How have I come up with blog topics every two weeks for more than ten years? They originate from very diverse origins, but my favorite source is you. Many of our readers communicate with us and either provide specific topics or in the course of discussions, give me the idea for a future topic. Our topic today was inspired by Pat Vinycomb. Pat let us know her father, Stan Booker (click here to read the blog, Last Train Out of Paris), recently donated his World War II RAF uniform to the “Friends of the New Forest Airfields” (more on that later).

We’ve previously written about RAF (Royal Air Force) stations used by Allied fighters and bombers (click here to read, Rendezvous with the Gestapo and here to read Biggin Hill). But it wasn’t until Pat introduced me to the new non -profit organization that I began to research the twelve New Forest airfields and learn about the English air bases and how they were used during World War II (both in England and Europe).

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Did You Know?

Did you know Robert Fripp (a founding member of the King Crimson progressive rock band) is the nephew of Alfred “Alfie” Fripp, the longest surviving British POW of World War II? Alfred Fripp (1914−2013) joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1930 after the navy rejected him due to his height. After various assignments, Alfie became a flight sergeant in N^o 57 Squadron RAF and was a reconnaissance observer over Germany on a Bristol Blenheim aircraft. His aircraft was shot down on 13 October 1939 (England had declared war on Germany six weeks earlier on 3 September 1939). Alfie and his pilot, Mike Casey, were quickly captured and Alfie was sent to the first of his twelve POW camps over the next four and a half years before his liberation in 1945.

Alfie Fripp and his parents. Photo by anonymous (c. 1917). PD-Author’s life plus 70 years or fewer. Wikimedia Commons.

During his imprisonment at Stalag Luft III, Alfie became involved in the “Great Escape” in March 1944. He collected maps from Red Cross parcels as well as scrounging up digging tools. He was transferred to another POW camp about two months before the big escape. Only three POWs successfully escaped while fifty men, including Mike Casey, were captured, and murdered by the Gestapo.

RCAF Bristol Blenheim Mk I in flight. This is a similar type aircraft that Alfie Fripp was flying in when the plane went down, and Alfie was captured. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Alfie retired from the RAF in 1969 as a Squadron Leader. When he passed away at the age of 98, Alfie was the last of the “39ers,” or those men taken prisoner in 1939. After his uncle died, Robert Fripp performed a musical tribute to Alfie on the BBC.

New Forest

The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of forest, pasture, and heathland (i.e., peat used for fuel) in southern England. Today, about ninety percent of the land belongs to the monarchy. It has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, but the soil quality is poor (very acidic) and not very suitable for agricultural purposes. The area was proclaimed a “Royal Forest” by William the Conqueror, and it was the only forest described in detail in the Domesday Book. Read More New Forest Airfields

Many of you may remember the blog I wrote in March 2018 (yes, it has been four years) about the story of top turret gunner, T/Sgt Hilton Hilliard (1920−1985), and his adventures in France and Germany after his B-17 heavy bomber was shot down in May 1943 on a bombing run to the U-boat pens at Saint-Nazaire, France (click here to read the blog, Rendezvous with the Gestapo). After parachuting into the French countryside, Hilliard and one other crew member, left waist gunner T/Sgt George Smith (1921−1983), began their quest together to evade the Germans and return to England.

I wrote the blog about Hilton Hilliard after learning the story from his daughter, Ann. After the blog was published, I heard from several relatives of the men who survived the downing of the “Queen of the Skies.” Greg Smith, son of George Smith, was one of those who contacted me, and I have followed Greg’s journey that began almost forty years ago to piece together his father’s wartime “adventures.” (Remember, most of the men, including George Smith, did not talk about their wartime experiences after returning from the war.)

Today, Greg will share with you his father’s story that he has been able to assemble through meticulous research and frankly, some luck. Here is a narrative by the son of a World War II left waist gunner. Read More Luck Runs Out

Tag: B-24

New Forest Airfields