36th Bomb Squadron Memorial Weekend
The event we were involved in last weekend took almost a year to put together. Originally it was to be no more than a fund raising Dance and a Sunday open day in the village hall and was only to be an event to promote local awareness and to raise some money for a future memorial.
Always looking for new projects the FAAA through one of its members Tom Smart a local boy with a interest in the USAAF and 36th Bomb Squadron started the planning and organising of the first 36th Bomb Squadron memorial day at Ivinghoe and Cheddington BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. This event was to take place at the Village hall in Ivinghoe, a small village in the Chiltern Hills and the Airfield at Cheddington. This one day event was to give those with an interest in the USAAF in general and the secret 36th Squadron in particular an opportunity to come together to display and even trade at the village hall, and undertake an Airfield tour and take part in an act of remembrance at the Station memorial.
At this initial stage although the group were commtted in supporting Tom in making this event happen we were looking for feed back from interested individual and groups and exploring the ways in which we could conduct the event
There is probably less known in the hobby about the 36th Squadron than there is about the other units in the 8th USAAF and that is quite understandable as they did not drop bombs and did not sustain as many casualties as the Squadrons in the conventional Heavy Bomb Squadrons, but casualties they did have and these we felt should be remembered.
Many in our group live locally and many more in the group have an active interest in the USAAF, either air and ground crew or the support troops who supported all air operations.
This event was to be open to the locale population, it's their Village history after all and we were therefore looking for a very high standard of USAAF Living Historian. Vehicles based on USAAF units were also to be made very welcome and a vehicle tour of the area was looked at.
The event was to be the first event run to raise money for a permanent memorial at the crash site of Liberator #42-51219, R-4 I.
On the 15th November it would of course be the 65th anniversary of the crash that took the lives of 2nd Lt. Walter S Lamson (Navigator) and Pfc Leonard Smith (Air gunner) It was planned that the crash site just outside the village would be visited and wreaths laid.
Airmen of Lt. Louis McCarthy's crew in Liberator #42-50385, R4-H nicknamed Beast of Bourbon who died in a take-off crash near Cheddington,
England on February 19, 1945.
S/Sgt. Carl E. Lindquist (gunner)
Pvt. Fred K. Becker (gunner)
Pvt. Howard F. Haley (gunner)
To start the ball rolling a FAAA Recce party carried out a visit to the crash site just outside the village of Ivinghoe and the Camp and airfield at Cheddington
Recce Party stop at the 36th Memorial at the old entrance to the Station
Recce party from the First Triple A meet up at the little tea rooms in Ivanhoe. Although the tea room was not here in WWII the house was part of the old petrol Station and garage in the village. The village was well visited in WWII, especially the pup the Kings Head. (Billet for the CO Irish Guards).
Outside the Tea room and getting ready to walk the short distance outside the village to the crash site.
At the site, locale historian Brian who was 12/13 at the time tells us his stories of the night the Aircraft came down, he remembers the kids running
out to the site to see the wrecked plane and was met by one of the surviving crewman with a pistol in his hand saying get back this might go off! He had been
sent out the next day to guard the wreckage of his own plane!
3 freezing female members of the group wondering why they are standing in a field!
Quite a bit of the old entrance to the station is still there, here we see the guard room to the left with other buildings in the distance with the
parachute packing shed just out of shot.
The group muster at the memorial to the 8th USAAF
Pictures of Lt Norman Landberg's Liberator s/n 42-51219 R4*L in the field just outside the village of Ivenhoe the morning after the crash.
Airmen of Lt. Norman Landberg's crew who died in the take-off crash of Liberator #42-51219, R4-I near Cheddington, England on November 15, 1944.
2nd Lt. Walter S. Lamson (navigator)
Pfc. Leonard Smith (gunner)
In the following weeks Tom contacted his friend Chas Jellis who had for many years researched the crash and was in contact with the surviving crew members of Liberator #42-51219, R4-I. Chas had always wanted to mark in some way this crash site and what followed was a rapid turn of events that would see a small team of people turn a one day event to raise money for a memorial to actually getting the memorial erected and unveiling it during a full 3 day memorial event.
