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Memories of the Twin Bases, contributed in 2001
| BUST A WATCH Larry Pegg l.pegg(a)worldnet.att.net Here are two memories for you. 1. BUSTER R. REED an AIRMAN 2nd CLASS A/2c (whom has been mentioned by others on your site and JIM TANSEYS) and A/1c CONNIE MANOS. BUSTER being the sad sack of the air force, best mechanic in the AIR FORCE but always full of grease & oil - you could run him thru a shower, put him in stiff starched uniform, polished shoes, keep him 50 feet away from a plane, he would some how come up full of grease - crumpled like he had slept in his cloths for weeks. MANOS on the other hand just reverse; neat, trim, thought he was a lady killer, good duds, fancy men's jewelry. Nnow I hope I have set the scene. MANOS was assigned to F-101 014 as crew chief in C flight 78th TFS, BUSTER was a BASIC UTILITY man assigned to help any one needing help. BUSTER was helping MANOS prepare 014 for a trip to my HANGAR for some unscheduled maint., MANOS was working in the left main landing gear wheel well on some hydraulics. He had taken his real nice wrist watch off and laid it on the landing gear tire, BUSTER was told to help MANOS transport the plane, BUSTER gets the tow unit and hooks up the tow bar to the nose gear, he yells at MANOS to get in the cockpit as he was moving out with the plane, we had to have someone in the cockpit at all times while towing to handle the brakes. MANOS jumps in the cockpit and BUSTER hauls out to my HANGAR, they arrive at my back hangar door, and have to wait for weapons to download the weapons before bringing the plane inside. We went over to the px coffee shop attached to my hangar, BUSTER, MANOS & I when all of a sudden MANOS remembers his watch. I always had a military truck to run errands in so I loan it to BUSTER & MANOS to go back to the revetment to get his watch. The watch was crushed to pieces. As MANOS held the watch almost in tears, ole BUSTER starts laughing and slaps ole MANOS on the back and says "Well MANOS, look at it like this, you got the only watch in the world thats been run over by a F-101." At the time it was funny to all of us but MANOS, I still chuckle when I think of that. you have to know BUSTER to really appreciate the real humor in this story, all that knows BUSTER can relate.
2. WORLD LAND SPEED RECORD I remember CRAIG BREEDLOVE & DONALD CAMPBELL both making runs at the UTAH SALT FLATS, I just can't remember the dates, ROLLS also made the J57, 49,000 lbs of thrust at 93% throttle, I can't remember what it was with the AFTER BURNER. I may have already told you this but BUSTER REED & I was with then MAJOR ADRAIN E. DREW when he returned the world air speed record to the US with the F-101. We stripped, washed, waxed, & trimmed that baby, calculated the fuel load for take off & landing and barely enough to make the run. I can not remember the exact altitude but do remember he could not vary up or down more than 150 feet nor side to side 150 feet, he achieved and maintained 1200 + mph. The 481st TFS BERGSTROM AFB was the first unit to get F-101s, BUSTER REED and I was the first crew chief's assigned F-101. I ate, slept, dreamed and lived the F-101 from BARR FIELD in ST. LOUIS to BERGSTROM, to WOODBRIDGE. The F-101 was a very non forgiving ship, she was a killer in a flame out below 20,000 feet.
NOTE: Larry has since founded a web site for the 78th Bushmasters.
GET OUT AND TAKE YOUR WALL WITH YOU! Jay Garver garver68(a)earthlink.net That wall (see this picture) originally came from another section
of the building. If you come in the back door, take a right down
the hall and go down two or three doors, that was our original
training room. At the time, Air Traffic had the entire bottom
floor of the building and some of the top floor. Then we had all
of that terrorist stuff going on, and the Wing King decided his
HQ needed to be inside the gate, so we were told, rather abruptly,
to GET OUT. Here is the "hidden Bunny" on the mural... (photos copyright © Chris Deas) quite close:
THE BEST DAYS Neil E. Klotz klotzne(a)hotmail.com I meant to tell you thanks for your Bentwaters site. I was stationed
there with the 511th amu and the 92nd amu between Dec. 1985 and
June 1989. They were some of the best days of my life, though
I didn't realise it then. I believe I missed a recent reunion.
I would love to have gone to that. Oh well, I'm still alive.
