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The Dropzone September 2003

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The Dropzone September 2003 HARRINGTON AVIATION MUSEUMS VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 THE DROPZONE SEPTEMBER 2003 Carpetbagger’s UK Reunion 2003 By Ron Clarke After considering local hotels we decided to make the Aviator Hotel at Sywell airfield the base for the visit. It proved to be an inspired choice, it was newly renovated and the accommodation and restaurant/bars were deco- rated in thirties Art Deco style, luckily the intense heat wave of a week later hadn’t arrived, as there was no air conditioning/another problem averted! The staff were very friendly, and provision was made to settle all bills by card. Aviator Hotel at Sywell When the 801/492nd Association in America decided to hold the 2003 reunion in England I must admit to hav- ing a few qualms about their intentions. The veterans would be over Eighty, jetlagged and worn out mauling luggage from the airport. Clive Bassett and I were asked to organize things over here, and one essential seemed to be to make provision for medical problems. We needn’t have worried, some were a little jaded after their journey, but they were intent on enjoying their stay, and after a night’s sleep they were up and raring In the bed chamber at Sulgrave Manor to go! No one was missing from SPECIAL POINTS the roll call for the first day’s OF INTEREST activities, and the coach set off for Sulgrave Manor. We IN THIS ISSUE: were met by the ‘Lord of the Manor’ in medieval dress · Ron Clarke recounts who proceeded to give an the recent UK Reunion entertaining history of the of the 801st / 492nd Washington family com- BG Association bined with a tour of the house. This lasted for · John Harding tells of longer than I had antici- his visit to the Kline pated, and after a nice Crew Memorial at luncheon we set out, for Lang-le-Sec in France Althorpe, where we arrived two hours later than · Clive Bassett and his planned. tale of the Welbike, that is now exhibited at the Carpetbagger The Lord of the Manor at Sulgrave Aviation Museum PAGE 2 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 Our reception at the gate was decid- On Wednesday we set out for On the ‘Wall of the missing’ which is 427 edly frosty, "We had given you up Maddingley Cemetery where feet long, and built of Portland stone are said the head doorman". but he let us 3182 headstones commemorate the names of 5,126 missing in action, through the guardroom and everyone those buried in the vast area of lost, or buried at sea. The architecture is seemed to enjoy the magnificent remembrance. almost Taj Mahal like, with a water fea- house and Diana memorabilia. ture leading up to a magnificent chapel. The staff had identified 801st 492nd headstones with US/British flags and the visit included a wreath laying service at the impressive flagpole. Members of the group take a well earned rest in the Stableyard at Althorpe The Queen has asked me to thank the veterans of the 801st/492nd. Group Association for the kind letter sent Carpetbagger Grave at Maddingly on the occasion of your reunion. She was also interested to read about the special missions flown during WWII. Maddingley American Cemetery Inside the Chapel at Maddingley THE DROPZONE PAGE 3 The weather since their arrival had been sunny with blue skies, and Thursday was no exception. It was Clive’s turn to be courier, and the destination was Stratford on Avon. After a visit to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, everyone was able to do some sightseeing around the bard’s birthplace, and do some shopping. In the evening the Sywell Aviation museum opened their doors for the Americans and the hotel laid on a barbecue, We had a few songs round the keyboard and Trevor Turner gave them a rendition of Gunga Din and the green eye of the little yellow god this went well, C130 Talon Flypast at Memorial but some very English jokes via a dicey sound system didn’t fare so B24 Dugan at Duxford well, still you can’t win ‘em all! We then took the coach to the Im- In the evening we had laid on a The forecast for Friday was rain perial War Museum airfield at Dux- cabaret in the Cirrus Room after a and low clouds —they were right! ford, where the main attraction was nice dinner. The entertainer put on This was to be the day of the final the newly restored B24 in the mag- a very professional show which farewell to the old base, starting nificent American Air Museum. The ’brought the house down’, he really with a visit to the famed Carpet- number of