Carlton Colville 2015

Today, in the cold and grey weather, there was a short ceremony remembering 2nd Lt. Robert Portsch and Staff Sergeant Douglas Seavert, who died when their plane crashed 70 years ago in a field near the village. It is so touching that, after all these years, the boys are still remembered.

Heavenly Body Crash

One of my Facebook readers sent this to me yesterday. Although the memorial isn't in Norfolk or Suffolk, it does commemorate a crash that involved a crew from Station 134, Brome/Eye. The "Heavenly Body" from the 490th Bomb Group. Thank you, Chris!

Chris says it is between Nailstone and Ibstock, Leicestershire. (Americans, this is pronounced Lester!). Here's the local history page from leicestershirevillages.com: Heavenly Body Crash

And a couple of other sites: Airfield Information Exchange, AAF blog

Presentation to the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum

I was at the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum today, to give them a copy of the Norfolk Suffolk Memorial database. The weather was gorgeous, and I was able to climb to the top of the control tower for a fantastic view of the open fields. It's an amazing thing to stand in these places, and try to imagine what would have been happening 70 years ago.

Here I am with Ron Batley, the Curator of the museum. They are a great crew of volunteers at this museum, and it's always a joy to be with them.

During my visit, Ron showed me their latest acquisition: a wooden cross which had originally marked the grave of two American Airmen in Germany. It had been in the village churchyard, and then stored for safekeeping. It's quite a story--from the crash, to what happened to the crew, right up to last year, when the cross was brought here with the help of the American Air Force.

Inside Mildenhall story

Aviation Trails Story