ORFORD CASTLE & BURGER KING Paul M. Rose p_m_rose(a)yahoo.com I was an air traffic control trainee at both bases for the 18 months I was there. It was the most memorable time of my life, especially at 19 and 20 years old. I remember so much more now that I've browsed this entire website and the Tansey pages website as well. My favorite places and activities were many. Orford castle and the little beach at the quay. The rocky beaches of Felixstowe right next to our base housing there. The James Coney Island at the Bentwaters BX. The Burger King, where Chad Hennings was giving a little get together as his final days as an A-10 driver before going to play for the Dallas Cowboys. The introduction letter from the Public Relations office explaining the different lingo that the English use and summing it all up with: "I really would much rather quite say." Ever since being over there, I've become a huge fan of British comedy. I have many anecdotes that I will relate over time to the various Bentwaters websites. Until then, happy days..... Paul M. Rose (PM)
FAMILY & FRIENDS Larry Carmack Remembering JACQUELINE CARMACK (NEE NEVARD) FROM EYKE, who recently passed away in the ST. Louis Mo area. Jackie worked as the cashier/secretary at the B/W Officers Club 57-59 's and her father and mother ran the Eyke general store in the 50s. Jackie married Larry Carmack (stationed at Woodbridge Base Weather) in 1959 in Ipswich. Her sister and brother-in-law, Pat and Willie Lightfoot owned the fish shop at Crown Point near Martlesham during the 60s and 70s. Jackie and I returned to RAF Upper Heyford in 1975-78 and visited her Mother who lived in Tunstall, near the Green Man pub. We spent many pleasurable times at the pub with the in-laws and Reg and Monica. Our son, Michael Carmack served at B/W from 83-86 (81st AGS). Jackie had many friends in the Woodbridge/Melton area and I wanted them to know she never forgot them or her roots. She was a lady and will be sadly missed by all who knew her on both sides of the Atlantic. Larry Carmack, loving husband and best friend.
ENGLAND WAS GREAT Denis Guyer deguyer(a)yahoo.com I remember the dining hall was closed most of my two years there, we all had to eat at the bowling alley, BK, and Foodland; this was very expensive and a hardship for most of the lower enlisted people that I knew. But England was great. Many trips down the A-12 on Friday nights to Colchester, Chelmsford, or even London. The pictures now are heartbreaking and those buildings were brand new by 1990!! The US government spent millions on that place...WOW!!
GREAT TIMES, AND FOG! Harold Appelgate haapple(a)netins.net Arrived Bentwaters on Apr. 21, '52. Was 81's Maint. Sq. worked in jet engine overhaul for F-86's. Stayed there till I came home Dec. 54. Found several buddies since I put my notice in the Legion Magazine July issue; emails and several calls from old buddies, some from other SQ. Has been a fun experience talking and sending emails. I have many fun memories of England. Went to London many times , maybe more if I could afford it. I was down there on a 3 day pass when the great London fog of '53 set in . We had heard about the terrible fogs so we beat it for the base. It was good idea because it lasted several days and we would have been awol. Not sure how long it did last. Back in '52 there was the 3 Bees and a Queen that preformed at the NCO club. They was very interesting to see. Went up to Brize Norton for t.dy. . to show them how to overhaul jet engines. It was called minor overhaul. Till our sq. did that every engine was shipped back to the USA. We saved quite a bit of money for our govt. as well having back in service much sooner. That was something new at that time.
THE LAST TWO OUT This photo is special to me. These were the last
two Hogs to leave Bentwaters. Tail #'s 982 and 655. Col Roger
Radcliff flew 655 out. Not sure who flew the other. (according
to Bentwaters historian Graham
Haynes, the second pilot was Col. Wally Berg). I left,
one week to the day, after these two aircraft had departed. This
was the end of March 1993.
STINKY STUFF Robert Kimble robert.kimble(a)wichita.boeing.com I REALLY enjoyed the photo's on this site!! I was a fire fighter. Bentwaters was my first assignment. I was amazed at all the changes to the buildings in the photos. I took nearly 600 photos while I was stationed there, but they were all lost in a fire. The "new" base hospital was in the construction phase while I was stationed there. Our barracks was just behind it. The photo of the fire station was nice. It hadn't changed much. I don't remember the red on the area between the two sets of stalls. It always amazed me while I was there that they put the fire station between the fuel storage area and the liquid oxygen plant. But that was the office area and dining hall. The far left stalls were for the crash vehicles and the stalls on the right were for the structure vehicles. In the picture there was a patch of grass in front of the office area. This is where the protein foam tank was. Any old fire fighters will tell you that is some really stinky stuff. Not where I would have put it. I remember the gate to the flightline side, but not like the picture. The Law Enforcement building was just inside the gate. It was a hard turn, especially when you were going out and driving one of the crash trucks as the second run pumper. One of our female fire fighters caught an Austin Minor on the right front fender and ripped it open like a can of Spam. We also had one of the first female fire fighters in U.S.A.F.E. assigned to Bentwaters. Her name was Janet Nichols. I believe she was assigned to "A" Shift on the Bentwaters side. Before I left there were a total of 16 female fire fighters between Bentwaters and Woodbridge. And one of my bigger memories is of "Herman the German". I haven't seen anything on him. So thanks for the memories. I am still amazed at how the place changed.
MOST ENJOYABLE Gary Keefer As I get ready to retire from the US Air Force in 69 days, The
3 years I spent at RAF Woodbridge (67 ARRS and 39th Special Operations
Wing, 1 Mar 88-24 Apr 91 ) was by far my most enjoyable in the
past 20 years.
