The Home of The 384th - Grafton Underwood USAAF The Mighty 8th B17 Airbase. Episode 3 The Return

[Music] [Music] [Music] we begin our journey to grafton underwood by looking as it is today from the air a large circular woodland hides its existence and without any knowledge of this airbase you wouldn't know it was there as we overlay the map it becomes apparent that this was a large communal area with all amenities provided from cinema and theater to an officers club and bar dining areas and the list goes on now i do not profess to be an expert on this subject just an observer who has taken the time to research and find the evidence i do hope you enjoy this video as i did creating it thank you [Music] [Music] well i was a 384th bomb group and it was station grafton underwood england and that was a little town about 90 degrees i mean about 90 miles north of london now here are the ground people god bless the ground people but nevertheless they were going to go home and they had all the local girls all tied up because they were there every night every night and they got fresh [Music] respect yeah how about those two cherries [Music] [Music] um where was it the shower block well there was there would be shower blocks there were numerous yeah you'll see them when you go down there on previous visits to the home of the 384th bomb group i had only just scratched the surface with the help of peter hopkins and paul mansfield i would have a better understanding of this remarkable airbase the map that peter provided was a massive help in finding our way around the grafton woods but in the middle of these squares you'll see these um the center piece where the pot belly soles were that's all they had to um keep the the accommodation warm so it must have been quite cold especially in our weather right so we'll have a walk down here yep and then you you explored last time you were we looked at the foxy cinema that was here that was right wasn't it the foxy cinema we found there was another building as we look at the map it all seemed pretty straightforward however what i miscalculated was the timing of my exploration with months of heavy rain in the spring and followed by summer heat waves which provided grafton woods the perfect conditions for the undergrowth to flourish quite extensively rooms over here but as i say we're going down here today to the center and then we can um you know we can explore some of this it's such a huge area there's no way we'll get around it but if you look right down here this was a website that they had women on the base so they they must have been there [Music] coal burning stone just in those trees yeah yeah [Music] [Music] peter and paul's valuable knowledge helped me discover many new places at this airbase i was now ready to explore and document the home of the 384th bomb group [Music] [Music] welcome to the foxy cinema and theater well as you can see it's not here anymore but this is where it stood over 70 years ago grafton underwood usaf air base home to the 384th bombardment group heavy [Music] [Music] once a majestic building stood here providing entertainment for the men and women of this air base a bit of a escapism from their duties especially more so the airmen who had to fly off in their b17 bombers over germany this provided a bit of a break uh and relaxation for them to see a bit of fun this has actually undergone a couple of changes since it was built when it was originally built the doors were here doors were here this was the main entrance um and it was just a single brick wall and two struts and the struts were there because when they built the single wall by the time they got so high that wall would have been very precarious and it could have easily toppled over so they built a couple of struts to give it a bit of extra strength then they decided to put a wooden structure at the front of it sort of uh boost the image a bit that was uh rendered and obviously then the the entrance point would be just somewhere here and it even had a billboard it had signage on the top oh look very smart very smart it served its purpose yep and just beyond there was the sergeants or the mess hall and then in that direction would have been the officers club which we're going to go and visit in a bit [Music] to get around this air base you needed some form of transport and a transport that you didn't need to put fuel in so it made sense to get yourself a bicycle and that's exactly what the servicemen and women did they would use these to get around the base not necessarily just to come to the foxy cinema or theater it would probably go to other locations take messages it was the best form of transport it was quick clean and quiet as well and where better to park your bike than in a bike rack this was specifically put here for the foxy cinema and theater so they come along park the bikes up and walk straight up to the door perfect over 70 years old and they're still here amazing [Music] behind me there's an old boiler house to provide hot water steam for the local area [Music] [Music] this is the main entrance to the officers club and the mess the officer's mess was further behind this is where the officers would come and originally this was a covered canopy walkway which led from the road up to the doors we'll take a look inside now i thought this would be a good time to give you some idea of the layout of the officer club buildings one will have to exercise one's imagination somewhat from this point onwards as all we have left is a concrete floor and a few clues as to where everything was in addition we have some rare photos to help our imagination picture how it looked so long ago [Music] something to make note about this strip of metal