Saturday 1 August 2015

WW2 Day at Museum



Today we had the WW2 day. Sadly I was not able to dress as a 'spiv' and sell bottles of whisky and petrol for a profit as they would have done, I have neither the moustache nor the sharp suit required.  However I did my usual running around act, avoiding real work, and chatting up the pretty girls.  Life can be so hard.  



As we crunched our WW2 biscuits, very good indeed, and listened ta a talk on Wethersfield airfield the band outside tuned up their sound system.  I suggested waiting till the talk ended, they agreed and as I returned our speaker offered Glenn Miller & Bing Crosby, both of whom visited the airfield to encourage the troops.  Nothing was remarked concerning Glenn Millers disappearance, this was put down to his crashing at sea in fog but it appears he was accidentally bombed by returning RAF bombers offloading their bombs in the dropping zone in the channel as he passed underneath in the other direction.  
The 416th Bombardment Group flew 145 missions in Douglas A-10G Havoc's losing 70 men in the process.  Some 14 of these men still meet regularly including one who is now 100 years old, the youngest is still referred to as 'Kid' by the rest in spite of being in his 90's. 



Moving swiftly on as the RAF did that day we find the exhibition went well, many passed through, many chatted, many listened to the talks (the other one on the 'Women's Land Army' the girls who worked the farms when the men were away) and most tried the WW2 cake slices, quite dry but forced me to go back for more and then drink tea.  In did not have time to take more pictures (who said hooray?) but I have found my knees aching.  I also shook hands with the Council Chairwoman, thus indicating I move in high circles. 

I am even more knackered now than ever.  A quiet week next week I think.


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11 comments:

soubriquet said...

Nice Jeep! Rare to see one with a machine gun mount. The reg. number is an age-related previously unissued scottish plate. I'd call it 'Elvis'..You see a lot of old landrovers with plates in the 'VS'sequence. I have friends whose old landrovers are known as 'Mavis' and Hovis'.


On a thursday, I meet with an eclectic group of blokes I mostly label as 'The Old Farts', Our most recent member is a 95 year old called frank... er.... Oh well, I;ll remember eventually. B24 Liberator pilot. Italy, I'm waiting for next Thursday for the next installment!
This weeks was the bombing raids on Ploesti, Romania. It was apparently the most unfavourite target, because Hitler deemed that the key to the Nazi war effort was keeping production of the Ploesti oil refineries active, which meant it was a priority for the best fighter squadrons and the best anti-aircraft gunners in the Reich. Apparently the commander had free rein to poach AA gun crews from anywhere, over-riding other commands. Somehow Frank did his fifty missions and was sent back to train new pilots, most of his pals died.

carol in cairns said...

Mmm ~ I bet there was some crunch if those bikkies were from WWII. You are such a social butterfly Adullaman. Good for you. Great pics.

Kay G. said...

I would have liked this I am sure. Funny about the license plate..LVS being ELVIS...MVS..MAVIS..HVS...HOVIS. You Brits are so funny.

Lee said...

The biscuits, cake and all the exhibits, including the pretty girls certainly would've gotten you "In the Mood" for a "Moonlight Serenade". Did you give any of them "A String of Pearls" before they jumped on board the "Chattanooga Choo Choo" at "Tuxedo Junction"?

Unknown said...

Hmm, I do not remember hearing that about Glenn Miller possibly being bombed before. He was one of my dad's favorites, but I do not think he ever got to see him perform.

Unknown said...

By the way, I would be rather shocked to read you telling Kay that you-all are not as much funny as illegitimately-educated.

the fly in the web said...

I suppose that the weakness of the knees accounts for the curtsey you gave the chairwoman as you shook hands...

Adullamite said...

Soub, Ploesti oil refineries were indeed a terrible target. No fighter escort, huge effective ack-ack and many planes lost there.
I bet your man will not forget that! I wonder what other vehicles these guys have? they run a small museum at Ridgewell airfield as was and have quite a lot of stuff.

Carol, Carol, Carol, the biccies were made recently! They are not WW2 leftovers, there were no leftovers during WW2!

Kay, You would love this! (I am Scottish, not British! Soub is a Texan Yorkie!)

Lee, No, but I kissed them goodnight sergeant major.

Jerry, He certainly did a lot of appearances at army and airfields.
There were certain 'paths' across the channel to ensure safety for our lot and to be wary of those deviating from the path.
A young pilot in a Lysander is thought to have flown Miller across but possibly did not comprehend what the bombers would do. Several crew claimed to have seen a plane below when the bombs fell. It would not have done to inform the world the RAF had killed Glenn MIller!

Jerry, Illegitimate is one of the things I have been called before now....

Fly, The chairwoman and I are just good friends, friends clean one another shoes don't they...?



soubriquet said...

Glenn Miller was flying in a Noorduyn Norseman, not a Lysander. Allegedly these had problems with carburettor freezing, which caused the engine to cut out in certain weather conditions.

"Using flight logs and the discovery that another plane actually was accidentally bombed, Spragg has shot holes in the friendly-fire theory. In order for Miller’s plane to have been taken down by the flight of Lancaster bombers, time would have had to shift by an hour and the small plane would have had to be 20 degrees off course. This theory grew out of a tall tale told by one of the Lancaster pilots in a bar in South Africa in 1984, Spragg says—“So why not tell the story in 1944?” - See more at: http://www.colorado.edu/music/about-us/news/revealed-what-really-happened-when-glenn-miller-disappeared-1944#sthash.m7bXVDXR.dpuf"

Adullamite said...

Soub, That's very interesting! How strange the files were locked away so long. Tsk! I'll have to change the story now.

Kay G. said...

Hey okay then, you SCOTS are very funny. I am just getting my head around saying "Brit" instead of "English" and I STILL get corrected. In the vernacular of my son's generation, my bad. :-)

And hey, at least I know not to say SCOTCH! (We have Scotch tape, by the way, and you say cello tape...why is that?)