Debden 2002

THEN: Early 1944. Pilots lounge outside the Officer's Mess. A near-perfect "Then and Now" picture. Notables include Don Blakeslee (upper right), and Johnny Godfrey (lower right). Jack Raphael, sitting to Godfrey's right, was a artist/historian's dream; a professional photographer, Jack logged many late hours in the darkroom at Debden as a member of the Debden Photo Club. His son Dave has preserved Jack's scrapbooks, and made them available to me for duplication. Look for the highlights of Jack's collection on "The Raphael Collection" pages on this website. (Jack L. Raphael)

And NOW: I'd like to begin our tour by thanking the men who made my visit possible, and most pleasant and enjoyable. Here I am on the Officer's Mess steps with Regimental Sergeant Major Tony Ballans of 22 Headquarters & Support Sqdn/33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). Tony had returned home from an inspection tour in Afganistan only the day before, but still took time out for us. It is fitting that the current occupants of Debden, now known as "Carver Barracks", are among the world's most experienced EOD experts. They educate and work closely with the armies of other nations, including the United States. This is especially so during times of coalition force actions, such as the current 'unpleasantness'. Tony not only politely corresponded with me for several months prior to my visit, but took time out of his very busy schedule to give us an extensive and educational tour of the site on our last day there. These men are very well aware of Debden's proud past, and I felt good knowing the site is still in the hands of the best of their occupation. (Sam Winefordner)

The other man who went above and beyond the call of duty with us was 33 Regiment's Provost Sergeant, Phillip Johnys (here we are on the Officer's Mess steps). Phil accompanied us on an extensive tour of the airfield proper on our second day, then surprised us with a tour of several of the buildings, including the Officer's Mess. We went inside and discussed several "Then and Now" photos of the Mess with Phil and Captain John Foran. We enjoyed wonderful tea, snacks and conversation, including Capt. Foran's retelling of several Officer's Mess ghost stories! (Winefordner)

THEN: A wartime shot of 4th Fighter Group officers enjoying a meal in the main dining room of the Officer's Mess. The Mess (excluding attached living quarters buildings on both sides) is shaped like a squared-off "U". This shot looks northerly across the eastern arm of the "U". The white-coated waiter at the far left center is standing in the doorway to the kitchen areas. (USAF)

THEN: April 11, 1944. General Eisenhower stopped in at Debden during a whirlwind tour of several 8th Air Force bases. While on station, "Ike" presented Col. Don Blakeslee and Capt. Don Gentile with the Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor. After the ceremony, the General hopped a ride in a "Droop Snoot" P-38 Lightning, then settled down to lunch in the Officer's Mess main dining room. Can you name some of the famous faces seated here? (USAF)

THEN: A wartime shot of the Married Officer's Quarters on the east side of the technical site. "Single" officers were sometimes billeted in rooms in these houses upon arriving at Debden while awaiting a permanent room in the quarters adjoining the Officer's Mess. The luxury of steam heat was a pleasant surprise for the new arrivals. Shot looking easterly. (USAF)

And NOW: Remarkable, isn't it? Same buildings - still there. My two favorite 8th AF groups are the 4th, and the famous 91st Bomb Group, which settled in at Bassingbourn in Cambridgeshire after a quick move from the rather spartan Kimbolton. It was and is my good fortune that both bases have been under military control in one form or another since the war, and as such presented relatively little change from their wartime appearances. However, as will be discussed in more detail later, this is about to change here at Debden as many of the original buildings will fall to the contractor's wrecking ball within the next year - to be replaced with more modern units or done away with altogether. Both stations were Permanent-type Royal Air Force installations constructed before the "American Invasion" of 1942, with their attendant "luxurious" brick-walled and steam-heated living conditions, which I'm sure contributed to their longevity. Contrast this to the majority of 8th Air Force bases, which were temporary in construction - and comfort! No longer needed after the war, many of these sites reverted back to the farmland they once were - enthusiasts and veterans of those fine Mighty Eighth fighter and bomber groups have nothing but farmland and remnants of runway and peri-track to bring back the memories.