I BECAME A MAN TJ Rahn Bentwaters and Woodbridge was my first assignment coming out of Fire school at Chanute AFB, IL. Seeing the picture of the fire station makes me sad. I was there from April of 83 to April 85. We took a lot of pride in our station and our vehicles. I learned a lot about firefighting and life from the people I worked and lived with in that complex. Seeing it now is really weird. I really appreciate, though, the
photos taken and posted on a great site! Thanks for helping me
think back to when I became a man in the world. Living in, and
around Ipswich, and the base, was great and someday, I hope to
go back.
GAS MASK mikeroylance(a)home.com
Michael Roylance I worked in a lot of the buildings shown in the pictures of the
Munitions Storage Areas. Spent lots of time in gas mask as a Convoy
Commander hauling things from the bomb dump to the flight line.
Also was part of the cap in team for EDM of both the main area
and victor alert area.
LAST MAN OUT - The Day Bentwaters closed David Galvan davidgalvan(a)btconnect.com The official base closure was 30 October 1993 but we locked the gates at 1530 or 1630 hours on the 29th. I had taken everything I could, from the Transportation Sq, on my forty foot trailer, to Mildenhall. But this meant that there were still a conex box and other bits to go. I loaded all that up and then was advised by an active duty Sgt that he was going to take the load. He was transferring to Mildenhall and my tractor unit (84B32162) and trailer was also transferred to Mildenhall. The only thing left for me was to log off with the RAF Commander, which I did.
T33 CRASH May 13, 2001 I was a control tower supervisor in both Bentwaters and Woodbridge during my tour of duty in England. I was at Bentwaters first and was sent to Woodbridge when they built the new control tower and closed the runway at Bentwaters until the tower construction was finished. I then returned to Bentwaters until my tour was over in December of 1958. The 81st, 512th, and the 79th were there most of my duty time. They included F-84F (81st, 79th) F-100 (81st) F86F&F86D (512th.) and just before I left, F101 (81st) We also had 2 T33, an L-20 and a C47 that all belonged to the 81st. The pictures that are included here in this site of the T-33, L-20, and C-47 are the same tail numbers that I rode in on several occasions, including to Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland. The 81st lost the other T-33 while I was there, it crashed in a sugar beet field off of 27 on a trip back from Germany with a good friend of mine that refused to bail out when the Captain gave him an order to because of flame out over the North Sea. They both walked away from the crash and both were in civilian clothes... causing a big stink with the 81st. The Captain (Lt. Titus) was later killed in Viet Nam while flying a mission. I have pictures of the both the old and new control tower, and a/c that were stationed there. Will be glad to share them with anyone interested. We also had a dog mascot named "Brutus" that everyone knew. He would ride the shuttle bus to the chow hall just about every day on his own if he had to, and that was one hungry and smart dog. I also have picture of him and the housing that they built on Bentwaters while I was there in exchange for American tobacco, hence the name "tobacco housing area" I will be glad to share anything that I have. I remember Ipswich, Felixstowe, and East Anglia very well. I took piano lessons in Aldeburgh while over-looking the North Sea. I also worked for a local farmer, helping him with chores in exchange for riding/jumping lessons on his horses Robert
FLASHLIGHTS UP SKIRTS! April 3, 2001 Hello! I just found this site and the first story I found made me laugh, well I should say the first paragraph. About the lady who was picked up by a lorry on the Electric House to go to the base. I grew up hearing those stories, and especially when the G.I's would hide on the lorry underneath the seats hidden by the big skirts to get off the base and try to get into town, I was told (and they will remain nameless) that the M.P's would shine a flash light to try and catch them, how funny!! This happened during ww2 I think. My story began many years later, I was 19 yrs old and was invited to go to the all night disco at Bentwaters!! So a bunch of us got a taxi out there - what a wonderful time I had, and needless to say we went every Saturday night. When I met my husband he was standing with a group of fella's, and my friend Pauline noticed one in the group, and thought he was good looking, I did not think much of it, and walked over to him, as he was standing with a few that I knew, and I asked his name. when He told me (I thought that was a strange name!!) Salvador I told him my friend thought he was handsome, and did he want to join us, He Said NO!! I thought O.K and decided I would never do that again!! and sat back down. Well the next month I was at the club, and the same guy came over to me and asked if he could buy me a drink!! well the rest is history. We were married in June of 1979 and came to the States in August of the same year. Salvador was a parachute rigger, and is now a Capt in the Houston Fire dept. and I am an administrative assistant at a private school in Houston. We stay in touch with our Best man at our wedding, who is from Alabama. But we have lost touch with everyone else. We often talk about the Good Old Days, and the crazy things we would do, and especially the fun times we had, they were some of the best years of our lives, when I went home 4 years ago we were in Woodbridge, and my dad drove us by the base, it was very sad and I don't think I would have gone on to the property if I could have, Ipswich still misses the base, not necessarily because of the economic losses but because of what it stood for, if that makes any sense. This is a great site keep up the good work.
