WW2 museum in Thurleigh appeals for urgent repair funds
Mr Stants said the building was constructed in the "early 1940s, in the middle of World War Two". "It's on an old airfield, which is open to the elements, and over the past few years with all the wet weather we've had, we've stated to notice things that need upgrading and repairing," he said.He aded that it was hoping to raise £2,500, and had already reached £1,100, which was "phenomenal". It is based at Bedford Autodrome, the former home of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Bedford.Mr Stants said families of the veterans regularly came over to visit from the United States."We want to give them a place that they know, that they can retrace their families footsteps and were we are there to support that," he said.He added that the repairs would "keep it going and keep the memories of those that served there".
The 306th Bombardment group arrived from the Wendover Airfield in Utah, USA, in September 1942 and went on to lead the first USSAF daylight bomb raid over Germany on 27 January.It completed 341 combat missions, the second highest flown in the Eighth Air Force and the first bomb group in the Eighth Army to complete 300 missions. At its height, the airbase was home to about 3,000 personnel.Mr Stants said their presence would have created a "large long-lasting impact on Thurleigh and this area of [north] Bedfordshire, it's really important that we can spread the message of what happened there".
On 26 April, 1944, nine members of the 306th Bombardment Group were killed shortly after they took off from the airfield. After experiencing an engine fire, the plane came down in nearby Bletsoe. Only the tail gunner, George Littlefield, survived.
Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
D-Day veteran receives new medals after old set stolen
A D-Day veteran has been presented with new World War Two medals 55 years after his original set was Bird, 101, from Freshwater East, Pembrokeshire, served in the Royal Navy during the moved from Gloucestershire to Pembrokeshire in 1970, and put his belongings in storage because the house he purchased was not ready. "I discovered about two years later that they had been stolen," he said. Mr Bird is one of the only remaining veterans in Wales that took part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, in the war, Mr Bird was posted to Asia, before he left the Royal Navy in 1946 to enter the family agricultural engineering an event held by Military Veterans Club Cymru in Glanaman, Carmarthenshire, on Monday, he was given new medals to honour his bravery."I didn't really miss them. But, nowadays with these marvellous volunteers commemorating the D-Days, VJ-Days, VE-Days, one needs to wear one's medals," he said."My children will be very pleased to have them. I've got three children so I'll have to divide them up."He was described as a "very modest" man by the club's chairman Owen Dobson, who said that Mr Bird did not want any fuss."We have managed to convince him today to come along and have his medals presented," Mr Dobson said."It's vitally important for Tony and his family, and of course the wider public, because the things they did for our freedom today should never be forgotten."As the veterans' club celebrated its first birthday during the event, entertainer Max Boyce attended as a special guest."These are remarkable people, and Tony with all his medals, he's an inspiration to us all," he said.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Bradford veteran on WW2: 'The bombs fell all around, but I survived'
Victory over Japan Day - or VJ day - on 15 August marks the day in 1945 when World War Two ended. Ahead of VJ Day, I have been speaking to my grandfather, one of the oldest surviving veterans of that conflict. "The Japanese bombed us. They wanted us to die. The bombs fell all around, but I survived," my grandfather tells Khan, or Baba Ji as I call him, has recently turned has lived through five monarchs, more than 20 prime ministers and countless it is the war he remembers as a teenager which has stayed with slipped into Punjabi as he told me how he was just 17 when he signed reason was simple, there was no food, no jobs, and the British Army paid a wage. "As a young man, along with other men from my village I served this country in the war and was proud of my service in the British Indian Army," Baba Ji service took him to Myanmar, then known as Burma, where he joined tens of thousands of other troops from the British Indian Army. Around 2.3 million soldiers served in the Indian Army during WW2, and 89,000 of them died in military was gruelling work, fighting in the harsh jungle terrain, often in extreme conditions, and relied on soldiers and support staff like cooks, drivers and road builders to keep supply lines moving. "We wanted to get our freedom from British rule and the only way was to help in winning the war," my grandfather of Asian labourers died building roads and carrying heavy loads through mountains and jungle, including the Ledo Road between China and India, working with basic tools and often suffering from tropical diseases like Ji's job was to look after the mules that carried supplies and ammunition."We'd eat bread, and we'd feed the horses the same meal," he told me. When I was a teenager studying history at school, he told me about friends and comrades who were captured by the survived, others did not. It is still too painful for him to talk about that part of his of soldiers died in the Burma campaign, many from Commonwealth countries, and their sacrifice and valour are immortalised in a memorial in the heart of Bradford."I have served this country all my life, with all my heart," Baba Ji told me."I wanted to join the fight against those who were against this nation."As far as I could see it was our motherland, where we laboured and to whom we gave our all."We did not differentiate between the English or Muslims in the army." After the war, the UK faced a labour shortage, and people from India, Pakistan, the Caribbean and other Commonwealth countries came to help rebuild the Ji, like thousands of others, moved to Britain in the 1960s and made Bradford his arrival changed many British cities, which became home to new communities and cultures."My family has been raised and educated here and my children and grandchildren work hard and serve and honour this country," Baba Ji over a hundred years between Baba Ji Mirza and his youngest great grandchild. They may not yet understand the significance of his story, but one day they will know about the courage and resilience of his reporting by Anil Kumar Bharath.
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Daily Mirror
'Ghost' village where time stopped in 1943 as everyone forced to leave and gates locked at dusk
Wartime era meant villagers who were forced to abandon their homes, they left a haunting note behind - and never retuned An abandoned Dorset village is like nowhere else in Britain, a bygone relic yet not forgotten. Devastating circumstances led to the residents being forced to leave their much-loved homes decades ago. Nestled on Dorset's stunning Jurassic Coast, visiting Tyneham village is like stepping back in time. You get a glimpse into the lives of the villagers who were forced to abandon the village in the Second World War. It was 1943 when the bustling community of Tyneham would see their lives change forever. It was the middle of World War Two as the British military requisitioned the village for training purposes. This meant devastated villagers were given a month's notice to evacuate their homes where many families had lived for generations. The government of the time claimed Tyneham village and the surrounding land to use as a base to train the Allied forces, as it is next to the Lulworth firing range. Villagers believed they were abandoning their homes for the greater good of the country and thought they would return once the war was over. A note was pinned to the church door, it read: 'Please treat the church and houses with care. We have given up our homes where many of us have lived for generations, to help win the war to keep men free. We will return one day and thank you for treating the village kindly.' Sadly though, the villagers could never come back to their homes in Tyneham as even when World War Two ended, the village and surrounding land became a training ground for military exercises Now the village, still frozen in time after nearly 80 years, is a 'thought-provoking and interesting' tourist attraction. It opens at certain times of the year and visitors describe its 'fascinating insights into the lives of residents'. When the village isn't open to the public, the gates blocking access are locked at disk every evening. One visitor's review on TripAdvisor reads: 'This deserted village has such an interesting history. The boards within the church detailing the villagers fight to be allowed to return to the village and the current position are very moving.' Another TripAdvisor review described 'a wonderful place - very atmospheric and sad but in a way that keeps drawing you back to visit'. The last resident of Tyneham, Peter Wellman died aged 100 in April this year - the centenarian made a final visit to the village in 2024, to see the place where he was born and brought up. In 2024, on his last visit to Tyneham, Peter remembered his childhood days, he told the Dorset Echo at the time: "We had no electricity, no mains gas and no running water – we had to pump that from near the church. "I remember going to the beach and fishing and we often had mackerel. We were happy until we got moved out." Tyneham village is situated within the Isle of Purbeck, however, it's not actually an island but a peninsula bordered by the English Channel in the county of Dorset.
