Well, it’s a lovely day today, I started work at 7:30, had a meeting, got a nice cheque and went off to Marks Hall Arboretum at lunchtime, just got back.
You go to the nice barn conversion of a visitor centre and pay your £3 to look round the park, very little information about the history of the place, either the demolished mansion or the airfield links, which was reduced to a small board behind a table in the cafe.
If you don’t what you’re looking for, you don’t spot much, it’s all a series of lakes, woods and gardens, but sniff around in the undergrowth and there are interesting structures to be found. I counted 8 intact concrete air raid shelters, numerous foundations of Nissen huts, loading ramps, brick slit trenches, concrete bomb stores and even some piles of interlocking tracking, unfortunately the deer fence prevented further investigation.
There are concrete roads all over the place.
At least there’s a memorial obelisk set in a tenth scale layout of the runways, the memorial is dedicated to the various bomb groups and squadrons that used the airfield but there was a flower left, dedicated to:-
S/Sgt Albert W Kenyon
455th Bomb Squadron
KIA 9th August 1943
How touching was that, with the sun shining, butterflies about, the woodpeckers hammering away and Hares and Squirrels running everywhere, it had me in tears, a more beautiful spot to be remembered in can’t be imagined.
Do you know what, on this day of media contaversy concerning Sharia laws, I thought back to that day 65 years ago, when this ‘hated’ American walked through the woods with his mates to his aircraft, and never came back, who died fighting to prevent all and sundry going to the gas chambers.
People choose to forget that don’t they.
On a less emotional note, I took some nice piccies, but having spent some time trying to reduce their image size, I’ve given up, if I can get them down from JPEG to JPG, they work, but computer says Noooooooo…..
By: apostilleus - 18th May 2009 at 12:09
Earls Colne Bomb Dump
Only ever remember one Fury at the museum, the bottom half was painted a curious blue colour if IRC. Engine was seized as well.
I think there was a Spitfire on display there at one stage. I think I have still got the museum guide book somewhere.
As for the Lincoln, well I know is technically possible to rebuild most aircraft if you throw enough money at them, however I think its highly unlikly that the remains of the Lincoln will ever be rebuilt.
I have flown into Sandtoft quite a few times (good cafe btw), and only ever seen the remains of the wings.
Would like to be proved wrong though
By: Pete Truman - 22nd March 2008 at 12:59
Hi, Pete, and thanks for the offer. The history and heroism of the soldiers of the GPR has always fascinated me.
I served in Detmold, Germany for 13 years, working my way up from groundcrew to pilot via aircrewman, then did 2 years at Dishforth before ending my career in an ops/tasking cell in NI. Never got to visit Wattisham. I married a Cornish Maid on leaving the Army, and I now know why they love their home county.
With that pedigree, and living in our favourite county too, I shall double my efforts, it may be difficult to photograph it under any conditions, so I may sketch it, what annoys me is that the visitor centre at this place is to far up it’s own backside to give much creedence to it’s historic past, it’s a shame, they have many visitors who, I’m sure would love to know what the purpose of the strange buildings and memorial represent on this site, but information is sparse, unless you are in the know.
For those that don’t know, this estate, Marks Hall, was a stunning 18th century mansion, gardens, arboretum and a series of lakes, it’s only a few miles east of Braintree, between Coggeshall and Earls Colne.
During the First World War, so many sons of the aristrocracy were killed as subalterns in the trenches, that, whatever your point of view, many important country houses were lost as a result, the old boys simply died out without having anyone to pass their estates on to.
Best read on this is ‘Good bye to all That’ by Robert Graves, my favourite book on WW1, if you’ve not read it, get down to your local bookshop now and buy it, it doesn’t state the obvious, but you get the idea.
Marks Hall was more or less abandoned, but the whole estate was taken over by the USAAF during WW2. The house was eventually knocked down and the whole place left to wrack and ruin.
I was lucky enough to be able to wander around the site when it was left to it’s own devices, the site was just full of relics of the war, it was a treasure trove.
A trust has been set up to preserve the place, well they’ve done their stuff but what they present is not a true reflection on either the history of the house, or the importance that this site represented during WW2. A wasted opportunity, they just want us to look at what the’yve done to make the site look pretty, but it’s a private venture, and they just only want to put bums on seats, so to speak, can’t argue with that.
