Pictures from Old Buckenham......

As always, click on a picture to see a larger image.

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.

Wednesday - On to Cambridge & Madingley

As always, click on a picture to view a larger image.

We departed London Wednesday morning - destination Cambridge about 65 miles northeast of London.

Most would imagine that our reasoning was to see this wonderful town/city of colleges, cathedrals, museums, etc. Well, it is stunning. As you walk through the city center, one passes college after college, the most note worthy of which are Cambridge and Kings's College. These structures date back 1000 years. We passed a cathedral that had been holding Christian services for over 700 years. We think that all things of significance have been invented or developed in the 19th and 20th century, but the ancients had amazing knowledge and understanding of construction engineering.

But the real object of our visit to this area was to see the American War Cemetary in nearby Madingley. I wish each and every American could have been with us today. This cemetary holds the graves of 3800 American servicemen stationed in England during World War II, most of which were with the Eighth Air Force.

Pictures say more than words.

The names of the buried are on this wall.

The chapel, a very sacred place.

The alter in the chapel

The ceiling in the chapel

The memorial display in the chapel. A camera doesn't do it justice.

My father was a gunner onboard B-24 bombers, similar to this airman carrying his 50-caliber maching gun.

My father flew 31 combat missions over Nazi Germany, but was fortunate to beat the odds and live to tell about his experience. He was very, very fortunate. Thousands were not so lucky. The British are to this day profoundly thankful for the role of the Americans in World War II and this sacred spot is beautiful, awe-inspiring and majestic. The civilized world owes much to this generation of brave Americans.

London - Monday & Tuesday

On Monday, I revisited the Penge Corps where the corps officers made a wonderful presentation to me about the history of the corps, and they made available to me the historical records of the corps. While many of them date back to the early 1900s, none go back quite far enough to reveal any specific information about Emma and Violet Henderson.


I did scan some wonderful period photographs of the corps and of the Penge area from that era. Penge was the location of the massive Crystal Palace and it dominated the landscape in that era. It burned in 1936; however, there are many references to it throughout the neighborhood.


Penge Corps - late 1800s



Penge Corps Women - Late 1800s


Penge, The Crystal Palace in background. Circa early 1900s.

On Tuesday, I visited the Army's Internation Heritage Center located on the campus of the William Booth College for Officers Training in south London. I had previously corresponded with Gordon Taylor, the director of the center. The college campus is absolutely breathtaking and awe-inspiring.












William Booth, founder of The Salvation Army


Gordon is also a noted Salvation Army music archivist. For those not familiar with the Army, the role of music and the history of their music is very important to the entire organization. He of course was very knowledgable of my grandfather, Sidney Cox and had pulled out several files for me to review. I fired up my scanner and went after it for a good little while. In the process, I found many new articles, correspondence, pictures, etc that I had never seen before. I have previously traveled to the Army's historical centers in Atlanta, Chicago and Toronto and have amassed a fairly impressive collection of archived material to compile my own personal library of Sidney Cox - his music and his life. I look forward to sharing this with the rest of the family.


Click on image to enlarge.
The first page of a two-page article
from the Swedish edition of The War
Cry on the occasion of the death of
Sidney Cox.

Sunday Evening at The Salvation Army - Penge Corps

A couple of notes before I share this story -

1. You should be able to click on any photo to see a larger image.


2. Saturday night, we went to the Prince Edward Theatre in west London to see The Jersey Boys - the story of Franke Valle and The Four Seasons (and their music). I've never enjoyed a night of entertainment more. It's a must see, especially if you grew up in the 60s.

On last Sunday night, I had arranged for Sandy and me to attend the evening service at the Penge Corps of The Salvation Army in south London. For more insight into "Why Penge?", see my previous blog "Family History in London."

My maternal grandmother, Violet Henderson Cox, wrote about her childhood in 1912 at the age of 17, and she said this:

"In 1901, my family removed to Sydenham, a suburb of London. My first recollections are of companions and games, and happy days spent in a private school.