aircraft on display and had them eating out of his hand! bagger Museum. They were sur- the operational airfield feel of the prised at the quality of the displays, place makes it the premier Air Mu- which covered the history of their seum in the UK. Group and the RAF SD Squadrons at Tempsford Inside B24 during restoration work Carpetbaggers at the Museum before the ceremony at the Memorial B24 during its restoration PAGE 4 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2 We were to have a service at the The girl parachutist couldn’t take services at previous reunions and memorial at noon, when Steve off from Sibson as the clouds were as before it proved one of the high- Richardson, a US Chaplain from too low, but the rain didn’t seem to lights of the visit. Alconbury was to address the gath- effect the poignancy of the service. ering followed by a few words by An address by the Group Chair- After the lunch we took the coach Major Chris Ireland from the SOC man, Sebastian Corriere was fol- round all the old airfield sites and Command at Mildenhall. A girl lowed by a low flying pass of a although there were few buildings parachutist was to descend and massive C130 Talon aircraft from remaining, there was a feeling of place a wreath on the memorial in Mildenhall. nostalgia when they were shown memory of the agents and airmen where the Nissen huts, runways, who were lost on operations from John Hunt and his wife Angela and dining rooms used to be. Harrington. After a session with have always been good friends of The last sight of the old base was television cameras at the museum the Carpetbaggers and they had for some of the veterans through the veterans embussed for the me- invited everyone to a luncheon at tear laden eyes. In the evening a morial service. This seemed to be their farm near the memorial. Ow- farewell banquet was laid on at the the cue for a torrential downpour! ing to the rain the lawn was aban- hotel with pre-meal Pimms and The service went ahead as doned and one of the farm barns flower bedecked tables. This was planned, but umbrellas were the was used to accommodate the now the only formal occasion of the order of the day. rather wet coach load of veterans. week and everyone dressed ac- John and Angela had given their cordingly. After the bacon wrapped chicken in ‘Wild mushroom sauce followed by Lemon meringue, Sebastian Corriere thanked the organizers, and welcomed Major Chris Ireland from the Special Op- erations Command at Mildenhall who was to be the guest speaker. An associate member from Bel- gium then made a sincere if rather protracted address giving the achievements of the group. Major Ireland then gave an illustrated talk on the activities of the SOC organi- zation A letter from Buckingham Palace was then read out in response to congratulations sent to the queen on the Golden Jubilee of her reign, ‘The Queen has asked me to thank the veterans of the 801st/492nd Group Association for the kind let- ter sent on the occasion of your Carpetbaggers at the airfield memorial reunion. She was also interested to read about the special missions flown during WWII’. A copy of the letter was then given to those present. On Saturday morning the veterans went their separate ways, some stayed in the UK for a few days others made their way to the air- ports and back to America. Sixty years after arriving at Har- rington the Carpetbagger veterans departed for the last time. The Kline Crew— see John Harding’s article on his recent visit to their memorial on page 5 THE DROPZONE PAGE 5 John Harding visits a Memorial to the Kline Crew Whilst on a camping holiday to France The B24 was downed by a German Gerard Marcq at the age of 17 in 1944 in June, my wife Rita and I managed to Messerschmitt Me 110 night fighter on witnessed the plane rapidly coming find the Monument to the Kline Crew in the night of 4/5 July, 1944 whilst carry- down in flames, crash and exploded the village of Lagny-le-Sec some kilo- ing out a supply drop mission to the barely 600 metres aw ay from him. The metres north east of Paris. It is beauti- Maquis in France. The mission was not crash took place about 700 metres fully inscribed with the names of’ the carried out as full containers were lo- away from a German airfield on which 850th Bomb Squadron crew: cated at the crash site. 10 –15 Messerschmitt fighters were S/Sgt Arthur G. Abate (tail gunner), based. During daytime the planes were 2nd Lt Richard J. Brace (Navigator) Next to the 4.5 ft. high monument of hidden under trees which have since 1st Lt Charles R.
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