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B-17 booking confirmed for USAAF Festival


M5Clive

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We are delighted to announce that the operators of the only airworthy B-17 Flying Fortress outside of the USA has today confirmed their participation in the USAAF Festival, being staged in East Anglia this Summer.

 

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On Saturday 14th July, the Uk members of the 388th Bomb Group Memorial Committee are holding an official dedication ceremony at the Colney Weston 388th BG Memorial, to coincide with the visit of the USAAF Festival WWII Military Vehicle Convoy.

 

HMVF stalwart NOS, has been quietly working away on organising the dedication ceremony, where the recently installed wing stones, listing all members of the 388th BG that were killed in the line of service, will be unveiled and dedicated. This ceremony has been purposely planned to coincide with the 'USAAF Festival' and the 'Our Little Friends' Hangar Dance at Hardwick Airfield on the evening of Saturday 14th.

 

Unlike so many events this summer that are being compromised by the vast aerial exclusion zone in the South East due to the Olympic Games, the 388th BG Knettishall Heath memorial ceremony at Colney Weston falls some distance outside of the zone and will therefore not be effected.

 

Full credit to the Uk based 388th Memorial Committee for not only finding a private sponsor to fund the aircraft's participation for the benefit and enjoyment of all concerned, but also for ultimately honoring the memory of the men of the 388th BG who flew and maintained the operational airfield at Knettishall Heath 1943 ~ 1945, in the most fitting tribute imaginable.

 

Its going to be quite a day.

 

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'At just two and a half years old, Amelia Stevens is fascinated by the many names inscribed on to the new 388th BG Memorial Wing Stones at Knettishall Heath, England.......but is still far too young to appreciate their significance. As time goes on, she will start to understand why such beautiful memorials are placed in the rural countryside close by to where she is growing up.'

Edited by M5Clive
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  • 2 weeks later...
Hi there has anyone got any more info on the convoy route as i would like to take as many photographs as posable and post them here.

 

Regards Chris

 

Hi Chris

 

The convoy route(s) will not be finalised until closer to the date and will (even then) probably need to be amended at short notice to suit the timing schedules we will be working to.

 

That said, the convoy(s) will not be anything like as ambitious as the Operation Bolero 2007 event, primarily as a result of the hike in fuel prices over the past 5 years and also the wider ambitions of this week long festival.

 

The big convoy day will be Saturday 14th when the assembled vehicles will drive from base camp (wherever that will be in mid-suffolk) to the 388th BG Memorial Dedication ceremony at Knettishall Heath and return to Hardwick, Norfolk for the Hangar Dance in the evening. We never take a direct route on busy main roads any more than possible, as Ed Abbott always maps us out a picturesque journey off the beaten track as we don't like to hold up all the traffic!

 

I will happily provide you with the exact convoy routes nearer the time, but sadly their are no plans currently to take the MV convoys as far south as Martlesham, Ipswich.

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  • 2 months later...

Just a quick update to advise that a time slot for B-17 G Sally B to display over the old 388th Bomb Group airfield at Knettishall Heath, Suffolk has been requested between 12.45 and 13.15 on Saturday 14th. I believe a typical display by the B-17 lasts for around 10 minutes duration.

 

It looks like we are going to have quite an impressive array and wide diversity of wartime military vehicles in the convoy visiting Knettishall for the Memorial Dedication Ceremony on the 14th.

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Hi Chris

 

The convoy route(s) will not be finalised until closer to the date and will (even then) probably need to be amended at short notice to suit the timing schedules we will be working to.

 

That said, the convoy(s) will not be anything like as ambitious as the Operation Bolero 2007 event, primarily as a result of the hike in fuel prices over the past 5 years and also the wider ambitions of this week long festival.

 

The big convoy day will be Saturday 14th when the assembled vehicles will drive from base camp (wherever that will be in mid-suffolk) to the 388th BG Memorial Dedication ceremony at Knettishall Heath and return to Hardwick, Norfolk for the Hangar Dance in the evening. We never take a direct route on busy main roads any more than possible, as Ed Abbott always maps us out a picturesque journey off the beaten track as we don't like to hold up all the traffic!

 

I will happily provide you with the exact convoy routes nearer the time, but sadly their are no plans currently to take the MV convoys as far south as Martlesham, Ipswich.

 

That would be great thanks Clive. :-) So far i have the weekend off so am looking at arriving at the hotel Saturday morning for departure then off to snap along the route !? hopefully i shall be with you all the way to Hardwick where im looking at camping and doing the Hanger Dance to !

 

Chris

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