At the age of eight, I remember coming in contact with The Salvation Army for the first time, at Penge Corps. Although so young, it made a very great impression on my mind. It seemed that I could understand the ways and methods of the Army, better than any other organization. Although so young, I had my juvenile opinions as to religion etc, and always having great desire, in my childish way, to be good. At once a great love for the Army and its people seized me, with a corresponding desire and longing to be good, as I grew older.

At the early age of nine years, in a crowded Army meeting, on the 23rd of October 1904, when the invitation was given, I went right to the Penitent Form, where I know I was pardoned of my sins. From that time onward I felt that I belonged to the Army, and there was my place. While I have had many struggles, as only any young convert has, yet I have realized more and more that the hand of God has been upon me, and He has been showing Himself to me more and more each year."

Amazingly, we found that in Penge, the Army still operates in the same building in which Violet and her mother, Emma worshipped. The interior of the citadel has of course been modernized; however, it is clearly recognizable from old photographs that I examined. Even more amazing, the original Penitent Form remains at the front of the citadel, the very "Mercy Seat" where young Violet knelt in 1904.






Click on picture to read this inscription


The Penitent Form at Penge.

For those not familiar with Salvation Army terminology, other protestants would think of The Penitent Form as the alter. For Salvationists, it is at the Penitent Form that one finds forgiveness for you sins and the gift of Salvation. It is also known as the "Mercy Seat." All Army citadels have a Penitent Form.

It was a lovely service lead by Majors Ken & Anne Hawkins. From the program of service for the day, I found that in the morning service, they had used my grandfather's song, "God's Love Is Wonderful" - another thrill to see his music still being used. Of course, Violet Henderson married Sidney Cox in 1915 in Winnipeg, Canada.

Sunday Morning at The Salvation Army - Regent Hall

Sunday morning, I had arranged for Sandy and me to attend the service at the Salvation Army Corps at Regent Hall in central London, near Oxford Circus. While this particular corps has no direct link to my family, it is one of the largest and most popular corps in London, with a wonderful band and songster brigade. My grandfather, Sidney Cox left England for Canada in 1907 as a 19 year-old young man. During the remainder of his life, he only returned to his homeland one time in 1960. He visited the Regent Hall Corps on that occasion, an event that received coverage in an article in The War Cry, a Salvation Army periodical publication.



My Salvation Army contacts in London had told me that this being "holiday", that the congregation, band and songsters might be seriously depleted of members; however we found a quite large and enthusiastic group.


My grandfather was a noted Salvationist and composed a great body of music still used extensively throughout the world by The Salvation Army. He was very beloved by Salvationists everywhere.


For special music, the young peoples songsters performed an arrangement of my grandfather's song, "He Sought Me." This was a particular thrill, because the selection of this piece was made with no knowlege of the fact that I was to be in attendance. Sidney Cox was smiling in Heaven as he heard the children sing his song -

The Saviour sought and found me,

Far from the narrow way,

He made my blinded eyes to see,

On that wonderful, wonderful day.

He sought me, He sought me,

When I was wandering far away,

He found me, He found me,

Oh, what a wonderful day.

Later in the service, the band and congregation joined in for a rousing rendition of "I Want To Tell You What The Lord Has Done", a very popular upbeat piece composed by my grandfather. Just prior, Sandy and I were introduced to the congregation by the Corps officer, and this song was added to the service in honor of our attendance.

I want to tell what God had done,

Through Christ, his well beloved son,

How my poor heart he sought and won,

Can you wonder that I love to tell it?

I want to tell what God can do,

For sinners lost like me and you,

Of sins washed white and garments new,

Can you wonder that I love to tell it?

I want to tell you what the Lord has done,

What the Lord has done for me,

He lifted me from the miry clay,

Oh, what a happy day,

I want to tell you what the Lord can do,

What the Lord can do for you,

He can change your life as he did mine,

And make it anew.

(For my family, I have a vidio clip of these numbers; however, the file is too large to upload onto the blog.)

It exceeded all of my expectations to sit in London, where the Salvation Army was founded, and hear my grandfather's music and know that it is still loved and used. He was "Promoted To Glory" over 30 years ago.

Major John Reed, Corps Officer, Regent Hall