Event Coverage Lucky B@stards Hot Rod Run - USAAF air bases in UK

The ‘Lucky B@stards Club’ was an informal club for US airmen who had survived their bombing missions over Europe during WW2. They were issued with a certificate, like this one below to a tail-end Charlie from the B-17, ‘Ol’ Scrap Iron’.

I set off on Friday in my Merc, together with mate Andy, on what would be over a 4 hour drive to join the start of the run.
I believe there were about 700 airfields in Britain during WW2. (Including those of the USAAF, RAF Bomber, Fighter, and Coastal Commands, Training bases, etc.) The one we were going to be camping on for the weekend was at Old Buckenham, once home of the US Army Air Force’s 453rd Bomb Group, and still operating as an active airfield, though only on a small corner of the original site.

This rod run was a low-key, invite only event, keeping it all manageable. It was organised by ‘Drew’.
I have known Drew for years, having met him when we both turned up in our rods at a rockabilly event in Belgium. His car caught my eye back then with its raw look, and the WW2 gunsight mounted on the cowl. He has had the car since the 1990s.


Drew is not only into hot rods, but collects memorabilia relating to the USAAF’s time in Britain, that is displayed to the public at a number of related museums he volunteers at, hence the focus of this Rod Run.
He has in more recent years built another A that was left at home this weekend, as he currently has the carbs apart. This rod features more than a few nods to his ‘aviation interest’.



Note that the steering column is the cooling jacket from a 50-calibre machine gun. (Photos Custom Car Magazine)



The 4 levers that look like aircraft throttles are actually paired, so that two operate together as the shifter, while the other two operate the handbrake. Starter button is from a Spitfire, horn button a repro B-17 yoke badge. The fuel tank is a WW2 bomber oxygen tank. Inside, as you’d expect, are bomber seats and lap belts. The roof insert was made using a piece of wing fabric, as used on Hurricanes, over a wooden frame, then suitably doped and painted. A Willys Jeep donated the brake pedal and master cylinder. All this is powered by a ‘52 Olds V8.

The campsite was obvious on arrival by the presence of some old cars,……


And some old faces.




We were given a tour of the museum exhibits on site, including some not yet ready to go on display.


We all enjoyed a laid back Friday evening, with food and drink supplied by the on-site ‘Liberator Café’.


It would have been wrong not to raise a glass in honour of this airfield’s wartime Operations Officer, Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart.

James Stewart had already completed some 20 missions from another base nearby, Tibenham, before transferring to Old Buckenham. During one mission an anti-aircraft shell burst in the wheel well of his B-24, creating a large hole between the pilot and co-pilot. Stewart lost his map case and parachute in the explosion, and when the plane landed, the fuselage cracked apart just behind the cockpit. Stewart apparently remarked to one of the ground crew, “Sergeant, somebody sure could get hurt in one of these damned things.”
At the same time as James Stewart was at Old Buckenham, another future Hollywood star, Walter Matthau, was also at the base. He flew on missions from here serving as a Gunner and Radioman.

I’m usually up very early, while all is still quiet, well, except for the snoring emanating from various tents!



As well as hanging my nose over the cars in the early morning stillness, I thought about the dramatic events that had unfolded on this very airfield all those years ago. Men had died here endeavouring to protect the freedoms that I have enjoyed throughout my life. Men like 20 year old B-24 Tail-Gunner, Freeman "Billy" Plyler, from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He was on a Liberator bomber built by Ford named ‘Little Agnes’, that just after getting airborne lost power and stalled. It hit the runway hard, just a short distance from where I was now standing, and slid on its belly into a ditch. One of the bombs on board then exploded, setting off a chain reaction that led to the death of eight of the ten crew, including Billy.

Freeman Worth "Billy" Plyler




The memorial in the shape of a B24 tail fin close to where we were camped is dedicated to the 366 aircrew that lost their lives flying from this airfield.


As rodders emerged bleary-eyed from their tents, the café once again fed us and we were ready to drive off into the Norfolk countryside.
Driving down the backroads and country lanes around these airfields you realise just how little this part of England has changed. One could easily imagine airmen from the various bases driving down these same roads on their way to a pub, or local dance, for a little R & R between missions.
For someone like me, used to driving London’s over-crowded roads, it was nice to be blatting through open countryside, with only other hot rods for company. However, if another car comes the other way on some of these single tracks, my Merc would really have to ‘breath in a bit’!


