Heads-up guys. Let's catch the thief.

Ah.. Found it

Ive just finished a lengthy phone call with Peter Hill, my trusty associate and second in command. I concur that the news is good; the print is found and will be restored to its rightful place shortly. It is a complicated story in why it went missing, but the 305th are working with the pub to resolve that issue. I must praise Peter for some ‘above and beyond’ foot work in getting to the bottom of this issue. Well done Peter.

The print at the Chequers is the second print donated to the pub in recent times. Sadly a previous one which had even more signatures upon it, was taken by a previous tenant-landlord. I well remember Billy Donald, our team leader from 1980-2008, at the time being very upset, as we all were, that the print which had been given as a mark of remembrance to those that flew from Chelveston and visited Yelden often, had been taken away. So, Billy again arranged at the next opportunity to have a second print signed by visiting 305th Veterans, and its that second print which we have been discussing here. I havent seen the print yet, and will try and check on the names it carries.

Thanks to all for showing concern and helping to watch over this, and be ready if necessary to resolve what was becoming a traumatic event in our group. Ian W.

Moggy

Ian White, the UK 305BG contact, posted it as a follow up to one of his online enquiries.

Excellent news, how do we know this?

Moggy

The print appears to have been located by the evening of the 14th.

bump

depressing.

I have to say you can read this in a way that, rather it was on the wall one moment and gone the next; you can read this to mean that an audit of the fixtures and fittings has not revealed it. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s been stolen, but rather it can’t be found right now. If it was given to the pub in the 90’s it could have been put in a cupboard a while ago and is now lost….Or conversely it may have been stolen a while ago! Anyway hope it gets found.
Has the pub reported it as stolen?

Scumbags…..will keep my eyes open for this,they`d struggle to move it on without someone in the aviation scene spotting it.

Presumably its uniqueness will give it value but that in itself will make it difficult to dispose of for any serious sum of money, surely? Depressing!:(

I know no more than is written above.

If I had to guess, the use of the words ‘inventory’ suggest to me that the pub has become one of the many casualties of the decline in this sector which sees frequent closures as the landlords fail to make money.

It is not unknown for a pub to have a fresh landlord / tenant / owner every 9-18 months.

That being the case I suggest it possibly ‘walked’ during one of these closures.

I can speculate no further than that.

Moggy

Is there no honor left in this world !

Moggy:

Thanks for the heads up on this , as an American veteran I am dismayed at the actions taken here . I hope those responsible are caught and is law enforcement looking into the matter? Sherlock Holmes, MI-5, even Lovejoy needes to be in on the hunt for the bad guys. The act of a coward in my book..a print left as a reminder of that time when many risked all on a daily basis for the freedom’s we enjoy today !

BlueNoser352!

The message I had did not include an image, but that is either the one, or close enough I’d guess.

Thanks CAF-UK

Moggy

A search online found this which looks to fit the description

Looks like an interesting aircraft history as well with 138 missions

Chris

Moggy, any chance of posting a similar picture of the print, so we know what were looking for? Regards