Podington airfield in WW2
Introduction
During 2019 I presented a talk on Podington airfield in World War II to local history societies. My presentation included archive film footage showing life on the air base, known as USAAF Station 109, following the arrival of the US 8th Airforce 92nd (Heavy) Bombardment Group in 1943.
Since it now seems very unlikely that I shall have the opportunity to present the talk again in the near future I have decided to put the resources, including maps, documents and photographs, on-line in the form of a slide show. To complete the package I have also provided links to the edited extracts from the film The Doc Furniss War which featured in my original talk.
Mike Meade cchsweb2018@gmail.com
The slide show
Click on the image opposite to launch the slide show. The slides will progress automatically and take 6 to 7 minutes to the end of the show. Jiggle the mouse to display the control bar, stop, restart and to select individual slides.
For optimum viewing select the full-screen icon. Press ESCAPE on your keyboard to restore the display.
From the film archive
There are three separate film clips labelled Podington i - iii.
Please excuse the poor picture quality and remember to turn on the sound.
Podington i is a very short introduction by the film maker Flight Surgeon William 'Doc' Furniss. who was attached to the 327 Bomb Squadron at Station 109 and took his camera on a number of bombing raids.
Podington ii (8 mins) begins with a fleeting glimpse of Podington village, then moves on to record activity on Airfield road and to introduce some of the main characters on the air base.
Podington iii (19 mins) includes footage taken by Doc Furniss on raids over Germany as well as a number of incidents on the air base, some amusing and others tragic.