In the war years the lanes next to these airfields that we were now scooting along, sometimes saw aircraft careering across them during crash-landings, or aborted take-offs. For example, this RCAF Lancaster landed with a full bomb load and was unable to stop. It continued off the end of the runway and finally came to rest in the middle of a road, minus its undercarriage.



And this B-17.


Not clear in the picture is the up-turned truck wedged under the wing. The truck’s young English driver, in the wrong place at the wrong time, was sadly killed.

 

More country lanes – With just the sound of Flatties, Olds, Chevys, Y-Blocks, going through the gears – No sounds of Pratt & Whitneys to worry about today.



First stop was an Aviation Museum at Bungay, home of the 446th Bomb Group.










Liam’s Model T is no ‘Lumbering Lizzie’!

Though later that day, after some enthusiastic driving, Liam broke his gearbox, again
Obviously the boxes are the weak link.

Worth keeping…..


One B-24 bomber that flew from Bungay was called ‘Henry’s Pride’.


After having had a large hole ripped in the wing by cannon fire, the crew all bailed out, most of them over the area where the museum now stands. However the pilot, Lt Cecil Miller, left it too late, in order to steer the aircraft away from hitting some barracks. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.

Next stop after Bungay/Flixton was another museum in some restored buildings at Hardwick, home of the 93rd Bomb Group.





We then drove on to another part of the airfield site where there was, with the agreement of the owner, some ‘messing about’ on the grass air-strip, with special instructions not to crash into the Texan or Stearman that fly from here! (Many of the concrete runways from these airfields have suffered neglect, been ripped up for hardcore for our motorway network, or had building put on them, hence the grass strip.)




We then headed off to Hethel, home of the 389th Bomb Group. More country lanes.


The Hethel base is now home to Lotus cars and their Classic Race Team. They provide circuit driving experiences on the old runways and perimeter track.

Back in the war a 389th B-24 skidded across one of the lanes next to the Hethel base.


After a ‘driving experience’ of their own, airmen are seen trying to extricate one of the gunners, William Valentine Pletcher, who I imagine was held firmly in place by the weight in his under-pants! He survived, and went on to become a Detroit Firefighter, living to age 92.

William V. Pletcher back in USA.


Hethel has a museum inside some of the original buildings, including the chapel that still has the artwork on the wall.



Time then to head back to Old Buckenham and more country lanes.




The Low Flyers Hot Rod Club in UK was formed around 1982, and one of the club’s original members, Clive, was on the run in his ’32.


Members of that club have always had something of an interest in old airfields, as demonstrated by the photos in these links. (Taken in the 1980’s at the old Bruntingthorpe airfield.)
low-flyers.co.uk/generalgallery.html
low-flyers.co.uk/kukgallery.html

 

Another base nearby that unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit this trip, is Snetterton, once home to USAAF Marauders and Flying Fortresses.


Like many airfields in the UK, Snetterton went on to be used for car racing after the war. Sterling Moss drove the EX-181 here. This MG based streamliner ran 254mph at Bonneville in 1959.


Back at Old Buckenham and with a few miles under my belt I thought I’d better check the fluid levels, etc. Wouldn’t want to have to drop out of formation on account of poor maintenance.



When-ever I’m about to set off anywhere, I always have in the back of my mind the fact that I rebuilt the Y-Block myself, and wonder…….


Sunday morning we headed off to Thorpe Abbots and the 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum about a half hour drive from Old Buckenham.
Local volunteers have done a superb job of restoring the Control Tower at Thorpe Abbots and providing a museum that is a fitting tribute to the men that served here. These small museums rely on volunteers to keep them going. Of course they are also supported by Veteran’s Associations back in the USA , families of those involved, and members of today's USAF.





Getting ready to leave Thorpe Abbots, I thought about one B-17, "Hang The Expense", that had overshot the runway here and went across the boundary road, ripping off its undercarriage in the process. Would I unknowingly be driving past the exact same spot?


‘Hang the Expense II’ didn’t fayre so well either. It sustained Flak damage over occupied Europe, blowing the tail-gunner, S/Sgt Roy Urich, out of the aircraft. Amazingly, though injured, Urich was able to deploy his chute and survived as a prisoner of war. Witnesses on board swear he flew through the air still on his small seat, still griping the handles of his machine guns.
Hang the Expense II made it back to England, despite some difficulties in controlling it.