THEN: 29 September 1942. 8th Air Force gets its first fighter group; indeed the only U. S. fighter group to be activated in theatre. Brig. Gen. Frank O. D. "Monk" Hunter, Commander VIII Fighter Command, and an officer believed to be Air Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, RAF (though he is not listed as one of the visitors), face the assembled men and salute as Nos. 71, 121 and 133 RAF Eagle Squadrons are officially handed over to the U.S. Army Air Forces. Air Chief Marshal Sir W Sholto Douglas of RAF Fighter Command was present as well. The units became the 334th, 335th and 336th Fighter Squadrons of the 4th Fighter Group, and RAF Debden Airdrome officially became Station No. F-356 of the 8th Air Force. Notice the steps in the background leading up to a 400-man Dining Hall. (Bruce Zigler)

And NOW: Looking northerly at the same steps. Looks like they added a "shelf" on each step to make them more shallow. The large concrete pad parade ground (mostly behind me in this picture) is still there, but is used these days as a parking lot. When I was there, the southern quarter of the lot/parade ground was fenced off by contractors - most likely something to do with the building demolition which was just beginning the week of my visit!

Wartime enlisted men's barracks for 3 NCOs and 84 men. View to the north. This building (Building no. 52), and it's twin beyond (Building no. 50), adjoin the street running alongside the western edge of the parade ground. Two more like these are on the other (eastern) side of the parade ground - the other two were fenced off for demolition, but the work hadn't started yet. I was told that the demolition was scheduled to begin the week I was there, and it appeared that everything was on schedule. Most of the World War II-era buildings are coming down, with a few exceptions such as the Officer's Mess and a couple of others which are in good shape.

Strafing chip marks on the northeastern corner of the Works Services Complex (see photo above this one). An active Battle of Britain sector base, and always of particular interest to the Luftwaffe, Debden wears these wounds as a badge of honor from one of the many times the base was bombed. Debden's subsequent residents have simply painted over the chips through the years.

Southerly view of Debden's last remaining "C-Type" aircraft hangar as seen from the approach end of the West runway. The two other hangars were demolished some time ago. This particular hangar was used by the 334th Fighter Squadron throughout the war. Sadly, I have it on good authority that this hangar will fall to the wrecker sometime in 2003. The wartime firing butts were located to our left just outside the picture - directly across from the hangar's doors. The big fence you see was added years ago to separate the main base (now known as Carver Barracks) from the airfield areas; although the airfield areas (land, runways, perimeter tracks and parking spaces) have always been under military ownership - and use. However, it has only been in recent years that one must seek permission (as I did) to walk the airfield portion of the base. Prior to that, any and all could roam the airfield at will. And before you ask, let me go ahead and tell you that there are no plans in the near future to "modernize" or "improve" the airfield. The Carver Barracks EOD personnel use the vast landscape for training purposes, and I was surprised to find out that several major motion pictures have filmed here as well. Empire of the Sun shot several scenes here, and at nearby Bassingbourn, Full Metal Jacket did the same. There were others, but that's probably the two best known films I remember our guides telling us about.

Looking southwesterly at the eastern doors of 334's hangar. The current occupants of Debden refer to this as "the blue building". At the far right of the photo is the perimeter track which ran in front of all three hangars (this one was the northernmost of the three). The watch office (control tower) was located on the other side of this hangar from our perspective here, but was demolished in the early 1970s. Photo taken from the recently installed Rapelling tower. If you were to turn about 90 degrees to the left in this picture, you would potentially have a good view of the Debden technical site. However, with the trees in full bloom, all I could see was a giant forest! Approximately 180 degrees from this view is the Officer's Mess.

Here I stand inside this famous hangar - if these walls could talk! Of course, I had to chip some of the plaster off the wall in one of the hangar offices. It's a shame to see her go, but this hangar has been neglected way too long, and is to the point of presenting a safety hazard. Fortunately, as with the other two hangars, the footing, or concrete pad foundation I'm standing on, will most likely stay put and serve as a foundation for a hangar/building complex.