would have been originally in an upright position and probably most of you already guessed this was a boot scraper or a shoe scraper to get the mud off the officer's shoes because they weren't allowed to come in with dirty shoes still here bit bent but it's still here just here is a concrete house now just to look at this amongst all the foliage and piles of earth and roots just looks a bit out of place doesn't it but in actual fact this is still in its original place around this concrete base would have been a brick surround and parts of the brick are still here they're still there and i'm guessing probably most of it had collapsed and has gone that way or it might have gone this way and it was cleared away but this would have been an open fireplace not the pot belly stoves that um you'd normally find on a hearth like this so at some stage an open fire was made on there keep those officers nice and warm just here is actually puzzling me a little bit now i've seen a photo of some nurses standing what i think is about here just in front of me there is a path although most of it's gone there's just remnants of it there and that path would lead all the way down the side of the officers club and i think it also went that way as well but there is a photograph and on the side of the building it says officers club or other officers mess i'm pretty certain it's club and i think this is the very spot where those nurses stood over 70 odd years ago [Music] so [Music] just over here is a blast shelter they would come down here there would have been some steps a path which would have led in that direction and literally you turn left and you're in the bomb shelter this was actually a blast shelter not a bomb shelter a blast shelter there was no roof on these as far as i'm aware you just got inside and ducked down where i'm standing now i'd be behind the bar because the actual bar itself where the officers and the ladies would stand or sit at the stalls would have been about a yard in front maybe a couple of yards in front but this was basically the serving area behind me would have been the the wall with all the plush leather inlays to the paneling uh it did look very very smart and behind there you'd see there's two doors either side there's one that side one this side going into those doors would have led you into the storeroom obviously where they kept all the barrels of beer or bottles of wine or whatever beverage they had at the time and this is clearly indicated because you have a a a brick wall here and at first i thought it was a path then i looked at the photos from a different angle and i noticed that there was a building built at the back of the bar lounge sort of a lean-to type thing almost like an afterthought where we're going to put the beer that's a good idea yes perhaps we might have to build something on the back so anyway this is where they stored all the beverages so get more room for the bar [Music] behind me you'll see the boiler house the boiler house that you saw earlier in the video this will give you an idea to how close the boiler house was to the officers club but not just the officers club it was also close to the officer's mess the foxy cinema and theatre and beyond the boiler house on the other side there's a there's a large building which was the main mess hall the dining room which would cater for hundreds of people very very large and in fact they also did presentations there that was the main place where they could provide enough space for everyone to come and see the presentations that was a huge building but sadly it's gone um even the floor where the building was is virtually gone it's really hard to tell where it is which is a shame really [Music] all the roads that i've been walking down this one the other one that led to the foxy theatre and cinema the officers club that they were all given names the one on one at the moment is called wall street um possibly because there was a bank down here or this is where they got their spending money the one with the foxy cinema and theatre that was called the broadway so they're bringing a bit of america here to give them some creature comfort to remind them of home quite touching i thought touching it was times like this as i walked down these old concrete roads that i remember why the airbase personnel acquired bicycles this was a huge communal area still it is nice to absorb the peaceful woodland and look out for more tempting trails perhaps leading to some undiscovered treasures of this airbase [Music] i've arrived at the location of the commanding officers quarters bit of a giveaway isn't it here bud j peaslee the commanding officer the first commanding officer to take up residence here at grafton underwood for the 384th bomb group and right behind those bushes is where he lived let's go and have a look [Music] where i'm standing would have been the commanding officers quarters it's quite a long building and i'm actually standing in a hallway again evidence that this was a doorway but i know it's a doorway but evidence that just down here is another boot scraper notice how this one has some nice looped design obviously for someone special as i walk down the hallway there's another room here and another room there quite narrow when you think about it and then i keep walking and then there's a a larger area which could have possibly been for lounge there are all different sorts of shaped pot belly stove bases around this site and this is the first one i've seen with this particular shape and by the looks of it this went in a corner obviously where room was a premium we couldn't have it standing right in the middle so it'd obviously go in a corner somewhere um but this one is a bit