{"id":15784,"date":"2024-02-28T10:00:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T00:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vintageaviationnews.com\/?p=86874"},"modified":"2024-02-28T10:00:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T00:00:37","slug":"usaafht-fundraiser-to-preserve-part-of-eighth-air-force-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=15784","title":{"rendered":"USAAFHT Fundraiser to Preserve Part of Eighth Air Force Base"},"content":{"rendered":"

PRESS RELEASE<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The USAAF Heritage Trust (USAAFHT) is the result of a quest, extending back several years, to find a suitable location to create a heritage center for the USAAF in the United Kingdom during WWII. Several locations had been considered or proposed, but in early 2022 we became aware that the communal site at RAF Bungay – Site 4 – could be available following the death of the owner, who had expressed a wish that the site be saved if possible for posterity. As a result, with the full support of the family, we embarked on the journey that has brought us to an agreement to take possession of Site 4 to create a USAAF Heritage Centre.<\/p>\n

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The communal site at RAF Bungay will be preserved in several distinct phases. [Photo via USAAF Heritage Trust]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The USAAFHT was formed by four friends (Tony Goff, David Pratt, Clive Stevens and Chris Warne) who have a decades-long passion for the USAAF in the UK, encompassing many of the different aspects and functions, including the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces and the supporting organizations and units, and are determined to ensure the USAAF Heritage Centre tells the complete story of the USAAF in the UK during WW2, from the construction of the airfields, the impact on the local population, the operational aspects of the USAAF, through to the end of the conflict and the lasting legacies that remain.<\/p>\n

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Aerial photograph of Bungay Airfield, England. [Photo via USAAFHT]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The construction of RAF Bungay commenced in 1942 by civil contractors Kirk & Kirk Ltd, and although construction was not complete until autumn 1943 the airfield was in use by transiting and temporary deployment units from October 1942. The main residents of RAF Bungay during WW2 were the 446th Bombardment Group, who arrived with their B-24 Liberators in November 1943 to join the Strategic Bombing campaign being conducted by the Eighth Air Force. The 446th would fly their last mission on April 25th, 1945, and return to the United States through June and July of that year.<\/p>\n

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