2014

TM3185 : RAF Bungay (USAAF Station 125) - Aero Club mural (10)

taken 10 years ago, near to Flixton, Suffolk, England

RAF Bungay (USAAF Station 125) - Aero Club mural (10)
RAF Bungay (USAAF Station 125) - Aero Club mural (10)
Many murals can be seen in the Aero Club building > Link but here the airmen have decorated a whole room, with the centre piece being a map of the United States of America. The annotated outlines of the individual states form a border around all the walls.
RAF Bungay (USAAF Station 125)

Bungay airfield was constructed by Kirk & Kirk Ltd in 1942, with a main runway of 1.8 kilometres in length and two intersecting shorter secondary runways. The technical, administrative and domestic buildings were located around the edge of the airfield, mainly in the west, in order to lessen the impact of enemy attacks.

The airfield was used by the Twelfth Air Force 428th Bombardment Squadron, 310th Bombardment Group (Medium); followed by the 329th Bombardment Squadron, 93d Bombardment Group (Heavy) and later by four squadrons of the Eighth Air Force 446th Bombardment Group (Heavy).

After the war it was handed over to the Royal Navy, and later came under civilian use before the runways and tracks were broken up for aggregate in the 1980s.

One of the eight Communal sites (Site 4) has survived in the grounds of Grange Farm complete and in good condition and whereas some of the Headquarters buildings on Site 2 have long since been dismantled, at least some others are still in place.

Please note that all these buildings are situated on private land and can be accessed only by the owner's permission. My grateful thanks go to Mr L.A. Hinsley for allowing access onto his land at the Grange, and to Mr A.R. Hinsley for giving permission to photograph the Admin site buildings on his farm.

Information about the airfield, complemented by exhibits, can be found at the Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum which is only a short distance away from the airfield.

See also: Link

WW2 USAAF graffiti and artwork

During WW2 the US Army Air Force (USAAF) occupied many of the aerodromes in East Anglia. In their spare time some of the servicemen decorated the walls of the buildings they lived and spent some time in with graffiti and murals. The 'noses' of many of their aircraft too were often embellished with paintings and, presumably to boost morale, bombing missions flown and downed enemy aircraft were recorded by either painting bombs or swastikas, often several rows of them, onto their aircraft. Others drew personal mission boards onto the walls of their barracks huts. Skillfully executed paintings depicting aircraft, semi-clad women, cartoon characters or landscape scenes have also been recorded. Some of this wartime artwork has been preserved in restored buildings and some has been extracted and is now on display in museums, but much remains in situ, often unrecorded, deteriorating in decades-old damp buildings and sadly, a lot has already been lost.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Evelyn Simak and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
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TM3185, 87 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Evelyn Simak   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Sunday, 18 May, 2014   (more nearby)
Submitted
Tuesday, 20 May, 2014
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TM 3111 8587 [10m precision]
WGS84: 52:25.3169N 1:23.8499E
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TM 3111 8585
View Direction
North-northwest (about 337 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Supplemental image
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