DOWN-DRAFT CARBS! I was transferRed to unscheduled maint & post flight repair about 1/2 way thru my tour. It was a lot of responsibilities for a young guy in those days but I think we were tough and ready and to me I was having the time of my life. I think I led two lives then, one was duty to my GOD and COUNTRY, and the other was living a life most people never get to live. I am and always will be so grateful that I got to live and enjoy your COUNTRY. The good LORD willing and the creek don't rise I will see it again. Another name came to mind, my buddy PADDY was a mechanic at the Ford garage in DEBENHAM. I probably was a pain in his you-know-what but he always had time for me and would help me any time, he helped me install dual down draft carbs and high lift cam in my 1954 MORRIS MINOR, man she would run and purr like all get out, I made dual exhaust pipes for her at the base HYDRAULIC shop out of stainless steel tubing, me and ole PADDY had her running top end. The more I think about my time in ENGLAND the more memories pop in to my head, I will buzz off for awhile and give you a break.
THE GOOD YEARS John DiPisa's wrote this email to Ron Burrell in reply to "do you remember Warrant Officer Brockman, OIC of AGE?" It is nice to hear from you. Yes, now that you mentioned it, I faintly remember WO Brockman. Time has passed and of all the people I met being assigned to the 81FMS, I have nearly forgotten. Talking about arriving at Bentwaters, I, along with others, flew out of McGuire to RAF Burtonwood, bussed us to RAF Croft personnel processing center, and we were given train tickets to Wickam Market instead of Ipswich. I guess this was the closest town to Bentwaters: a small farm town. [just for clarification(?), Wickham Market station is situated in the village of Campsea Ashe, which is more rural than Wickham - Linn B.] There we were a group of G.I.s out of nowhere wondering what we do next. Lucky for us an AF pickup truck passed by and gave us a ride to the base. I remember that day; it was rainy, gloomy, cold day in the evening, May '58. That was my WELCOME to England! but I got used to the weather and really enjoyed my four-year tour. Ever since I left England in May '62, I been trying to get reassigned back there, not necessarily Bentwaters, but anywhere; but with no luck... ...was then assigned to Los Angeles AFB where I retired after 28 years of service.
Yes, those were the good years station in England and at Bentwaters. As a "pencil pusher" and being stationed in a maintenance unit, I met a lot of good people. I couldn't been assigned to a better unit. You were assigned to the AGE shop. As I remember, the shop was located across the road, to the right of the Orderly Room. Then the base built a new building across the way from the old building, to the right of the Orderly Room. I am now retired collecting my pension and social security so I am living the life of leisure in my old age in sunny So. California (earthquakes and all). Well that's the extent what I have to say. I hope to be hearing from you again and hopefully from some of our old friends from those good days at 81FMS. Cheers - John DiPisa, A/3C up to A/1C (while stationed at Bentwaters), AF11324238 (yes I still remember my old service number)
THE BEST OF TIMES March 20, 2001 THE BEST OF TIMES!! I MISS MY GREAT FRIENDS. A1C KEN HAGGE AND MYSELF WERE THE BEST DESK SGTS' IN THE ENTIRE AIR FORCE. WITHOUT HIM AND HIS WIFE JACKIE, I WOULDN'T HAVE MADE IT. DAVID "GOOSE" BISHOP AND MYSELF DRIVING AROUND THE BASE IN OUR (BLUE MAX) AUTOMOBILE, EXPLORING GHOSTLY PLACES. WE ALSO WERE DJ'S AT THE NCO CLUB. LET'S NEVER FORGET STICKLER, FABIAN, HAMBY, WARD, THAILING, NARCISSE, LINNEMAN, CONJI, PAM AND HALEY. THEY ALL MADE MY TOUR OF ENGLAND SOMETHING TO REMEMBER FOREVER. "A" FLIGHT FOREVER!!! BEESON.
HAPPIEST YEARS Sunday, March 25, 2001 The years I spent in England were some of my happiest. That's also where I met my wife, Pamela we have now been married for 32 years. She was from Ipswich. We like to go back there as often as we can.
GRATEFUL THANKS Brigadier General Rudy Wacker Monday, February 26, 2001 Linn, I want you to know just how great that assignment was for me. Without regard to the later jobs I held, that time as commander of the 81st at BW/WB was the highlight of my 37-year USAF career. It appears that many of the military and civilian members (and tenants) I served with there are occasionally browsing your web sites as do I. Please, if you would, pass on to them my grateful thanks for all the long hours and wonderful work they performed to make our mission so successful throughout those years.
ENGINEER ARMS March 2, 2001 I paid a visit to Bentwaters back in '99. I could almost hear the voices of people I knew in the complete silence that surrounds everything now. Beer at the Engineer Arms in Leiston was just like I remembered it though.
