returned via Bradley Field, Boston, to Kingman AAB for storage. Later she met an ungainly ending being stripped and scrapped on 9th November 1945.

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B-17 42-97976 ‘Bit o’ Lace’ after the attack on Kiel, 4th April 1945 (author unknown)

‘Bit o’ Lace’ earned notoriety whilst serving from RAF Rattlesden in Suffolk. She is famous for several special reasons one of which is for completing a mission with only half a tail.

What’s the other?

 

A Fire so Fierce it Took Four Hours to Extinguish

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In November 1944, a Mosquito of 608 Squadron, RAF Downham Market, returned from a mission to Gelsenkirchen, Germany. A successful mission overall, but this was to be the last time Mosquito KB364 and its crew would fly.

The night was cold and possible icing may have prevented Pilot Officer James McLean and Sergeant Mervyn Tansley, from maintaining altitude. Their flight was about to end abruptly.

Bawdeswell, a small, quiet village in Norfolk, believed to be home to Geoffrey Chaucer’s uncle, was about to make history once more. Find out what happened that night over Norfolk.

Bawdeswell Village Sign Reflects the Incident that Night.

The Bawdeswell village sign reflects the incident of that fateful night.

One of the lowest loss records of the Mighty Eighth……

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By the time the war had finished, the 490th had completed 158 missions losing only 22  aircraft in combat; one of the lowest records in the whole of the Eighth Airforce. Immediately after cessation of the conflict,  the 490th continued to fly, supplying food and supplies to the people in the Netherlands and other humanitarian operations involving allied POWs across Europe.

The 490th also had another less salubrious claim to fame…

Eye

RAF Eye, Suffolk