With Chas now directing the operation and informing his contacts in the States as to the future plans the First Triple A fell in to support the project through organising and running the Memorial parade. With Tom remaining the link man the first meeting was organised and firm plans laid out.
Things started to move rapidly!
In May the group combined their anual attendance at the Memorial Day muster at the American Cemetery Cambridge with a special visit to 2nd Lt. Walter S.
Lamson's and Pfc. Leonard Smith's Graves. Those members of the group who attended were in no doubt why we chose to support Chas and Toms project,
seeing these two graves made it that little bit more important that the memorial in Ivinghoe needed to go up sooner rather than later. Those that survived
and remained with us needed to have the chance to witness its unvailing and time was moving on!
Tom goes over the details of the crash at the crews grave site
With Chas now directing the operation things moved on a pace. First a location had to be found for the memorial, it was decided at the actual crash site would
not work as it was on the edge of a farmers field so it would have been hard to secure and few would see it. A perfect location was not far away, the
Watermill Museum which stood on land owned by the Jellis clan!
Chas confirmed this as the location at a meeting at Pitstone Museum in the spring and a work plan was put into action shortly after, of course some funding had to be raised before the memorial build could go a head. It was not untill a couple of months ago that the first bit of work started with a base being put in followed a few weeks after with the first course of bricks being laid. These were reclaimed brick of the type used in the local area (My Cottage is made of the very same bricks) I thought it quite fitting that the memorial would be made of the material that would have been seen in and around the villages of this area, the very area the Airmen of 36th Squadron called home in 1944/45.
The Village of Ivenhoe looks very much like it did in the Second World War except for the modern cars of course. From the time when armys were first formed the village has seen military activity, a WWII memorial would not look out of plce here in the village.
In WWII the Village was the centre of a huge training area, a half mile outside the village the beacons and Chiltern Hills provided the British Army with firing ranges and training areas for tracked vehicles, only a few weeks ago 2 inch mortar fins were dug up around the know mortar range.
The Village hall, in a by gone age also used for a jail was just one of the many social venues men of the USAAF based at Cheddington used to meet local
girls and enjoy there time off. This is where the Dance will take place on the Saturday evening.
The Village church with its WWI Memorial
The Kings Head pub, the Officers mess of the Irish Guards (Dont know yet if this was 2nd or 3rd Battalion) Toms Grandad and locale lad remembers the
Bren Carriers moving through the village up to the training areas. He also remembers his gang of kids knicking the targets from the ranges
The work starts and Chaz and Joe lay the new turf around the site of the memorial, next job the Brick base and wall.
Water mill museum car park, Memorial was to go far end at the entrace to the mill
With only a couple of weeks to go Joe and his team finished the wall. Now all that needed to be done
was to tidy up the surrounding area and to get the posts in.
Allmost before we knew it the day came, both Norman and George with ther family members were here in the village and the first phase of the event was under
way.
Today was the first Time in 65 years that these two Airmen had met each other since they went thier seperate ways at the end of World War Two. How humbling it was to be able to share this with them.
At midday a veteran bus was to arrive to take the VIP's to the airfield, every one met up at the village hall, FAAA advance Party were there by 0900hrs and settled into the rooms allocated to the group to use as admin and headquarters.
First priority was to start getting the kit sorted for the Color Party and Honor Guard. Slings were polished and then polished again, afterwhich some drill practice was undertaken, the newer guys to the guard being brought up to speed.
At 1200hrs members of the public and the veterans arrived at the Village hall to get the transport, it then started to rain and it came down. While it was sort of dry for most in the bus, for the FAAA It was a wet trip out to the Airfield.
We arrived a few short minutes before the main party who arrived dry, well at least for the moment!
Regardless of the terrible weather the next hour or so was spent touring the old airfield, much of which both Norman and George remembered after a while. They
lived in huts away from the area we were in, however once they reached the fence line with the runway beyond, it came back to them. An emotional moment for
them and for us looking on!
