European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse a 3v j i % a a it a pc Ali -11 few a a a it Livi of it i if1 group who kissed their loved ones goodbye carved an a. Airfield out of the Grassy Hills of a foreign land and then climbed into overloaded winged chariots Day after Day to support one More Quot War to end All by the end of world War 11/ Lavenham was one of More than 130 airfields that dotted the Countryside of Southeast England. Much of the Field is still intact and although two of its three runways Are gone the Orbital taxiway is still them a along with the and Many of the support. Buildings the third runway from which.,b-24s and . Departed to bomb targets deep within Germany is r slightly overgrown and pockmarked with potholes now but it refuses to give up the ghost. Now and then a passing air plane punctures the silence of the dormant Field the sound of its engines conjuring up visions of flak riddled bombers limping Back to the safety of Lavenham s embrace. Long Early morning. Shadows play tricks mind suggesting the image of ground brews gathered in the Balcony of the control Tower straining their scan the Horton for any sign of the 487th coming Home. Ids almost possible to Hearth e orchestra playing in the mood Over a tinny louds pea Kef so me w he re in t he d is a n be. B u t a Las t. Turns out to be Only the sounds of a wayward Bree a dancing through broken windows As it navigates Between the dilapidated buildings. For a fleeting moment it is 1944. The spirit of the 487th reaches the runway and grabs you by the Collar and pulls you right into the cockpit of thai u-17. -but.then,-in the eyelash itis gone Agaibi. Rn.tbcs.? product of an overactive imagination enhanced by a scene that has t really changed much in 47 years. It s just Lavenham s Way of giving you the "2780 the b-17 was a powerful component of be Walt Allien bombing Campaign against Germany. May 30, 1991 stripes Magazine