SALUTE THE EMPTY CAR! Kevin B KevinABee(a)excite.co.uk I was reading the letter from Rudy Wacker and your subsequent comments and photos. I was stationed at Bentwaters at the end of Gen. Wacker's tour. I was a single airman there from June of '79 to June of '81. The command building you mentioned was actually the Base and Wing Commanders Building that housed the General's office. I worked in the base communications center right behind it which controlled all of the Air Force communications in and out of the base. I still remember seeing the commanders staff car out front and being told we were supposed to salute it whether he was in it or not. When I arrived, Bentwaters was just completing its transition from F4s to A10s. We felt a bit let down when the thunderous after-burner of F4s gave way to the delicate (looking) and shrill turbo-fan powered A10s. Gen. Wacker was a Colonel and received his promotion to Brigadier General right before he left. There was quite a bit of conversation generated when the street name was changed for a person who was still alive. (Linn Barringer comment: it is quite a common occurrence to name a street after a living dignitary in recognition of their work in the community, such as local town councillors) I'm now back in England on a three year assignment as a civilian contractor at a base in Yorkshire. My wife, three children and I have been to Paris since we moved here. I now have a frame with two photos of the Eiffel Tower taken 20 years apart. The first one was taken when I went on a bus trip with a group who frequented the White Horse pub in Framlingham. This time I requested an assignment to England just so my wife and children could experience it for themselves. We haven't made it to the Bentwaters area yet. My friends and I used to drive from Bentwaters to Lakenheath to shop at the stereo store there. I was disappointed to find out Bentwaters had closed, and that it's facilities rivalled Lakenheath/Mildenhall in it's final years. It probably wouldn't have had the same appeal anyway since all of the people I knew would have been gone. Kevin Boyer
STEAK & KIDNEY PIE February 21, 2001 I have read most all of the memories and did they bring back some for me. No one mentioned how good steak & kidney pies were. I got the best part of Suffolk and Ipswich when I married my wife there in 1969. Carol Williamson was her maiden name. We are still married 30+ years later and visit home as often as we can. It was a pleasure reading all the nice memories everyone has.
COPPER FROM EYKE Jill King, now Jill Burwood Glenn(a)burwoodg.freeserve.co.uk Hello. Can anybody remember PC Alan King from Eyke Police house.
You Americans nicknamed him the Eyke flash because he would arrive
on base on his police bicycle. He has a few stories about his
time at Eyke and most of them involve American personnel.
YET MORE FISH & CHIPS! + BEER, VERY OLD CARS, HONESTY Larry Pegg l.pegg(a)worldnet.att.net I always went into the FISH & CHIP SHOP in EYE , or DISS, with my ENGLISH in-laws and ordered "a piece and four" - when I tried that in a local "LIMYS", the waitress said well bub you are in AMERICA now, oh how disappointed I was. I can still see in my minds eye CADDY'S FISH & CHIP SHOP in EYE, having BED& BREAKFAST at the QUEENS HEAD PUB in EYE, my oldest DAUGHTER was born in the EYE HOSPITAL on NOV 11, 1960, I have ex in-laws in EYE, DISS, IPSWICH, and LEICESTER. September comitments will probably stop me from enjoying the troops this year, I do however plan on coming back with my wife with in the next two years (he did - see here). My time At RAF WOODBRIDGE was from 1959 to June of 1962. I gave up drinking a long time ago but I did not consider going to the pubs and drinking one pint of BLACK & TAN as drinking, I liked the taste and it was an event to go to the different pubs to see and take in the local atmosphere and decor. I was and still am amazed at old things and history. I was always fascinated by the buildings, the architecture and the beautiful countryside of ENGLAND. I can honestly say I never met a person locally that was unpleasant or was I ever cheated or taken advantage of, I believe that was what most impressed me at that time. I would purposely go in a shop to buy something and I knew exactly what the price was, I would hold out a hand full of 10 bob notes and coins, saying, take what you need as I am not familiar with your money. Never was more taken than what the price was, I knew I could trust them after doing that a few times and stopped my doing that. I know things and times change and sometimes its for the best but I surley do wonder at times. I still like old cars, I own a 1947 PLYMOUTH COUPE, 1951 INTERNATIONAL 3/4 ton pick up truck and I have restored them to original condition. While in ENGLAND I collected cars; a 1937 Wolseley Hornet Sportster, 1937 ROVER, 1937 HUMBER, 1930 AUSTIN RUBY,1937 FORD ANGLIA, 1937 FORD POPULAR, 1937 DAIMLER, 1950 MORRIS MINOR and a few others I can not recall. I was fascinated by the engineering of the engine of the Daimler, it had a gear driven water pump and dynamo and the engine was alumiunum, wish I had that car now, I also had a 1937 VAUXHAUL, I drove them all and kept them in top running shape, my ex brother in law is an auto mechanic at a ROVER dealership in IPSWICH and he helped me keep 'em tuned. I really loved the WOLSELEY, the fact is I loved them all. Oh what a wonderful time I have rehashing old times. A lot of the guys I knew in ENGLAND were out raising HELL whereas I was enjoying just living there. I did my best to fit in with my suroundings. The house I rented in DEBENHAM had a gate that opened into a large court yard with storage sheds and it allowed me to park all my cars off the street. I probably was the talk of the village and did not know it. I truly feel blessed having the opportunity to have lived in ENGLAND during that time in my life. I know the man that sold fuel to me felt blessed, I had a burning fuel heater in each of the rooms that we lived in (4) I think, I trimmed the wicks each day and filled them twice each day, I had a 50 GAL barrel set up out side the kitchen door and had him fill it once or twice a week, he made a lot of trips thru that gate. My in-laws would come on sat eve to bathe as I had a bath tub upstairs with a heater to heat water and a heater to heat the room, no cold outside privy, that was pretty nice in those days. You have allowed an old dog to float back thru my mind and recall
many many happy wonderful memories. You have no idea how much
joy you have provoked within me, I will never be able to thank
you enough.
