It should be noted = The 385th Heavy Bomb Group flying out of Great Ashfield England - completed a total of 297 combat missions over France and Germany. The first combat mission took place on June 11, 1943 - and the final mission took place on May 2, 1945. The last mission was to deliver food supplies to people living in the Netherlands, and the Germans were still around to fire on the formation of bombers.
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Remembering back to the days spent at this Air Base --- 385th Bomb Group --- 8th U.S. Army Airforce --- 3rd Air Division - England

Just in case you are interested, my U.S. Postal address while at Great Ashfield was =
T/Sgt. Frank R. Mays - Station 155 - APO 559.

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The average life of a B-17 bomber at Great Ashfield was just over 4 months. Very few B-17 bombers that were transferred to the base lasted a complete tour of duty. --- The average Airman lasted 15 combat missions and few completed an entire tour of 25 missions. --- Must less 35 !!!!

The average LIFE of a Ball Turret Gunner in combat was 12 MINUTES.

The life of an Airman at Great Ashfield when not flying combat missions was rather noneventful. Not much to do on base for entertainment. Some British Ladies came several days during the week to open a building known as "The Recreation Hall" and served tea and biscuits for several hours. The closest movie to be seen was in London. The base commander did not believe in tempting Airmen with alcohol so there was no NCO Club. The PX opened one day a week so men could secure needed personal articles such as soap and tobacco with Ration Cards.

Therefore = Airmen spent their "down-time" writing letters, sleeping, gambling at poker and craps, - and on occasion receiving an off-base pass to go to the local village.

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Great Ashfield -- Home of the 385th B-17 Heavy Bomb Group. --- The Airdrome was located in Suffolk England - some 90 miles north of London and 20 miles east of Cambridge near the small village of Stowmarket. --- It was estimated the base was some 20 miles west of the English Channel. --- And - possibly no more than 45 miles from the German coast ! --- Today the area of the Airdrome is basically farmland with only several small military buildings remaining. --- There are spots of the original tarmac runway still in place today in the year 2001.

Stowmarket was located on the main north/south railroad through England. --- Airmen from Great Ashfield used the train station in Stowmarket to catch a train south to London when going on pass. Airmen did not hang around Stowmarket as it was a very small and sparcely populated village. Some Airmen did visit the village just to sit out on the Green and rest weary minds and bodies from the rigors of combat missions. --- Also - it was the one place the Airmen could see children at play thus reminding them of home.

Near Cambridge - several miles away - is located a military cemetery named :Magdelyn." --- Many Airmen from 8th Air force bases in northern England - who were Killed-In-Action - were buried in this Hallow Ground. -- Many Airmen's remains have been removed and returned to the United States of America - however - many American Airmen sleep Eternal Rest there to this day. --- Lt. W. W. Dutt was interned here in 1944 and his remains returned to a small village in Pennsylvania - Stone Church, PA - in 1948.


WEATHER ! = Weather reports in the 1940s were a far cry from the year 2000 forecasting.

Weather conditions were always a problem for the Army Air Corps as well as ground operations. Weather information was gathered by short-wave radio from many locations around the world, including ships at sea. This information was compiled and compared to past weather history records. Often a large storm front was missed simply because there were no stations in certain areas. The resulting weather front came as a surprise, many times altering battle and bombing plans. It was never known how much precipitation would fall from a storm - nor - did they always know what tempertatures would be other than hot or cold. Many important battles were won or lost due to the lack of knowledge of coming weather.


British / American Relations =


For the most part the British were best of hosts to all American military personnel. As in all socities there are always a few people that resent any foreigners. Some British "Old Timers" never forgave the "Colony" for breaking away from England.

One must remember there were several million American soldiers in England prior to the D-Day invasion. This number of young males overwhelmed the "Tommies", and of course the American males were always seeking female companionship. It was known the American soldiers were paid somewhere near 400% more money than British soldiers - and most Americans were willing to to pay for the company of females. Many fights between Tommies and Yankees were started when a certain phrase caught on and was said in a mixed crowd of soldiers. All that was required was for a Tommy to say, "There are three things wrong with the Americans - They are over-paid, - Over-sexed, - and over here !" Some soldiers on both sides laughed it off - while others - well - they found it reasonable to start a melee free-for-all !