Jack Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Now where were we.........oh yes, going down to Upottery to take some pictures of the airfield for Don Burgett. Don left there on D-Day along with over 1300 101st and 82nd Paratroopers in 81 C-47's. The airfield took a year to build and it was built by Irish labour, it was build to be used just for one day which was June 5th 1944. It was of course used a lot longer than that as when the pilots came back from the Normandy drop they went back over on resupply duties. on June the 7th 50 C-47's towed 30 Horsa and 20 Waco gliders carrying just under 1000 Glider Infantry troops that were part of the second airborne invasion, looking at the airfield which is now ever so quite you just wouldn't what a massive part it played in freeing the world. I am very interested in having an MV/reenactors weekend down there next year but have to give that some thought. Here are just some of the pictures. Maps of the airfield, for context purposes - the left using runway 27. . http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/UpotteryAirfieldMap.jpg[/img] http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/UpotteryAirfieldBirdseyeview.jpg[/img] . The control tower. http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/IMAG0021.jpg[/img] . http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/IMAG0027.jpg[/img] . http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/IMAG0028.jpg[/img] . The ground floor http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/IMAG0034.jpg[/img] . The stairs http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/IMAG0030.jpg[/img] At the top of the stairs http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/IMAG0037.jpg[/img] . A room on the top floor with the kiddies looking out a runway 27 http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/IMAG0047.jpg[/img] . When in Normandy the kiddies picked up a stone from the church at Angoville au Plain, the church is famed for its "bloody pews". On D-Day June 6, 1944 and the days that followed, the church was used as a medical aid station by men of the famed 101st Airborne Division and more specifically two medics from the 501st PIR, named Robert Wright and Kenneth Moore. The two men saved the lives and eased the suffering of many a friend and foe alike. Unfortunately, a small child from the village was unable to be saved. They placed the stone that they brought back on the viewing platform of the control tower. http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/IMAG0049.jpg[/img] . . Bridies tankers jacket that is full of signatures of 101st 506th Vets that left from Upottery. http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/IMAG0044.jpg[/img] . Family on the viewing platform which is now minus its hand rails. http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/IMAG0039.jpg[/img] . Runway 27. http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/ElizaOrb.jpg[/img] http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/RW271.jpg[/img] http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/RW272.jpg[/img] The last standing sentry box, there were three orginaly. When the airfield was sealed off just prior to the invasion the only wayin or out of the base where through these points. This 'building' is now a listed building so now it can never be destroyed. This is also the memorial to all of the men who left the base, never to return. All of the crosses are still there and are now sealed behind perspexs. . http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/sentrybox.jpg[/img] http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/sentryboxpoppies.jpg[/img] . Just two of the fields that were used as 'tent city' by the troopers. http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/Tentcity1.jpg[/img] http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b107/richmorris/Tentcity2.jpg[/img] . Overall, a very special place, I love it there. Best wishes. Jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Brillant photo's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Superb photo's Jack and I for one would attend a weekend there next year, one thing does get me thinking though, how did you get that photo from up high when your back was so bad, was the painkillers you were on that good :-o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted September 29, 2006 Author Share Posted September 29, 2006 Thats easy Mark. I was stuck in the car and Anne took the pictures :schocked: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodge Deep Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Nice pics cheers Conspicuous by your absense :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Because of the weather the photo's have a sad atmosphere. I like the gesture with the stone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted September 29, 2006 Author Share Posted September 29, 2006 and I for one would attend a weekend there next year Ok Mark, that is now two of us :mrgreen: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Great pictures and story. What an excellent family outing (reminds me very much of my pelgrimage to Eglinton Airfield). Get well soon, Jack! Hanno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessie The Jeep Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 .....The last standing sentry box, there were three orginaly. When the airfield was sealed off just prior to the invasion the only wayin or out of the base where through these points. This 'building' is now a listed building so now it can never be destroyed......Jack. Just because it is listed doesn't mean it can't be destroyed. I recall seeing pictures of a listed aircraft hangar being knocked down by the car factory company that built on the airfield. They waited about 20 years after the site purchase, then claimed the building unsafe and demolished it. History never stands in the way of making money. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 Part of our Southampton plant includes the original Spitfire hangars - a listed building in it's own right - and Germany have been trying to get it demolished for years.......... You wouldn't believe how close they've come on occasion because money talks.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted September 30, 2006 Author Share Posted September 30, 2006 Just because it is listed doesn't mean it can't be destroyed. I recall seeing pictures of a listed aircraft hangar being knocked down by the car factory company that built on the airfield. They waited about 20 years after the site purchase, then claimed the building unsafe and demolished it. History never stands in the way of making money. Steve Good point, but now with the power of the internet, more things are seen by more people = more pressure can be applied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its me Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 i think that would be a great idea having a military vehicle show there at a place which played such a vitial role in d-day and ww2 and the way the world is today but it could also be our show as well ie the HMVf military show but i think it would be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest matt Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 Good point, but now with the power of the internet, more things are seen by more people = more pressure can be applied. I'm afraid when it comes to it most people won't actually DO anything,even if it just means putting pen to paper. Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 I'm afraid when it comes to it most people won't actually DO anything,even if it just means putting pen to paper. Matt. . Unfortunately Matt you are absolutely right there, Maes Artro springs to mind but as Artists Rifles said money counts and of course 'influence' :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted September 30, 2006 Share Posted September 30, 2006 This would be an amazing place to have a MV show. But I suspect most of it's aura comes from seeing it deserted and in moody weather. Who owns it or is it just abandoned? I suspect you'll see a new town on it in a couple of years. So if there is to be a show make it nowhere near Beltring or Kemble and make sure that if it is a one off - it is brilliant. Maybe the Essex contingent would consider a road run? I don't even know where it is and I want to go. On a related subject, photographing these sites in detail is very important. It is correct to get a mixture of arty and pure record pix. Even when you go somewhere on a well trodden path try and get your take on the place. These snaps will all have a value one day. I spend a lot of time out on the WW1 battlefields of Flanders and the Somme (etc) and looking round UK memorials and also cemeteries for war graves and it is very special to do this. I'm out there at half term snapping the graves and memorials of men from the newspaper company I work for (aside from just wanting to be there). Keep up the good work folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted October 2, 2006 Author Share Posted October 2, 2006 Guy, just thought you maybe interested in a reply to the images that we took at Upottery from Don Burgett............ jack, I just viewed your posted photos - - - - - When I got to the runway I just sat and stared, you can't possibly know what that view did to me. Thank you for taking the time, trouble, effort and your pain to get the photos. Also thanks to your kiddies for thinking of bringing the camera along with their dad after taking the pictures. Or the other way around. Jack, give our thanks to the person who gave you permission and the combination to the lock to enter the hallowed ground in our names. He could have said "No." Right now I can hear the pilots cranking the engines, the cough and fireing as they caught and revved up. The pilots pushed the throttles to proper RPM, checked their mags and gauges the C-47 shook and vibrated as though eager and we were silent to the man. The ship farthest to our left added throttle, moved forward toward the runway, did a right ninety and paraded left to right before us as vanguard, moving between us and the runway, heading to the right end of the runway and take-off point. We watched the flames of exhaust in the growing dark as the ship, filled with 101st Eagle men loaded with tools of war shadowed past. It became our turn, the ship shuddered and moved, turned right and followed the ships in line before us. At the end of the runway we did a left 180, lined up with that runway, the ship in front of was gathering speed heading away from us. Our pilot firewalled the throttles and we went as over a bumpy country road heading toward the skies and Normandy. When the gear cleared the ground we were airborne, we cheered as one breaking the silence. We