A GROUP CALLED "DELTA" Douglas Wenger dougbode(a)mailhost.col.ameritech.net Hey Linn...I've been having a super time reminiscing about the great times I spent in England. I use to live on Mill View Close in Woodbridge. Actually I believe it was 34 Mill View Close. Do you remember a group called "DELTA" we won the Pub Entertainer of the Year award two years in a row. We also packed The Leiston Sports Center for a great evening in 1977. My name is Doug Wenger. I was the lead vocalist/guitarist of the band. We had a great following. Both Americans stationed at RAF Bentwaters along with several of our usual English friends. This was probably the best time in my life. The entire DELTA Band has recently been in touch. We are presently constructing a web page... Also we're comprising a compilation CD. I was assigned to the 81st AMS from June 1972-Sep79. I left
shortly after the A10s arrived. As Bruce Forsythe used to say...
BFN... 'Bye for now. Thanks.
MY VOODOOS! Mike Paris
me.paris(a)verizon.net Seeing those Voodoos made me travel back in time to better days. I worked on 0014 and 0025, loading weapons, repairing the weapon's systems. I was a weapon's mechanic from 1961 to 1965 in the 78th T.F.S. Oh, Sweet Memories!!! I'm sure that I speak for just about all of the former members of the 81st and can say that this web is excellent, and look forward to taking additional trips back in time. Thanks,
THE GUYS and THE PEOPLE John M Czarnota JCZARNOTA(a)uscanco.com Hi Linn I was a Crewchief on an F-4C in the 92ndTFS from 1967-1970. Although I wasn't thrilled about being in the military at the time, thirty years later I find most of my fondest memories are from my years at Bentwaters, the guys I worked with, and just experiencing England and the people. I don't remember being told, I guess it was understood, cameras were frowned upon on the flight line and I never considered taking one out to the Alert Area we had in those days, as I result I don't have any pictures of my own of "where I worked" or what BW looked like in the late 60's. Fortunately I can always visit your site for a memory refresher. Either there were a lot of changes made in the 20 years after I left or I've lost more gray cells than I thought.
PLANES... Walt O'Toole wotoole(a)dswebnet.com Regards to the Russian TI06. The aircraft flew to London to pick up the Bolshei Ballet company that had been performing there. Think they used the 106 to show the world that they had, and could build a new "secret" aircraft. Anyway, on the return flight the aircraft developed engine trouble and landed at an AF base we had right on the coast. I can't remember what squadron we had stationed there or the name of it. (senior moment). The town was a big coastal tourist town, much bigger than Felixstowe. Now that I think about it, it was the 92nd. Anyway, the jet engines were placed right next to the body of the aircraft, which made it so unusual. The US government wanted pictures, but nobody was allowed on board. The Russian embassy in London was sending a diplomat down to make arrangements to have the aircraft repaired and get it out of the country. So, photographers were put in crates, and towed around the aircraft, obviously to get as many pictures as possible. The problem with the aircraft was that the engines were so close to the body, it was very unstable to fly. That's what threw the government and American aircraft designers off. They couldn't figure it out, because of the problems they had encountered in their wind tunnel experiments, how the aircraft could even fly stably. I am sure there are Ex-AF types out there that will fill in the blank spaces that I have missed.
...and BOATS... Here is another one that may be interesting to your readers. Two officers from Bentwaters bought Admiralty barges, from a British navy salvage sale and planned to rebuild them to bring them back to the states. I believe one officer was a major, and the other a captain. They assembled a crew, and rebuilt both boats. I was invited to cover the story, but as I was getting close to transfer back to the States, I chose to accompany my wife and family. Both boats made it to the Azores, and one boat finally made it to the states. Severe engine problems with the old WWII engines. I sort of lost track of them after that, and soon afterwards, I transferred back to the US. I am sure some of your older readers remember this story, and also can fill in the blanks. Kindest Regards, Walt O'Toole, wotoole(a)dswebnet.com ...and JATO PS: Has anybody ever mentioned the JATO bottles that were placed on a military six-by (big four wheel drive truck, at least 2-1/2 tons) and ignited, to see if the runway could handle high speed landings? All kinds of stories about Bentwaters out there. !
