European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 15, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Once squadrons of bv7s roared off on missions Over nazi Germany Bur today Lavertha is a deserted crumbling ghost base. Sas. Hunter by Bob hovers a . Bureau chief Ryphe names Are still chalked on the i Tower flight schedule at Lavenham Dorffeld although the letters Are faded the last Call sign  is still leg Ible and beyond the Tower the runway noise empty and cracked stretches  Green undulating Suffolk land  s an eerie and deserted scene. But it takes just a bit of whimsy and imagination to Crank Back the Calendar to the summer and autumn of 1944, to the win Ter and Spring of 1945.the Airfield is a swarm of activity. Everywhere men and machines Are on the move. Heavily Laden trucks grind across the new roadways. The whine of revving engines rattles every eat. Al Brief intervals four engine bombers lumber Down the runway and take off on missions against fortress Europe. All across the Field Jaunty yank Pilot sin pinks and greens hurry about their chores. That s the Way it was during world War u at Lavenham. The English air Field that bears the name of the town renowned for its crooked  than 2,000 americans of the 487th bombardment up for heavy an8th air Force unit were assigned to this pastoral installation 60 Miles Northeast of London. Since the americans left for the United states in August 1945, the build Ings gradually have fallen into decay Ana the land has been returned to the sheep and the plow. In Only memories remain. Occasionally an old Pilot a onetime bom Ardler or a gunner come Back to Lavenham to ruminate in the past to a Sinh my the hosts toe  and buddies who never made it Wien they stand transfixed for moment you can sympathize with them w you know they have been touched or i Rad 9f ume a forgotten face or a Long buried event i il1 Are others no visit Venham i Pineir interest is less personal. They my once uned Wlton Story and to Nevis the Airfield in Tes of con i Roary. Or inns and  ul8 � h f toe 48th tac fighter Wing Msj a Heath 25 Miles Northwest Oft he e a Niam often reflect on the role of a to Ajtan to"106 to world War to fight vow the abandoned of eld to but capt. James w. Anderson 30,Monterey, calif., and capt. Jay c. Langhurst 29, Cedar rapids Iowa Pilot for the 493rd tac fighter so at Laken Heath have developed More than clinical interest in Lavenham. Anderson first heard of the old bomber base when he read Suffolk  soon after that he began making trips along the perimeter of the Field in his car. When Langhurst joined the Squadron nine month ago he of became absorbed by the Field. During one tour the pilots met Farmer David Alston. It was this coincidental meeting that fed their cd  were invited to have Tea by Al Ston and his wife the Alston told the they knew dozens i americans during the War the. Bomber Crews were As signed there from april 1944 to August 1945 a sizable chunk of the Alsto farm 250 of 1,000 acres was requisitioned by the British air ministry for the Airfield which spread across 350 acres of prime land. A total of 600 acres Wasset aside for the Field and its approaches. During the 15 months preceding the arrival of the first americans the Tempo Rary buildings Many of them quonset and Nissen huts were hastily erected. The War years vere a Busy time Lavenham. I often look Back on them with a special feeling Alston said Ashe looked out across the abandoned  had Many friends among the americans and still correspond with some of them. When i met the boys they reminded me of some of the Young offi cer who flew the bombers during the War. On the whole they were quite in formal and a very Good Bunch. My wife and i were really quite fond of  children were Small then and the troops used to make a fuss Over  spirited Ruddy faced Man of Scot Tish ancestry Alston was born in1909 on the farm that became the site of the Airfield. As the Crow flies it just a mile from the town of Laven Ham. Alston referred to his temporary toss of the 25 acres As a Small sacrifice to make in time of War. His wife spoke about the crewmen who used to Stop at the farm House Fortea on sundays and the Lavenham ladies group which sponsored cultural veats for the americans. Her reminiscences reminded Alston of the passion trucks and they both laughed. As he explained that these were trucks from the base that we reused to transport local girls to and from . Alston said the noise of the first planes disturbed them. But before Longwe did t even hear them. We simply became conditioned to them she  was on Friendly terms with the american commanders and he re members col. Berm e Ley co author of twelve o clock High which was made into a film starring Gregory Peck after the War. During two trips to America the Alston have renewed friendships wit men who flew the four engine b17s. They have an added incentive to Cross the Atlantic. Their daughter Elizabeth Alston her married name is  Lansing is food editor of look Magazine and makes her Home in new  Are others in Lavenham who remember the american presence atthe Airfield. Farmer Godfrey Rix who contributed a piece of land to the base recalls the Day a bomber crashed in a Field adjacent to the  was one of those wartime Acci dents i think the entire Crew was killed he said. Of the memories Are tinged Svith sadness. There was the farm boy from the Middle West of whom heals tons were especially fond because he had helped with the threshing. He failed to return from his 34th Mission one Short of the required tour of 35. On Christmas Eye 1944, five plane were lost on bombing missions in sup port of american ground troops during the Battle of the bulge. They were without fighter escorts which we relate in joining them because of fog. Four squadrons and As Many As 70 planes were assigned to  Field s wartime designation was station 137.the first Crews to arrive flew b24 liberators but these soon were re placed by b17 flying fortresses. A a. May 15, 1968 now Only memories remain. Occasionally an old Pilot a onetime Bombardier or a gunner come Back ,. ,99 the stars and stripes using a tour of facilities he said the officer s club had been in a build ing that now houses machinery. A anointed to a Plank that had been the  of Hay and implements now stand outside the former dining  Public address speaker once sounded alerts from a nearby  ceiling in a hut still boars the scars of errant darts a British pub game that americans found As difficult then As they do  scratch and cackle in huts once used As Crew living quarters an pigs Grunt in the building that served As an office for the american com Manders. Apple Trees have sprouted outside Nissen hut a product of the cores tossed on a trash Heap by  on the runway the tire tracks of the flying forts Are still visible in the Asphalt. Lire most of the 165 bases occupied by the . Army air forces in Britain during the War Lavenham has been returned to its original use. Tractors now turn the Sod where the bomber Crews once played catch. But the Alston and the others who lived next to the Airfield still remember the feverish activity the atmosphere of noise and excitement and the feel ing that something momentous was taking place. Anderson and Langhurst were just kids in knee pants at the time. The were learning their abcs when the first b17s arrived at Lavenham. Now 24 years later it s their turn to a planes