The following pictures tell the story:
On Returning from the Airfield it was up to the village hall to dry off and get a hot cup of tea before the Color Guard and other members of the group
undetaking tasks on the memorial parade had to go back out into the wind and rain to rehearse up at the Memorial Site.
Amanda the groups XO would act as time keeper, an important task as all timings had to be on the ball to fit in with the planned Flypast.
After several run throughs the detail was finalised and all it needed then was the addition of our 4 Honor Guard riflemen and the Active Duty USAF Color Party. These we would fit in early the next day during a dress rehearsal.
We all hoped and prayed for a break in the weather.
Happy with what we had it was time to retire to our various billits to get ready for the evenings dance. 
Saturday Night would see all that was involved during the day and local people meet up in the Village Hall for a social and Dance. It was thought at first
when we did a recce earlier in the year that it would be too small for a proper dance, but we were all proved very wrong as it turned out to be one of the
nicest feel good dances we had ever been to. A cracking night.
The Dance had been going an hour or so when Norman and George arrived, everyone in the Hall stood and clapped, that brought a lump to many a throat.
Re-enactors from both FAAA and Ranger Re-enactments mingled with independent AAF re-enactors and the locals. Some great music was played and even George who all had noticed still had a thing for the girls was up on the dance floor before the night was out.
Pops from the MP Detachment checks dance tickets
Local girl (well not really, but she may as well be as "Ronnie" is down here most of the time!)
is escorted to the dance hall.
OC RR takes to wearing a bit of lippy, or has he just been "Foxied"
Birthday Girl Rach with Mrs Bowden, or is it Yogi Bear!
Boys and girls of FAAA with uncle Lee await the arrival of the vets.
Norman arrives to be greated by Foxy, Rach, Lesley and Amanda
George Arrives!
And is Hijacked by the ladies
Tom and Chas greets the honored guests
Some of the FAAA team get in the mood!
The XO limbers up and frightens the kids!
That Foxy gets everywhere!
All too quickly the evening came to an end, lots of Dancing, drinking and just standing around chatting, but both Norman and George were still there at the end
of the evening, remarkable considering only 2 days before they had undertaken such long flights.
For many of us it was to be an early start the next day, there was still the finer details to do in preparation for the parade. As we left the hall we all hoped for at least a dry day, but not expecting it, all were prepared to carry on come what may.
Sunday would be a big day for both George and Norman and for Norman it was another step towards closure.
It would be the most important parade FAAA was to be involved in this year; we did not intend to let them down.
These two men were from the "Greatest Generation" we owed them so much, tomorrow would be their day.
On Sunday morning we all woke early expecting yet another crappy day weather wise, but no, while it was damp underfoot the sky was quite clear. Here at the CP
a snap decision was made; the MP jeep was coming out and going to the event. Not far to go, only 4 miles so just top the tank up and fire her up. The engine
roared into life and woke those that were left in the house up. I had a house full of FAAA troopers as did Tom who must have had half of the Ranger
Re-enactment group staying too!
Within a short time the troops were on their way to the memorial site, the weather prevented us getting all the admin done on the Saturday, so two flag poles needed erecting, one to take "old glory" and the other the RAF Ensign. This was done is short order and the memorial site was soon squared away, the Sun came out and everyones spirits soared. Finally the cover came off the memorial and was replaced by a large American 48 star flag. We were almost set to go, just time for a quick run through with the Color and Honor guard and then the last job to fit in the Active Duty USAF Color Guard.
All went well and the guard took up their positions down at the Watermill, all we needed to do now was the wait for our honoured guests who were to arrive in a 1939 Chrysler saloon. In the meantime the rest of the group took up their positions for the various tasks they would undertake.
At this time both Norman and George were being interviewed by local and national papers and TV up at the Village Hall. Considering the long journey they had undertaken to get here to the UK and then going straight into this memorial weekend both could be forgiven for being a few minutes late for this their final mission.
A little late but with plenty of time to catch up and meet the flypast timings the two brothers in arms arrived at the memorial site and with their family members took their seats to view the unveiling. As the veterans approached, the public clapped, a moving experience for all.