FISH & CHIPS AGAIN! Mike Lyman, ncpro(a)insightbb.com,
Bentwaters, Woodbridge, 1969-1973 I have very fond memories from Bentwaters/Woodbridge. I have never returned but would like to one day. I would really enjoy some good fish and chips from Melton. I would love to share the memories with those that served at the same time. This is a great site and I plan to spend much time here, looking for old friends and stirring old memories. Thanks.
GULF WAR SUPPORT February 1, 2001 at 00:33:01 Address: 724 Sequoia Trail, Patrick AFB, Florida 32925 My wife and I were told of this site by a colleague of hers. After seeing the different pictures and reading the stories, I am so glad to see that it is not only my wife and I that have fond memories of our time at RAF Bentwaters. My wife and I met when she was a secretary in the Supply Sq, and I worked in the MICAP office. She is originally from Woodbridge. Her name is Maxine Moscrop. I proposed to her on Bentwaters and our favorite dating spot was the beach at Aldebrugh. We have many memories of our time there, the people we worked with and the sad end to it all. I was one of the first to live in the new housing on RAF Woodbridge and one of the last to move out in 1993. Recently I was assigned to a remote assignment to Korea and while there, my family leased a house on RAF Woodbridge. When I took my mid-tour leave and returned to the twin bases, I was shocked, disappointed, and disturbed to see the conditions of both bases. It was nice to see the 81 FW emblem still hanging (somewhat chipped and weathered) on the Supply warehouse behind building 136. The softball field that was there is now overgrown but I remember "going yard" over its small outfield fences many times. My most fond memory was building the Engine Shop MSU in support of the Gulf War. At that time the TF-34 engine that pushed the A-10 was repaired there and productivity was increasing due to the mission in the gulf. We were tasked (there were 12 of us) to utilize two small buildings next to the engine shop and create a separate warehouse/issue point for engine specific parts only. We started in November and was operational in December. We all came together as a team and realizing what was happening, put whatever differences there were behind us and took care of business. The highlight of that duty was the many visits from HQ USAFE commanders. The second time General Oaks visited, he knew us by first name!! That was impressive at the time to me. I could write many other memories as almost everyday something happened that is forever stuck in my mind. I do know and my wife agrees, the day Bentwaters closed was a dark day for Suffolk and the surrounding villages and there people. I have run into many people in my travels that visited the bases or were assigned there that say that Bentwaters was the best kept secret of USAFE!!. Sincerely,
Lori Rehfeldt Lori_Rehfeldt(a)ed.gov 1978 One wintry night while on B Flight patrol I noticed an airman "Rick" on Post 10 wasn't wearing his gloves. Since I was in a warm car and he was exposed to the weather I lent him my gloves. Rick was grateful, and I felt like I did the right thing. Shift change was always a busy time. Rick forgot to give the gloves back to me, and I forgot to ask. The following night, Rick had the night off and I was stuck standing watch at the main gate near the Base Exchange without my gloves. My supervisor was on patrol and drove up to my gate in his warm car inquiring, "Where your gloves?" "I let Rick borrow them yesterday. He still has them." I thought my supervisor was inquiring if I didn't have mine, then he'd lend me his gloves. Instead, he looked at me stupidly nodding "no" like I was some idiot for lending my gloves and he drove off. His attitude was, "Rehfeldt go ahead and fend for yourself." He couldn't care less if my hands turned to ice and broke off in the process. I tried not to think about my supervisor wearing his gloves in his warm patrol car while I froze my a** off. I tried not to think of what he should have done, and how dare he not be a good Samaritan and lend me his gloves. On the other hand, I wasn't sure if I wanted to touch his gloves. I knew I'd finish the shift with cold hands, find Rick and get my gloves back. Around my supervisor, I tried not to act like my hands were cold. Whenever my supervisor stopped by my gate, I didn't complain, I just wanted him to go away. I didn't want him to go back to the Law Enforcement Desk saying I was whining. About an hour later, Colonel Wacker, the 81st TFW Commander drove by my gate who saw my hands being fire engine red and very cold. I jumped out of my gate shack and gave Colonel Wacker a sharp salute. I was about ready to jump back into my tiny shack when Colonel Wacker asked me, "How are you? I told him, " Fine sir." Hoping he'd leave so I could get out of the damp icy weather. Colonel Wacker asks, "Where are your gloves?" I repeated my story and told him I lent my gloves to a colleague yesterday, and he's off duty tonight, so there you have it, no gloves. "Here take my gloves." Colonel Wacker handed me his "pilot gloves". I looked at his gloves, really wanting to take them because my hands felt like they wanted to fall off, but decided there was something wrong about borrowing the highest-ranking person on the base's gloves. "Sir, thank you, but I can't." He tells me, "I'm telling you to take my gloves. That's an order!" Then he smiled, so not to scare me with his order. Not wanting to disobey an order, I happily took Colonel Wacker's high tech, really cool looking pilot gloves. After Colonel Wacker left, I was standing