I’m sure that being presented with a good dollop of history in association with what is presented as a fantastic series of lakes, sort of, if you ignore the dreadful waterfull re-creations, it could be a winner, but what do I know, seeing the USAAF history of this place on a small board shoved in a corner in the cafe didn’t give me much hope, well quite frankly, I thought it was pathetic, and a slur on those that fought and died so that this place could exist. Anyone in the area, see what you think.
By: WG-13 - 22nd March 2008 at 10:18
Hi, Pete, and thanks for the offer. The history and heroism of the soldiers of the GPR has always fascinated me.
I served in Detmold, Germany for 13 years, working my way up from groundcrew to pilot via aircrewman, then did 2 years at Dishforth before ending my career in an ops/tasking cell in NI. Never got to visit Wattisham. I married a Cornish Maid on leaving the Army, and I now know why they love their home county.
By: Pete Truman - 22nd March 2008 at 10:03
Understood, Adrian. Perhaps Pete will pick-up on my request?
Unfortunately the sun was shining right on it and it was impossible to pick up the detail, honest, I did try.
Perhaps if I can fiddle around with the image, it may reveal some detail and I’ll e-mail it to you. Unfortunately I have a problem with my camera/computer connection at the moment.
If I can’t resolve it, I shall no doubt have a wander round there when we have a decent day as the arboretum will be coming into it’s full glory shortly, though looking at our less then spring like weather at the moment, it makes you wonder.
Where did you work for the AAC, just out of interest, it wasn’t Wattisham was it, I note that you live along way from here.
By: WG-13 - 21st March 2008 at 12:52
Understood, Adrian. Perhaps Pete will pick-up on my request?
By: adrian_gray - 21st March 2008 at 11:37
I’m afraid that’s the only photo I have – I just put the ones Pete sent me on Photobucket, and added the image links to the post. You could try asking Pete…
Adrian
By: WG-13 - 21st March 2008 at 07:23
AG, I wonder if you could post a more detailed photo of the GPR plaque, please? As the precursor to the AAC (my previous employer) I have an interest in their history.
Thanks in advance.
By: Pete Truman - 20th March 2008 at 14:47
Sorry AG, you must have posted those pics when I was up in the Peak District mountain climbing, I hadn’t noticed, but then, nor did anyone else choose to, thank you for your efforts.
Mr Gray put me on to the real location of the Earls Colne bomb dump, if anyone who lives in this area feels like a visit, well, not much to see, but it depends on your point of view.
If you drive up the road from Coggeshall to Earls Colne, the site is on the right hand side of the road, the first major wood you can see and accessible via an original WW2 concrete road.
This road carries on round the site, from 2 directions, at one point it is blocked by a gate, but there are no private signs and the area is marked as a bridlepath.
The wood is currently being coppiced, I didn’t find much, a couple of earth bunds and some interesting bits of metal sheet, and the remains of some tracking. Incredible how what was a hive of activity 60+ years ago has almost been wiped off the face of the earth, thats the way of things I suppose.
Take the mickey if you like, but the area had a definate aura of peace and goodwill about it, it was very noticeable, whatever had been stored here had no doubt claimed many lives, I’m not a particularly spiritual person, but this place had something about it, I’ve had a crap last couple of weeks, but I slept well last night.
Odd.
By: adrian_gray - 19th February 2008 at 22:14
OK, lets see if I can get Pete’s photo uploaded via Photobucket…
Air raid shelter
Inside said shelter: 
The airfield memorial
Some more views of the memorial:
Loading ramp
Something in bomb store?
Interesting sunken building
Slit trench
Tracking of some kind
Main runway area
Hope those pass muster, Pete!
By: cypherus - 9th February 2008 at 12:21
Look out the PC police will be after you. :dev2:
By: Richard Smith - 8th February 2008 at 21:18
I went to school with a girl called Sharia Laws, certain she was ‘on the other bus’.
By: stuart gowans - 8th February 2008 at 19:00
Pete, I thought that it was the Germans that were hated,the “Yanks” were just envied!
In the AAM at DX, there is a list of things that the Americans should avoid during conversation with the “locals”; one is not to mention to the British servicemen how much you are getting paid, and another is Ireland, and everything associated with it !!
Perhaps this list (or an updated version) should be given to every imigrant, prior to their entry into this “Green and pleasant land”.
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February 8, 2008 at 4:20 pm