of a decoy because what i'm looking at here is the traditional potbelly stove base which is just a rectangle one so i know this one didn't sit there definitely not being a high ranking officer on this site you were given those extra privileges and one of those privileges was having your own bomb shelter literally right on your doorstep very convenient especially if the sirens start going another one of those privileges for a high ranking officer is to have your own toilet block literally within another 15 feet here where i'm standing here would have been the wash basins and this is evident by just having a pot glazed gully running down which would have been took away or soak away and then there are various cubicles here there's one here there's another one here and various other cubicles another one there and these would have been where the toilet pans would have gone and i'm guessing somewhere would have been the urinals as well but they seem to have long gone [Music] so [Music] how often is it that you roam the woods and find your own public convenience not very often in fact this is part of a toilet block that i'm standing on now this is one of the urinals and next door there was a couple of cubicles for that privacy that you needed and in this whole area there were nissan huts everywhere three to four hundred yards down that way and quite possibly two or three hundred yards that way there were squadrons which had their own patch of land so to speak and they'd have all their living quarters here and their public convenience anyone who was based at this particular point would have had the commander just living about 50 yards away so you'd have to be on your best behavior but yeah it's still standing quite solid a couple of chips here and there but other than that it's still here fantastic find [Music] where i'm standing now used to stand a t2 type hanger huge thing huge metal structure [Music] to be able to contain a b17 bomber or whatever plane but these were massive they were huge and what you're looking at now is only probably about the third of the width of what this hanger was the hanger its length went that way and the width went that way and quite a lot of it has been covered by overgrown and shrubbery and stuff like that but this was a colossal building but all what's left is just concrete covered in liking and some very nice people [Music] have cleared the liking [Music] to create uh a space in the shape and obviously you can't see it here but you'll see it in a second um for when i took the drone up and took some video of it and you'll see what it says [Music] so [Music] so [Music] hidden amongst all these trees you come across buildings that are still standing but only just and one such building which is behind me now i don't know if you can see it is the generator room and this is where all your backup generator power was made in the event that it was needed let's go and have a look [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this was once the generator building and inside sat two generators in the event they lost power from the grid to the air base they would fire up these two generators and keep essential services running it's quite a large building actually i'm not going to go inside because it's somewhat dangerous and the building is crumbling but if you look on my previous video we did actually have a look inside but anyway next door to this building sat another building and it's not a building that you would expect to find let's go and have a look right next to the generator building stood another building to the left and that building was a chapel a chapel where servicemen and women would come and uh especially before uh bombing missions it gave the the the airmen a bit of comfort to make their peace with their beliefs and their faith [Music] [Music] to give you an idea of how difficult it is to find some of these places here's a good example of where someone has cleared the carpet of 70 years of moss leaves and the build-up over the years which is almost like a turf it's almost like a turf that has covered the concrete and guessing that once this was covered before it was removed you wouldn't have even known this was here but this gives you an idea of how difficult it is to find some of the locations but thankfully some very kind people have actually moved it back to expose the concrete and what it was [Music] as i sit here my thoughts of how this airbase looked so long ago provokes my curiosity even more for many years i've been visiting these old woods looking for clues to give me some idea of how these brave young men lived out their time at this airbase one such time the red cross arranged the london child evacuees to a tour and a party enjoying an afternoon in the fox's cinema and theatre young servicemen falling in love with local girls and some getting married even naming a b-17 bomber after a young lady called gloria diane attracted the attention of the local newspaper dances were commonplace and the local girls didn't need asking twice buildings that once thrived with activity have hauled but gone leaving just concrete foundations slowly being eroded by nature the sound of distant b-17s taking off is now replaced with just the sound of a graceful breeze amongst the trees soon all that i have seen will be gone forever i hope this short film will stand the test of time and preserve the life that once existed here at the home of the 380 force [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Kim - Discovering History

Views: 5,728

Rating: 4.9756098 out of 5

Keywords: B17, 384th bomb group, Grafton Underwood

Id: 4m8CTs2kVho

Length: 42min 13sec (2533 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 25 2020