there staring at his gloves. I noticed he had his name written in ink on the palm side of his gloves, which makes the gloves proof of his celebrity status. Soon a patrol car stops by, and it's not my supervisor but another airman "Dave" who asks if I want to take a warm-up break away from my gate. Of course I did. Dave had a heart of gold. Although, he was hated as much as I was. I thanked him while jumping quickly into his patrol vehicle and drove swiftly over to the LE desk. I also wanted to show off Colonel Wacker's gloves to the NCO's. The Desk Sergeant and a few others found it really cool and very nice of Wacker stopped by my gate and gallantly lent me his gloves. My supervisor was the only one brewing in irritation. "Isn't it time you got back to your gate?" Demanded my supervisor. "Yeah, you're right. See you later." Smiling as I quickly left so not to hear any grief from my supervisor. The rest of the evening was uneventful, but by next morning all hell broke loose. Next morning, there was a loud voice and banging on my dormitory door. "Rehfeldt, wake up! Major Drury wants to see you right now, and he's mad!" "What's wrong?" Groggy and puzzled by all the commotion outside my door. "All I know is that you jumped the chain of command. Rehfeldt hurry up and get your a** over to Major Drury's office now!" I scramble out of bed, got into my uniform and reported immediately to Drury's office. I knocked on his door, walked in and reported just like I learned in basic training, "Sir, Airman Rehfeldt reporting as order, Sir." "At ease! Rehfeldt? Is it true that while on the main gate, you stopped the Wing Commander and asked to borrow his gloves?" "No, sir that's not the way it went." "Do you understand the meaning of chain of command?" "Yes, sir." "I don't think you do." "Excuse me sir, Colonel Wacker stopped by my gate and ordered me to take his gloves." "And where might I ask were your gloves?" Thinking to myself, here I go again explaining where the hell my gloves were. "Sir, I loaned them to another airman who needed gloves two nights ago. I didn't know he was off last night. There wasn't any way to get my gloves." "Oh. Airman Rehfeldt, I caution you to utilize the chain of command. If you need gloves, you come see me." "Yes, sir." I saluted, did an about face and out the door I went. I couldn't believe I just had that odd conversation with Drury. He really thought that I stopped the Wing Commander for his gloves. I should have known to utilize the chain of command. Replaying that incredulous session with Drury in my head. I really wanted to say, "Sir you are right. Last night I looked down at my cold hands and said to myself, "Hey, my hands are cold. I need gloves, I think I'll stop the Wing Commander car thus going to the top of the food chain and borrow Colonel Wacker's gloves. In fact, I'll get whatever I need from the head honcho of the entire base." Give me a break! I don't think Drury believed that Colonel Wacker insisted that I borrow his gloves. Colonel Wacker was being kind. I could not for the life of me believe how actions were taken so way out of context. I took it also as a sign that I worked for some people with loose screws. Colonel Wacker was just trying to be nice. It was ashamed that those in my direct command weren't as thoughtful as Colonel Wacker. None of this would have happened if the non commissioned officer in charge took care of his troops. I was furious, and asked my friend Katy from the dormitory to walk with me down to Wacker's home. I knocked on Colonel Wacker's door and gratefully thanked him for lending me his gloves. I told him that Major Drury thought I jumped the chain of command. Colonel Wacker laughed noting the silliness of some officers. He was genuinely sorry for that, and ironically, that was the last I heard about Colonel Wacker's gloves. Although, I believe that Drury and those in my chain of command were watching me closely. The 81st Security Police leadership was expert in misconstruing the tiniest, trivial thing. It didn't matter what needed misconstruing. They would find something, anything to blow out of proportion. I often wondered that if we had a busy law enforcement mission that Drury wouldn't be so busy analyzing borrowed glove issues. I think being female and now borrowing the Wing Commander's gloves put me under an unfavorable light. My gut instinct told me to keep my mouth shut and accept my assignments. It was unnerving that I bit my tongue when others complained. I had the same complaints but when they came out of my mouth it sounded like I wasn't cut out to be in the elite Security Police field. It's strange how two people doing the same exact job, creating the same results and one appears to walk on water while the other looks like a total mess up.
THE LAST WALK Monday, January 01, 2001 1:35 AM I was there until the end. Metals tech moved all the machinery
from their shop and Sheetmetal. The biggest pain of all was the
massive radial drill press in the machine shop. Reginald Southgate
(Mr. Red) said it was lifted into the shop with a crane before
the roof was put on. I can believe it because it came out of there
in pieces. It is hard to see the pictures of Bentwaters in such
shambles, it was such nice base. I will never forget that last
walk from the shop, closed forever with nothing in it. |
FOR TWELVE YEARS this site has collected contributions for Twin Bases of RAF Bentwaters and RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk, England
Copyright © 1995-2008 Linn Barringer, All Rights Reserved. Bentwaters.org was RENAMED and re-launched as TwinBases.org.uk 14 January 2007