Old Buckenham then. The perimeter runway strip surrounded 3 runways in the shape of a triangle. The figure 8s were known as "hardstands", basically parking areas for the heavy bombers.
Old Buckenham now. One can still see the impression left by the old base. It is still an operating airfield with one short runway for small planes - lower left. If you look at the enlarged image you will note that the new runway has an older looking extension. That extension is a piece of the original wartime runway. The perimeter has been basically destroyed down to a width about the size of a small road, but it is still visible from the air.
The entrance into today's airfield.
A small memorial to what was here.
Looking out across what used to be a massive wartime airfield and base.
Part of the old wartime runway. Now an extension of the new runway.
The local village children swarmed to the airfields. The airmen were their heros. On the left is a 10-year old boy, Pat Ramm with a friend of his and an American airman. A B-24 can be seen in the background.
In the middle is Pat Ramm today. He spent an afternoon with Sandy and me taking us around the village and airfield. He is a noted local historian of the 453rd Bomb Group and Old Buckenham. His home is a literal museum.
Not much remains of the old base infrastructure. It's quite sad to think about.
This is the old perimeter runway, now cobbled down to the width of an automobile. During wartime, B-24s would leave their hard stands and line up nose to tail around the perimeter. When the mission was launched, one by one they would turn onto the runway and take off in succession - an amazing sight to see.
This is where the perimeter on the right, intersects with the main runway on the left.
This is William Leyselle, the manager of the current airfield. These are pictures of the airfield - then and now.
The 453rd Bomb Group was broken down into 4 bomb squads. Dad was in the 732nd Bomb Squad. This was the 732nd hardstand area, now just a grass field. From this spot, Dad climbed aboard a B-24 31 times. Thankfully, he climbed out 31 times.
This was the B-24, "El Flacko". Dad flew a couple of missions onboard. It was shot down on a subsequent mission.
A pub in the village that was a popular hangout for the servicemen. We met a lot of friendly locals there who were happy to share their memories.
The train station at Attleborough - it looked about the same then when Dad rolled in aboard a troop train.
The train station in Norwich. Not much has changed.
This is the ancient cathedral in Norwich. Sandy and I attended service there on Sunday morning. It was truly awesome. It was built 1000 years ago.
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