Chairs are unstacked
A B-17 Memorial, The Oaksmere Hotel, Brome, Suffolk - 10th November 2023
It's the culmination of the project that Clive's been involved in for a while - to construct a memorial to the 13 aircrew, four civilians and a horse that were killed when a Pathfinder B-17F, on a secret mission from Alconbury via Thorpe Abbots, crashed in the field next to our house on the 10th November 1943 - 80 years ago. And it's quite the event too, with over 100 people in attendance, including Fred who's representing Hartismere School, alongside Amelia and several other Year 10s. There's also a turnout from local news outfits BBC East and ITV Anglia, both of which run a feature on the event on the evening news bulletin, which we watch one of at the Oaksmere. Most significant though are the relatives who have come over from the US for the occasion, and the relatives of the locals who were killed on the ground as they worked on clearing a ditch near Rectory Road, where the doomed aircraft ended up. During a two-minute silence, there's a special moment when a giant Suffolk Punch horse clops up the drive, providing a poignant and almost ghostly echo of the horse that was also killed alongside the 17 people, in what remains Mid Suffolk's worst wartime aviation disaster. After the memorial enveiling, Nosher tags along as Clive has arranged for the relatives to visit the museum at Thorpe Abbots itself - from where B-17 Finger M Mike, known as Stinky to its crew thanks to its H2S "Hydrogen Sulphide" radar - took off on its fateful last flight. After the chance to look around the museum, which has been opened especially, the relatives are presented with pieces of the original runway - the last ground the airmen would have touched.
next album: The Gislingham Silver Band at Botesdale Remembrance, Suffolk - 12th November 2023
previous album: Painting the Set at the Village Hall, Garboldisham, Norfolk - 8th November 2023
Fred and Amelia watch the proceedings
Clive checks the running order
Grandad's old mobility scooter gets an outing
Royal British Legion dudes with flags
Fred's handing out service orders
Milling throngs outside the Oaksmere
A veteran sits and waits
Flag bearers march up the Oaksmere's avenue
The USAF march up to the memorial
One of the relatives does a reading
The memorial is unveiled
Isobel watches as the servicemen's names are read
Isobel reads the names of the civilian casualties
Old Glory is unfurled
An enormous Suffolk Punch clops up the avenue
Flags are lowered for a two-minute silence
A couple of re-renactors appear in uniform
The horse at the memorial
Fred looks up
Fred and the Hartismere posse
A selection of poppy wreaths
The RAF dude takes a photo of the memorial
The re-enactors talk someone through their gear
Isobel gets a coffee in the Oaksmere
In the Oaksmere's restaurant
The Brome village committee, and Ginny Maning, vicar
A view from the restaurant
Clive gets interviewed by Alex Dunlop of BBC East
More ex-military dudes by the memorial
The relations return with the folded flag
The POW-MIA guy meets the horse
A mostly-relative group by the memorial
Isobel and one of the relatives
A group photo with the Suffolk Punch
The horse tries to eat the tree
The awesome Suffolk Punch clops back up the avenue
Alex Dunlop chats to Clive
Another group photo
The MIA-POW flag is furled up
Clive chats to someone in the Oaksmere
Alex Dunlop is caught eating cake
Clive's in the middle of it all
US airmen on the control tower at Thorpe Abbots
Steve in a Thorpe Abbots Nissen hut
The visitors listen to an introduction
Podcast Dude interviews a relative
The two airmen look out from the control tower roof
The airmen chat to a museum volunteer
A view of the Thorpe Abbots museum site
More chatting in the control tower
A telephone exchange
There's a tea break in the museum
A Wright Cyclone engine restoration project
The airmen head to the Nissen hut
A Luftwaffe photo is matched up in a reference book
A 351st plaque made out of granite
One of the former airfield buildings
There's a podcast interview on the control tower
A view of the perimeter track, then and now
A nice collection of A-2 flying jackets
More of the museum collection at Thorpe Abbots
A re-enactor shows some old photos to a relative
The relatives pose for a photo in the museum
Pieces of the original runway are given to the family
Clive looks at some more books
Fred in the Oaksmere
Isobel and Suzanne chat
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Chairs are unstacked
Chairs are unstacked
Fred and Amelia watch the proceedings
Clive checks the running order
Grandad's old mobility scooter gets an outing
Royal British Legion dudes with flags
Fred's handing out service orders
Milling throngs outside the Oaksmere
A veteran sits and waits
Flag bearers march up the Oaksmere's avenue
The USAF march up to the memorial
One of the relatives does a reading
The memorial is unveiled
Isobel watches as the servicemen's names are read
Isobel reads the names of the civilian casualties
Old Glory is unfurled
An enormous Suffolk Punch clops up the avenue
Flags are lowered for a two-minute silence
A couple of re-renactors appear in uniform
The horse at the memorial
Fred looks up
Fred and the Hartismere posse
A selection of poppy wreaths
The RAF dude takes a photo of the memorial
The re-enactors talk someone through their gear
Isobel gets a coffee in the Oaksmere
In the Oaksmere's restaurant
The Brome village committee, and Ginny Maning, vicar
A view from the restaurant
Clive gets interviewed by Alex Dunlop of BBC East
More ex-military dudes by the memorial
The relations return with the folded flag
The POW-MIA guy meets the horse
A mostly-relative group by the memorial
Isobel and one of the relatives
A group photo with the Suffolk Punch
The horse tries to eat the tree
The awesome Suffolk Punch clops back up the avenue
Alex Dunlop chats to Clive
Another group photo
The MIA-POW flag is furled up
Clive chats to someone in the Oaksmere
Alex Dunlop is caught eating cake
Clive's in the middle of it all
US airmen on the control tower at Thorpe Abbots
Steve in a Thorpe Abbots Nissen hut
The visitors listen to an introduction
Podcast Dude interviews a relative
The two airmen look out from the control tower roof
The airmen chat to a museum volunteer
A view of the Thorpe Abbots museum site
More chatting in the control tower
A telephone exchange
There's a tea break in the museum
A Wright Cyclone engine restoration project
The airmen head to the Nissen hut
A Luftwaffe photo is matched up in a reference book
A 351st plaque made out of granite
One of the former airfield buildings
There's a podcast interview on the control tower
A view of the perimeter track, then and now
A nice collection of A-2 flying jackets
More of the museum collection at Thorpe Abbots
A re-enactor shows some old photos to a relative
The relatives pose for a photo in the museum
Pieces of the original runway are given to the family
Clive looks at some more books
Fred in the Oaksmere
Isobel and Suzanne chat