And if you think Roy Urich was lucky, then check out Alan Magee, the B-17 gunner that survived falling from a height of 4 miles without a parachute! - A glass roof of a railway station rather abruptly slowing his descent!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Magee

Thankfully my journey home Sunday afternoon was very uneventful by comparison. – It didn’t involve crossing a featureless North Sea, navigating by the stars, being shot at, coming to a sudden halt from 120 mph, or having bits fall off! Furthermore, my ‘Navigator’ Andy, hadn’t bailed out!

As we had spent the weekend focused on the USAAF, Andy and I decided on the way home to peel off the main road, and to also pay our respects to our own RAF boys, at an ex-RAF, (and postwar USAF), base at Shepherds Grove.
I was able to drive onto the old perimeter track just as it curves round to the beginning of the runway.


While there I told Andy about one Stirling bomber that landed here, (pictured below). It had been shot up by a German night-fighter and the interior of the aircraft turned into a blazing inferno. The pilot miraculously managed to land it, as the crew battled the blaze. More details here - https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11756694/guniea-pig-club-doug-vince-archibald-mcindoe/


And once the Merc was safely put away, I picked up a couple of pieces of aircraft that I have sitting on a shelf in the garage. I was given these at Kingman Airfield, Arizona, while on a Route 66 tour a few years back.


It was at Kingman that some 5,400 WW2 aircraft were broken up and smelted into aluminium ingots. Apparently when it rains, pieces of aircraft like these, still come to light.
One of those aircraft broken up at Kingman was ‘Hang The Expense II’ mentioned above. Who knows, maybe the bits I was holding came from that aircraft? Whichever one they came from, if they could speak, what stories they could tell.




And maybe some of that aluminium melted down at Kingman lives on in our hot rods? All that speed equipment made in the immediate post war period, - the ally had to come from somewhere!


Seems appropriate to end this post with a picture by my favourite artist Tom Fritz, entitled ‘No Louder Thunder’.


Keep ‘em Flying!

 

Fantastic -thank you very much!

 

one of the best posts I have ever read on the hamb, thank you

 

What a lovely write up of the weekend Chris. Very, very well done.

 

I salute them fly boys!!!!!....

 

A really fine piece. Thanx

 

Great write up......and some familiar cars as well, including Mark Gee's 3 window (unless he's sold it?) as well as Clive's 5 window.
As someone who has flown in a B-17G and used to own a collection of USAAF kit and uniforms, including the uniform of a B-24 pilot who was interned twice in Sweden after crash landing there twice, this has to be the best rod run in the UK....very jealous

 

OUTSTANDING post. Thanks for taking the time.

 

A very well crafted mix of literature and history, thank you.

 

Wonderful post, pal. Very poignant.

 

Post of the year,,,,,mesmerizing!

 

Amazing post, thank you for it.

 

great thread!

 

Simply outstanding!!! Best post in a long time!

 

A wonderful mix of then and now. And done very very well.! Absolutely one of the finest posts I have ever read here. Thankyou, some bitchin cars too!!! Lippy

 

Thank you for posting this...the old and new pics and the history of it all. Its awesome that you combined the car event with honoring those that have fought in wars for our freedom. Some people don't appreciate the sacrifice that our military gave/give to maintain our freedom.

 

Phenomenal post and one heck of a day! Thanks for sharing!

 

Indeed the best post ever. Thanks

 

Good photos, but great commentary.

 

A great post featuring two of my passions, Contemporary History and hot rods, thanks!

 

JAPCHRIS, Thank you for that most excellent post. Brought back memories of my dad (Royal Canadian Engineers) and my FIL (RCAF wireless/navigator/gunner). They and thousands of others are why we are here today enjoying our lives of freedom. Sorry mods, but if our respective governments could give a better shit about our vets that would be a better thing. Anyway I throughly enjoyed the post and would have enjoyed it even more live. Looking forward to more posts of yours,
historical or not. Thank you, DoUg

 

Fantastic! So much history and just up the road from where I live. Been to Flixton a couple of times.

 

Just exceptional.

 

Wow - Thanks for sharing

 

Memorial Day and Veterans Day are not once a year observations, to me they are 365 days a year of honor and thankfulness. We enjoy a rather silly hobby at the expense of many that gave their all for us. Never forget. Thank you for your post!

 

So cool... and so many additions to my computer desktop album..

Fantastic!