Prior to the event Tom had briefed me that Norman was not one for pomp a ceremony and that as he had always blamed himself for what happened on that fateful day it may be best to keep the ceremony simple to limit the emotional stress on this proud but private man. It would be a hard task, the air was already full of emotion here at the memorial site. Before commencing I decided to approach both Norman and George and explain in an informal way exactly what was to take place and what would be asked of them during the parade. Both Airmen I am sure were happy at this stage with the arrangements and returned my salute.
My job was parade commander, a position I took seriously, my task and personal aim was to ensure what was to happen next would be undertaken in a dignified way. I had full faith in the two groups, FAAA and RR who were to take part in this ceremony and as I moved to my position I knew it would go as planned and all would be doing the very best they could to ensure it would be the fitting tribute we aimed for.
Before the parade started Chas the main event organiser and friend to the veterans took to the podium to welcome all to the memorial unveiling, it was a moving introduction and a hard job for Chas to do, it had taken many months of hard work on his part to get to where we all were today. Chas gave everyone an overview of what happened on the day the crash happened and this was followed by a very interesting presentation by Steven Hutton the author of "Squadron Of deception" the story of 36th Squadron.
Chas then gave the nod and the memorial service began.
The Parade started off with the Bugler taking up his position, on about facing he played "Fall In"
At the mill just out of site of the hundreds of public who had turned up to witness the unveiling, the Honor Guard fell in and dressed off. Colors were presented and M1 Rifle shouldered. I then took the long slow march up the slope towards the memorial and the waiting veterans, on having my salute returned I asked Lt Landberg and Staff Sergeant Eberwine permission to Post Colors.
The order to advance colors were given and both color guards and the honor guard rifle squad marched up the slope and on to the parade ground to take post each side of the memorial.
With the Guard in position the order was given for the "Goast Crew" to take post. 9 Airmen representing a mission crew marched on and took up their position on the grassy bank to the rear of the memorial.
With all in position the Local church leader and Capt David Zavalat the station Chaplain at Molsworth dedicated the memorial in a short but fitting religious service.
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On the order, "flag orderlies take post" the two sentries inwards turned and grasped the colors covering the memorial. The flag was folded The traditional 13 times and presented to the Parade Commander, as a token of this countries appreciation this was then presented to Lt Landberg and Staff Sergeant Eberwine, in their safe keeping the flag would be taken back to the United States.
After handing over the flag, the present arms were given and the bugler played taps
On the command order arms Capt Amanda Ware and 2nd Lt "Carrots" Winchester Invited the two veterans to lay their wreaths
Followed by Chas and Mr Hutton
The civilian organisations and Royal British Legion lay their wreaths
The Military representatives were invited to lay their wreaths
Finally on behalf of the Living History Hobby
At 3 Minutes to 1200hrs in readiness for the fly past the parade prepares!, alas no confirmation of the war birds arrival is forthcoming (Waterlogged
airstrip in Norfolk prevents take off)
Regardless the ceremony continues and the Parade commander asks permission of the veterans to retire the colors.
On the command left and right face the Guard inwards turn and the Goast Crew are stood down and march off the memorial ground
In a final symbolic act the WWII USAAF and Present USAF come together to march off ther memorial ground.
With the Colors retired George was invited to meet the Honor Guard and Goast crew.
Many months of work was coming to a successful conclusion. It had taken many people to achieve the aims of this project. FAAA and Ranger Re-enactments in their secondary USAAF Impression played a small but important part in the proceedings.
But without Chas Jellis's drive and determination supported by our own Tom Smart's enthusiastic eye for detail the event would never had taken place.
A cracking day that was blessed with fantastic weather, all that remained was for the traditional happy snaps and then to the Village hall for tea and cake
In the fine weather many hung around for a while to talk to Norman and George, before moving up to the Village hall for refreashments.
Up At the Village Hall a fantastic spread was put on by the WI. All were fed and watered in style, it was nice to see the serving military staying on and
mingling with the Reenactors and public. A very nice way to finish the day
One last task however needed to be undertaken, we had a birthday girl celebrating her 21st Birthday and George was on hand to present her with a fantastic
cake organised by her group the First Tripple A
