November 9, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Having recently been to the former USAAF base at Poddington for a Drag race (Santa Pod) the amount of surviving wartime buildings in various states of disrepair surprised me. I have the Airfield focus book on the station but wondered if there was a book or source that had done a study of what remains from the time that it was used by the B-17`s?………Martin
By: kartman - 12th November 2007 at 18:16
Thanks for the offer but i already have the book which was a very good read, i was looking for some more info on the buildings that remain, it is only 20 mins from where i live as is Chelveston which sadly has all gone now. Having bought a radio control B-17 has really sparked my interest in these old USAAF stations. I`m also looking for any nose art pictures of planes based at Podington for a re-paint in the new year………Martin
By: TEXANTOMCAT - 12th November 2007 at 15:28
ahhhh! The Doc! we have had the video on repeat so often in the museum he’s now banned! 🙂
A good (and cheap) book on the subject is the Airfield Focus one – we have them for sale in the museum – at £4.95 – whizz a cheque payable to Sywell Aviation Museum and I’ll send you one post free – PM me if youre interested
ATB
TT
By: BlueRobin - 10th November 2007 at 10:45
Yes, the “Podington big picture” is in Hangar 3.
There’s some great wartime colour footage of life at Podington on a video entitled “Doc Furniss War” that I obtained from Twinwood Museum. It’s well worth hunting down a copy.
Thanks Rob.
By: BlueRobin - 10th November 2007 at 10:07
That’s what it said on the website Ollie, but have you seen it in there? 🙂
By: ollieholmes - 10th November 2007 at 02:08
Me neither Pagen. Is it still displayed? Where is it hiding?
I believe it is in hangar 3.
By: BlueRobin - 10th November 2007 at 00:14
Me neither Pagen. Is it still displayed? Where is it hiding?
By: ollieholmes - 9th November 2007 at 23:31
It is a mentioned in the book Bedfordshire airfields of the second world war by Graham Smith. Gives the history of the airfield during the war and after.
By: pagen01 - 9th November 2007 at 21:00
Excellent stuff there BR, especially the wall story, never noticed that at DX.
By: BlueRobin - 9th November 2007 at 20:21
There’s also a few photos on Mark Brotherton’s excellent website
http://8thcontrails.com/ipw-web/gallery/album74
I like photos of the Ops boards and you’ll see they had YB40s! 🙂
By: pagen01 - 9th November 2007 at 19:37
Ha snap, drag raced my Challenger T/A and Ranchero there.
The only source I have seen on what survives (I haven’t looked hard though) is Robert Trumans controltowers.co.uk website. I do know the old control tower is a dwelling. Got an idea that Poddington holds a major distinction like largest, amount of bombers launched for one raid. does anyone know if that is correct and any details?