were going to war. To my recollection I never saw the control tower. All the while we were in the marshalling we were busy from revellie to taps studying maps, arial photos, listening to breifings, studying enemy weapons, studying men dressed in various enemy uniforms parading in and out of our tents unannounced, cleaning and recleaning weapons, sharpening trench knives, placing weapons on our bodies to see where we as individuals found them best suited, and everything else it takes to get ready to spearhead an operation as large as The Normandy Invasion. The control towers are located on the runways; the only time we got to the runways was when we arrived at our assigned planes and then we had to get pararacks ready and installed on the belly of the planes. Count our ammo, load our weapons and make sure all was in readiness. Once in the plane and all was loaded outside and inside it was beginning to get dark and we were preoccupied with other things. Jack, what memories. Thank all of you from all of us. Don Burgett, I suddenly feel a little older tonight. *thanks to Don & Mark Bando and Trigger Time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 Wow straight from the "horses mouth" as well, neat :cry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 :clap: beatifull reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share Posted January 21, 2007 Just thought I would bump this one back up to the top :whistle: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian2b Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Just thought I would bump this one back up to the top :whistle: Glad you did bump this one as I must have missed it. Some great pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Thats easy Mark. I was stuck in the car and Anne took the pictures :schocked: Did Anne go up in the plane Jack, I bet you was gutted to miss out on that view then or are you afraid of heights :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M5Clive Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Like Ian, I am also very glad you bumped this one back up Jack - Don't know how, but I also totally missed it back in September. We visited Upottery in October 2001 when staying with friends in Exeter - Naturally it doesn't seem to have changed judging by your photo's since our visit. The one thing that amazed me however, and something that I wasn't really aware of during our brief visit, it the sheer amount of concrete (both runways and hardstandings)that clearly still exist, as visable from the aerial photograph - This is something special. I live on the edge of the old USAAF Heavy Bomber base at Eye airfield, Suffolk, which was home to the 490th BG with both B-17 and B-24's. My garden backs onto one of the old loop type hardstandings, and if I were to look out of my bedroom window in 1944, I would be able to shout over to the ground crews fueling there bomb laden aircraft and have my washing dried courtesey of a wright-cyclone revving-up! I am only 3 miles from Thorpe Abbotts and have over a dozen WWII airfields within a 12 mile radius of home. However, none (in Suffolk at least) are as untouched or complete at Upottery appears to be from that photo. This site really needs saving. For those of you coming to OPERATION BOLERO - Tour of the Dromes, you will get the opportunity to visit 3 fully restored Control Towers identical to that in your photos at Upottery - It will be interesting to see how that Control Tower could be restored, just like the volunteers have up here at Debach, Framlingham and Thorpe Abbotts. We will be visit all three during the course of the weekend convoy. The thing that captures my imagination more about Upottery however, is the sheer number of loop type hardstandings that still exist. This is now getting ever rarer on old WWII airfields, as a think-tank has recently come up with the idea of using satellite imagery to source all unused old concrete, with a view to reusing - See the recollections section on www.redballexpress.co.uk The hardstandings are where the ground crew worked and often actually lived in the better weather. These parking areas for the aircraft would have seen so much activity. What we need is a rich multi-millionaire to join HMVF and let us talk him into buying this old airfield, with a view to returning it to its former glory :-) We can all dream - Can't we? Cds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Got to admit Clive - it's a lovely dream!!! :-) :-) :-) Don't suppose anyone fancies trying to convert Richard Branson to MV - and aerodrome - ownership do they??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 Got to admit Clive - it's a lovely dream!!! :-) :-) :-) Don't suppose anyone fancies trying to convert Richard Branson to MV - and aerodrome - ownership do they??? What are you doing with your retirement fund come June Neil :whistle: Just a thought it would go to a good cause down there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodge Deep Posted January 31, 2007 Share Posted January 31, 2007 A wonderful dream indeed... A/C on their hardstanding, Bomb tractors & trailers, Jeeps, Bowsers, G/crew, flight crew, bicycles scattered everywhere... The clang & rattle of wrenches drifting across the base in the warm summer breeze. To get lost in something like that would be superb Ahhhhhhh :yawn: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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