RAMSEY 2008

RAMSEY 1940's WEEKEND - RAF UPWOOD AUGUST 2008 August saw the First Allied Airborne Association deploying to RAF Upwood the former WWII Bomber Airfield and post war American base, just down the road from Ramsey. This was the second event we had attended here, this time with more than a few more troopers, however due to School and Annual Holidays we were down to a little less than half manning. Never the less we had members coming from far and wide to support the groups display. As this was an active war time Airfield, it was considered appropriate to represent a unit connected with the Army Air Force, this we did while retaining our US Airborne Links. There are many fine groups out there who can do the glamorous Air crew types. We opted for a ground role unit, one hardly ever mentioned in the history of the WWII Army Air Forces and one not done as a group by anyone else to date. The unit chosen was one of the 3 Engineer Aviation Battalions in the ETO designated Airborne and with an Air Assault capability. The 877th Airborne Engineer Aviation Battalion arrived in the United Kingdom in March 1944, and on Omaha Beach on D + 30. They built A-15 at Maupertus, which was the first field on the continent to base medium B-26 bombers and Black Widow night fighters. The 877th was engaged in construction and maintenance of 66 fields in France and Germany.
*Company C 877th Airborne Engineer Aviation Battalion*
On or around the 30th August the Battalion was ordered to prepare for airborne movement at Airfield No 15, Normandy. On September 4th 1944 the Battalion was ordered to Airfield 23 for onward flight to England. On 11th September the Battalion air landed at Station 129 Birch England to prepare for Operation MARKET GARDEN. In the event, the Battalion did not deploy and one month later returned to France. The display the group undertook represented elements of Headquarters Company 877th AEAB and attached station personnel from a 9th USAAF Quartermaster Company at Station 149 Birch in East Anglia preparing for the Market Garden Operation.
Station 149 Birch
On Friday evening, the advance party arrived to secure the display location, pitch their pup tents and bed down for the night. The main road party with military vehicles arrived first light on the Saturday with deployment stores, rations and water. Within the hour, the Battalions Air Head deployment and admin area consisting of Command Post, Ammo and Company Stores, Vehicle Maintenance/Armoury workshop and Mess hall was established outside Hanger No 2. Well before the first members of the public were on site all members of Headquarters Company were in position. Saturday was fine weather wise, with none of the predicted bad weather materialising. Numbers of public attending was high and the standards of other group’s displays were very, very good to excellent and many new contacts were made. With respect to the show in general, the logistics and facilities were also very good, with some of the very best toilets I have seen at an event and in our case and in most cases, not a great distance from us. On Saturday evening, we chose as a group to sit out the dance and instead made our own entertainment in our camp, while preparing kit for our secondary task of ceremonial duties which was to be undertaken on the Sunday at the Drum Head service. Sunday dawned to crap wet weather, but after an hour or so cleared for a largely fine day again. Most of the morning was taken up with confirmatory drill practice, covering most of what we had covered on the Saturday afternoon. After a final rehearsal in the hanger, the Colour Guard retired to their changing room to get changed into Class A uniform, again representing a Colour Guard of the USAAF. It was both an Honour to represent the Living History Groups at the event and to march with the USAF Base Honour Guard from Alconbury, the highlight of our deployment to Ramsey.
Our display was dedicated to those of the 877th who have gone before us.
With an uneventful drive home the weekend was again another successful event for the first Triple A, one that saw another new recruit to the group getting involved in what we do. Many, many good points about the event, not least the flying displays by Lancaster, Hurricane, P51 and the Red Arrows at the end of the Show on the Sunday. Aircraft were low and close, unlike some of the bigger Air displays. Yep, a cracking weekend. I am extremely proud of all who attended and put so much into the event. Thank you to the guys in the group who stayed behind in the camp area while the Honour Guard undertook training on Saturday and finally the Drum Head service on Sunday. All in the group should be congratulated on the impression carried out, something different again and one that got a lot of interest from the long standing USAAF re-enactors who attended and came over for a chat. To the honour Guard, thanks for putting up with my hissy fits, I hope all in the Colour Guard felt it was worth while and the results were worth the constant drill we undertook. Many people commented favourably on what we were doing, but inevitably those reenactors and groups who don’t understand the importance of it were just miffed. Thanks again to Bob, ably assisted on Saturday by new member Phil for the excellent company catering. Some complaints were heard from other groups and individuals as to the lack of basic catering facilities at the event, of course none of this affected us as we again were very much looked after by the 9th Air force Quartermaster Mess Hall. Thanks to Bob and Phil. Yes, definitely on the list of "must do" events for next year. All here in FAAA sincerely hope our good friend Paul McAllister and his Provost group will again be there too. Lee Bowden FAAA Below are a few pictures of the group on deployment to Ramsey: