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Re: My local "Band Of Brothers".

Posted by Mike Henniger on Fri Jan 04, 2002 12:12:21 PM

In reply top My local "Band Of Brothers". posted by Mick on Fri Jan 04, 2002 11:49:19 AM

Thanks for the background of the 82nd Airborne. Very interesting. FYI the streets around the museum in Fort Bragg are named after towns/regions where I assume the 82nd Airborne saw action. I didn't write them down, but one was "Ardennes".

You mentioned that you are looking for a DC-3. One the next page there is mention of a DC-3 needing a home. See: DC-3 needs a good home..... - Tony 8:59:33 1/3/2002

Regards,

Mike


: Thanks Mike.
:
: Always interested to hear about the 82nd Airborne as their
: HQ was in my city in a large old Country Hall about half
: a mile from where I live, now situated in the middle of a
: park surrounded by a very large and "boisterous" concil ho
: using estate.....and NO I don't live on that estate !
:
: After years as a girls school, and then even more years de
: relict while owned by the local council (same old story),
: it has now been taken over for use by the local community
: as their HQ, to argue about and dole out the millions that
: the gov has just given them to sort the bloody estate out
: once and for all (same old story).
: Absolutely no chance anymore of a museum to the 82nd there
: .....and no damn point either because the local yokels hav
: e barely even heard of the Second World War, let alone the
: Brave Men of the US 82nd Airborne.
:
: They were camped all over my city during the war until the
: y went off to D-Day from Saltby Airfield, and one of their
: camps was directly behind the house where my Mother and h
: er family lived at the time.
: The actual entrance to the camp was between their house an
: d another, but there is now a new house built in the spot.
:
: My Mother and family well remember the Yanks with their gu
: m and oranges etc, and my Uncle got a very nice collection
: of uniform patches to sew on his coat.
: This camp is now a golf course, and the buildings weren't
: demolished until the early sixties, but in a small thicket
: of trees you can still find bits of rubble and stuff, if
: you dare to try and avoid the flying golf balls and the mi
: serable w*****s that play with their balls whenever they c
: an, and when I was about ten I found an aluminium mess tin
: , less handle, and some kind of large shell casing, about
: 12 inches long, but made from steel and not brass.
:
: My Mother and her younger brothers found something much be
: tter a couple of years after the war though.
: They were playing at the back of their garden, which was t
: he boundary to the camp, and in the bushes they found an a
: utomatic pistol, fully loaded, bit rusty, complete with ho
: lster and belt, and said to be a Colt 1911 '45 !!!!!!!
:
: Needless to say, their Father was rather concerned (!) and
: took it down to the Police station right away, and that's
: the last they saw or heard of it.....probably in some old
: Copper's loft as I write ?
:
: There is a small granite monument with a plaque to the 82n
: d in another park in the city, where they also had a camp,
: but I have always thought it would be nice to have a C-47
: /C-53 on show there as well, preferably inside a building,
: but at least with a high fence around it to stop the loca
: l "Un-Appreciation Society" from ripping it to pieces.
: I wonder if Air Atlantique have got a Dak going spare ?
:
: Now with all the above clues, how long will it take for Pa
: ul Millan to work out where I live ??????
:
: Cheers
: Mick
:
: Ps- Actually if someone does know of a very cheap (ie FREE
: !) Dak going begging somewhere, please let me know, and I
: can then get in touch with the British secretary of the 8
: 2nd Airborne Association who lives the other side of my ci
: ty, and my local councillor who I already know well.
:
: Also thinking of setting up a museum to the memory of the
: RAF's highest scoring pilot James Edgar "Johnnie" Johnson,
: as he came from my County as well..........anyone know of
: a spare Spit Mk IX or even a fibreglass full-scale model
: that no-one wants...........new ones cost about 22 grand a
: nd that's just a wee bit expensive unless the general publ
: ic would like to subscribe to one in Johnnie's memory ?

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