History - Taken from a newspaper article:-
Located a few miles from the Cambridgeshire border is Thurleigh, a quiet village that became home to an RAF base in the Second World War. RAF Thurleigh, built in 1941, was used by the RAF before being handed over to the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) only a year later.
The USAAF used the base to launch bomber operations against Nazi Germany. It was used by the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) which began landing their B-17 Fortress bombers at Thurleigh from September 1942.
The bomber group, also known as the 'Reich Wreckers', consisted of four squadrons that remained at Thurleigh throughout the war. They flew a total of 341 bombing missions which saw them go to places as far as Montbartier in southern France and Gdynia in Poland. Their planes dropped almost 23,000 tons of bombs during their time at the station, with combined flying miles equivalent to flying around the globe 11 times.
The base received some famous figures during its time, including members of the Royal Family. In July 1944, during a royal visit to Thurleigh, Master Sergeant Gregory presented the Princess with a bouquet of 24 white roses before she was introduced to the flight and ground crew of a B-17 bomber.
The Princess christened the airplane 'Rose of York' after breaking a bottle of English cider on its nose. It went on to complete a total of 63 combat missions before being lost on a raid to Berlin in 1945.
The station faced several tragic events. May 1942 marked the first time that an RAF aircraft crashed at the airfield, with another RAF Havoc nightfighter plane crashing in November later that same year. The nightfighter crashed at Rutters Cottages, killing pilot Sergeant Leonard James Casey from New Zealand.
In 1944, poisonous gas spread from the airfield after a training exercise. Later in the same year the station faced a mid-air collision between two Flying Fortresses, killing at least seven people in the aftermath of the crash. All are buried at the American cemetery at Madingley.
Today, the airfield has been divided into two parts: Thurleigh Business Park and the Bedford Autodrome. Located in the northern part of the former air base, is the Bedford Autodrome and the Thurleigh Museum, which is dedicated to the 306th Bombardment Group.
The Explore
It was a warm autumn day and we decided to take a drive from Southend up to see what was left of the Barracks after seeing an excellent report previously by @Wastelandr we knew it would be our type of explore, one that was interesting, but out of the way in the quiet part and not likely to bump into anyone.
I did a search on maps prior to the explore and found a perfect spot for the car, walking up a public footpath old warnings of 'Official Secret Act'' and 'No cameras' presented themselves on old faded signs so we knew were were getting close. We saw the fence and scoured for holes, of which there were multiple, but metres of nettles around all of them, then by luck we saw a hole further round the next corner, and we were in!
We had only just manged to get through the hole and by the first building and there was an almighty bang as a black cat jumped down and landed on a plastic container, we almost had a heart attack right there!
It turned out to be a nice relaxed explore and one that we want to go back to perhaps with the drone for some aerial shots.
Part 1
Located a few miles from the Cambridgeshire border is Thurleigh, a quiet village that became home to an RAF base in the Second World War. RAF Thurleigh, built in 1941, was used by the RAF before being handed over to the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) only a year later.
The USAAF used the base to launch bomber operations against Nazi Germany. It was used by the 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) which began landing their B-17 Fortress bombers at Thurleigh from September 1942.
The bomber group, also known as the 'Reich Wreckers', consisted of four squadrons that remained at Thurleigh throughout the war. They flew a total of 341 bombing missions which saw them go to places as far as Montbartier in southern France and Gdynia in Poland. Their planes dropped almost 23,000 tons of bombs during their time at the station, with combined flying miles equivalent to flying around the globe 11 times.
The base received some famous figures during its time, including members of the Royal Family. In July 1944, during a royal visit to Thurleigh, Master Sergeant Gregory presented the Princess with a bouquet of 24 white roses before she was introduced to the flight and ground crew of a B-17 bomber.
The Princess christened the airplane 'Rose of York' after breaking a bottle of English cider on its nose. It went on to complete a total of 63 combat missions before being lost on a raid to Berlin in 1945.
The station faced several tragic events. May 1942 marked the first time that an RAF aircraft crashed at the airfield, with another RAF Havoc nightfighter plane crashing in November later that same year. The nightfighter crashed at Rutters Cottages, killing pilot Sergeant Leonard James Casey from New Zealand.
In 1944, poisonous gas spread from the airfield after a training exercise. Later in the same year the station faced a mid-air collision between two Flying Fortresses, killing at least seven people in the aftermath of the crash. All are buried at the American cemetery at Madingley.
Today, the airfield has been divided into two parts: Thurleigh Business Park and the Bedford Autodrome. Located in the northern part of the former air base, is the Bedford Autodrome and the Thurleigh Museum, which is dedicated to the 306th Bombardment Group.
The Explore
It was a warm autumn day and we decided to take a drive from Southend up to see what was left of the Barracks after seeing an excellent report previously by @Wastelandr we knew it would be our type of explore, one that was interesting, but out of the way in the quiet part and not likely to bump into anyone.
I did a search on maps prior to the explore and found a perfect spot for the car, walking up a public footpath old warnings of 'Official Secret Act'' and 'No cameras' presented themselves on old faded signs so we knew were were getting close. We saw the fence and scoured for holes, of which there were multiple, but metres of nettles around all of them, then by luck we saw a hole further round the next corner, and we were in!
We had only just manged to get through the hole and by the first building and there was an almighty bang as a black cat jumped down and landed on a plastic container, we almost had a heart attack right there!
It turned out to be a nice relaxed explore and one that we want to go back to perhaps with the drone for some aerial shots.
Part 1
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. I personally find culling images the hardest thing to do, and I know a lot of people do. What I'll do is tick all my favourites, then come back a few days later and tick the best of those. The fresh eyes help to be more ruthless.