THEN: May 1944 - inside 334's hangar. Lt. Ralph "Kidd" Hofer's P-51B Mustang "Salem Representative" goes through phase checks and is fitted for a new Malcolm Hood bubble canopy. Notice the Olive Drab camouflage on the top plan view section of the rear fuselage. In May 1944, a few 334 FS natural metal-finished aircraft received upper surface camouflage on the wings, fuselage, and horizontal tails . This was in anticipation of the upcoming invasion, and the perceived need for camouflage for operating from airfields on the continent. As it was, it was determined that the 4th would remain in England after the invasion. No 335 or 336 aircraft were so painted. Oh, uh . . . , yes, those are whitewall tires on the Mustang. Just one of a variety of personal markings some pilots chose to carry on their kites. (Joseph Ciciulla via Garry L. Fry)

THEN: April 4, 1944. After her latest stint in the hangar to address nagging engine write-ups, Don took Shangri-La up for a maintenance check flight. At the conclusion of this 30-minute flight in the Debden area, Don buzzed up the North runway a couple of times, during which a famous series of shots was taken by a couple of photographers. Probably the most reproduced, this frame was taken looking southeasterly as Don was about 200 yards or so from the departure end of Runway 35. The photographer was standing in the grassy area between the runway and the western side of 334's squadron peri-track, which loops around the north side of Runway 17-35. 334's hangar (the one still standing as of this writing) is clearly visible in the far right distance. (USAF via Garry Fry)

And NOW: This wider-angled comparison shot of the same area (the 334th hangar is just out of the picture to the right) was taken from further away - on the perimeter track behind the photographer in the "Then" photo above. He took his shot from the grassy area in front of me in this picture. In WWII, Debden's grass was kept very closely cropped so that aircraft could taxi on the grass to aid in forming up quickly for leader-and-wingman formation take-offs. However, no such need exists today, so we can excuse the unmowed grass! It was very quiet on the airfield as I gazed upon this scene, and the weather was quite beautiful as you can see, and as I tried to absorb the fact that I was really looking over the actual scenery in the photo I had looked at hundreds if not thousands of times, I cocked my head a little into the gentle breeze and thought I heard a faint sound - one so faint that it seemed to be reaching across 58 years . . . oh geez, what am I saying? Not even a Merlin could do that!

THEN: April 13, 1944. At about 1635 hours, as the group was landing after the Schweinfurt mission, Gentile decided to give the 336 FS dispersal area a real treat by "cutting their hair" with a couple of real low passes. There was a large crowd gathered around his parking spot. The press was there as well - this was to be his last mission before a short break back to the States, and everybody was out in full force to watch him come back. He gave the dispersal a real rattling on his first pass, but after spotting the rather large crowd, he decided to make his next one something nobody would forget. Circling around, he set up his second pass by diving down from the eastern side of the field. Don lined up, put his nose down and leveled off just feet off the ground . . . he would have crossed just north of 334's hangar as he leveled off from his shallow dive. He was seen flying extremely low on a southwesterly heading driving straight for the cameras set up around his parking spot. At this point, Debden has a considerable "rise" or "hump" effect in the middle of the field due to the sloping southern portions of the airfield (the area is surprisingly hilly as I found out in July 2002), and Don was so low at the beginning of his run that he disappeared from view to those at the 336 dispersal at the southwest corner of the field - he reappeared just before he crossed the southern part of the N-S runway. He crossed the runway right on the deck, and then, witnesses said, the plane seemed to settle and Shangri-La's prop struck the grassy area about 100 yards in front of the 336 dispersal area. They later found numerous "chop" marks where the prop had dug into the ground ...

And NOW: The same westerly view of the crash site. My friend Sam Winefordner, Edward Tetlow (his father owned this land during the war - indeed much of Debden airdrome was built on Tetlow land), and Keith Braybrooke (local 4th Fighter Group expert - he watched them as a teenager in WWII) stand in for the wreckage. Notice the big tree is gone (confirmed by Edward Tetlow that his father removed it after the war), and the small hedge seen behind the wreck is now much larger. The tree was located where the blue object sits in the grass behind and to the right of the group as you view them. The distant landscape is largely unchanged, however, making positve ID a cinch.

