Overgrown blast shelter
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Overgrown blast shelter by Evelyn Simak as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Overgrown blast shelter
Image: © Evelyn Simak Taken: 9 Aug 2014
This is one of several brick-built blast shelters which have survived on Site 1, where the 531st bombardment squadron of RAF Thorpe Abbotts (Station 139) was quartered. The airfield has long since been returned to agriculture and the farmers make use of the concrete tracks and hardstandings. During WWII the village of Thorpe Abbotts became home to an airbase with the designation 139, Thorpe Abbotts. It was built in 1942 for the RAF by John Laing & Sons Ltd but was handed over to the Americans. The 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) arrived in June 1943 when construction work was barely finished. The unit bombed airfields, industries, marshalling yards, and missile sites in western Europe and completed a series of attacks against Berlin in March 1944. The 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum, dedicated to the USAAF's famous 'Bloody Hundredth' Bomb Group of WWII, is housed in the original airfield control tower near Thorpe Abbotts: http://www.100bgmus.org.uk/default.aspx . The airfield consisted of 50 hardstandings, three intersecting runways and it had two T-2 hangars which were erected adjacent to the technical site. See also: http://www.geograph.org.uk/article/RAF-Thorpe-Abbotts---USAAF-Station-139
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Image Location
Latitude
52.375614
Longitude
1.191727