Jack Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 I am on the emailing list for the WORLD WAR TWO AIRFIELDS & RADAR STATIONS website and Shaun has an amazing collection of images. The lastest update is the - Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress ("Stella") Recovery Airfield Construction. I am not sure where this is but it may be the one in Dorset near the Bakers Arms pub - Steve, do you have any info on 'Stella'??? N.O.S - some images of a hard cab Autocar and engineers trailer. A great site and one that I would suggest you put in your favourites. B-17 link http://worldwar2airfields.fotopic.net/c1586003.html'>http://worldwar2airfields.fotopic.net/c1586003.html'>http://worldwar2airfields.fotopic.net/c1586003.html Website - http://worldwar2airfields.fotopic.net/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M5Clive Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 Great Pictures Jack. Look at the Studenbaker Corp. stencilling on the wooden boxes that the radial engines are sat upon and also the MP in Enlisted mans overcoat patrolling the grounds (maybe for the camera!) Do we know where exactly this scenario was happening? A similiar scenario happen just a handful of miles from here with a B-17 of the 91st Bomb Group. This event was captured in full colour and the pictures appeared in the 'Popular Science' magazine in the US shortly afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 Great Pictures Jack. Look at the Studenbaker Corp. stencilling on the wooden boxes that the radial engines are sat upon . I recently met a U.S. mechanic veteran who was at Poddington and a couple of other bases. I made the mistake of mentioning Studebaker licence-built engines..... After he'd calmed down a little, he told me they always got really fed up when they saw the Studebaker crate coming out, as they knew it would not be long before they had to do yet another engine change! He reckoned they just did not compare to the real thing and many lasted only a few hours. Kept muttering something about tolerances and quality. But better than nothing I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted October 1, 2008 Author Share Posted October 1, 2008 Update - On the 7th April 1943 Boeing B-17F-65-BO named "Stella" was on a delivery flight to the UK from Marrakesh when the aircraft unfortunately ran out of fuel. More fortunately the aircraft was able to make landfall just west of Poole in Dorset where it made a successful forced landing in a wheat field within the parish of Lytchett Minster, not that far from the Royal Navy Cordite Factory at Holton Heath. The aircraft was comparatively undamaged, and as was often the case in such circumstances, it was decided to fly the aircraft out from where it had landed. For this purpose the US 347th Engineer Unit created a temporary runway in only 9 days while a Mobile Repair Unit of the US 8th Air Force Service Command made repairs to the aircraft. The aircraft successfully took-off on 27th June 1943 and joined the 544th Squadron of the US 384th Bomb Group. The aircraft served until 4th April 1944 when, after 28 missions, it was withdrawn and returned to the USA on 3rd July1944. The aircraft was scrapped at Altus Airbase, Oklahoma on 17th August 1945. The US 347th Engineer Unit levelled the field surface following the succesful take-off of the aircraft. - http://worldwar2airfields.fotopic.net/c1586003.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Wow the trouble they went through for one B17! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted October 1, 2008 Author Share Posted October 1, 2008 Yes and this is just down the road from me...........I have a cunning plan:coffee: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 You are going to crashland a B17 and see if they will build a new runway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M5Clive Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 I can clearly see I'm going to have to watch my back with such quality information as that Jack...................Do you want to take on the job of researcher for my next book project!? Of note, the 384th Bomb Group were based at Grafton Underwood in Northants, and this was the airfield where the first B-17 Bombing Mission flown from England was undertaken from by Eighth Bomber Command on August 17th 1942 (or thereabouts.) Interesting story Jack, particularly being so local to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted October 1, 2008 Author Share Posted October 1, 2008 Clive - next time you are down we will have to go and find the field....! Interestingly I can't find any mention of it on the list of plane crashes in Dorset - perhaps it isn't classed as a crash :??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M5Clive Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Clive - next time you are down we will have to go and find the field....! Interestingly I can't find any mention of it on the list of plane crashes in Dorset - perhaps it isn't classed as a crash :??? One of my good friends is Stan Bishop, who lives locally to me and has written the two 'Bible' volumes on all the 8th & 9th USAAF crashes/incidents/write-off's that took place inthe Uk during WWII. What he doesn't know isn't worth knowing! His interest was sparked (along with his brother Cliff Bishop - Author of 'Fortresses of the Big Triangle First' when as schoolboys, they would jump on their bicycles as soon as they heard the thrump of an aircraft crashing and race to the scene - often being the first to arrive and before the emergency services. You talk about shielding children today from things with health and safety...............What those children saw (along with countless others all across the Uk) would literally make your blood run cold. I took both the Bishop brothers back to a B-24 & B-17 mid-air collision in rural Suffolk in July this year. Along with them came Bernard Forsdike from Ipswich, who some of you may remember from the visit to Leiston during Operation Bolero. They easily identified the exact spot where both aircraft ended-up, even disagreeing between them over a manner of 20 feet! As we walked back to the Chrysler parked on the single track road, Cliff commented to Stan "Where Clive has parked the car was where they stacked the remains of the bodies-up and wrapped them in army blankets, Do you remember Stan?" Just one crash (claiming the lives of 20 young American men) out of countless crashes, that was an everyday scenario throughout the skies and villages of East Anglia and the rest of the country for that matter. Did it effect those kids??? Well it certainly effected the Bishop brothers - so much so that they spent much of the subsequent peace-time years making efforts to memorialize what those guys went through during WWII and now both in their mid 70's, they are more active than ever in keeping the memory alive. Three suffolk school-boys take a ride down memory lane - July 11th 2008 Stan Bishop reflect on his childhood memories of a suffolk field, 64 years previous. Cliff Bishop deep in thought about that day, 64 years earlier Stan Bishop picks-up a piece of twisted aluminium laying on the soil - The only reminded of the carnage that the field had witnessed decades before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Great story Clive! How many planes crashed on British soil is that known? I read in a museum not long ago that over 1000 planes are still somewhere in the Dutch soil, most with the remains in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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