THEN: The wreck of "Shangri-La" was brought from the Tetlow field to one of the blister hangars of the 45th Air Engineering Squadron. There were five such blister hangars belonging to the 33rd Air Service Group's squadrons located across Elder Street from the base. In this view, possibly the most famous P-51 Mustang of all time is seen in the early stages of a complete salvage of all useable parts. The mechanics I talked to at the 2001 Reunion said she sat here for about 3 weeks or so. Possibly the only parts left of her, a few flight instruments presented to Gentile before he left Debden for good, sit at the USAF Museum in Don's box in Collections storage. In the mid-1990s I personally viewed the contents of this box, which held many items donated by the Gentile family that were not on public display. (USAF)

THEN: John Ferra, Gentile's crew chief, based all "his" aircraft throughout the war on the PSP hardstand located at the northern edge of the taxi loop leading to the southernmost 336 Fighter Squadron 2-ship parking bay. Here, in one of the most famous Mustang shots of all time, Don Gentile cranks Shangri-La for the mission of 8 April 1944. He came back from this show with his last three victories, one of which is depicted in my One-Man Air Force painting. Notice the Auxiliary Power Unit still plugged into the right side of the aircraft. The APU provided the significant battery power needed to start the ship, thus saving the aircraft's onboard battery from the "stress". Shot looking northwesterly. (USAF)

And NOW: Pretty much the same northwesterly view, except looking at the two photos side by side it appears that the "then" photographer was squatting down, giving a slightly lower aspect view of the scene. After Gentile "bounced" Shangri-La off the grass about 100 yards due east of this point, he "flew" directly over this area. In Don's logbook he makes no mention of the crash, merely noting below the April 13th entry, "Left England for (the) good old USA". In the end, his total operational (combat) time came out to be 333:35 hrs; total combat sorties: 184; total Spitfire time: 262:45; total P-47 time: 281:10; total P-51 time: 96:30. Total time in his logbook after this mission: 3,036:10.

THEN: Extremely rare shot of Gentile and Shangri-La taxiing north along the southwest peri-track just after turning left off his corner hardstand. Photo looking easterly. Notice that the rudder appears darker in relative value. Don't let this mess up your model . . . the rudder is "thrown" to the left at this moment, and careful examination of the sun position puts the visible rudder surface (a relatively flat plane) in shadow. So don't go painting your model with a dark(er) rudder! (Elwood Jensen via Garry Fry)

THEN: Don leans against Shangri-La's prop after parking the kite on his usual corner parking spot. View to the southeast. The farm building visible underneath the wing is a barn on Rickett's Farm, owned by Edward Tetlow (see photos of Edward above). It's still there! Edward and his wife treated us to a nice lunch in the adjacent house, then Edward took us into the barn and showed us a bent up Hamilton-Standard propeller blade from a 4th FG Mustang which had gone through the south fence and into his farm property in 1944. He didn't find the blade until years later! Edward gave us some empty .50 cal. shell casings from the crash . . . (USAF via Garry Fry)

And NOW: Here I stand on the same corner hardstand. The barn is hidden behind the now high hedge which almost completely surrounds the airfield areas. You can get a feel for the hilly ground Debden airfield is on by looking at the rolling landscape behind me. For those of you with a diagram of Debden, the concrete "entranceway" to the right is the top part of the loop leading to the southernmost 2-ship brick parking bay. The perimeter track going away and then turning off in the distance to our left is the southwest "corner" of the main peri-track going all the way around the airfield. This shot is great because it shows, typically, the kind of shape the airfield is in, i.e., 98% of the original wartime runway, taxiway and parking space "floor plan" is still there, but it's overgrown with scattered trees and high grass in most non-concrete places. Still though, it's light-years more than any other major 8AF fighter airfield shows of it's former wartime outline.