From: Bryan Donaldson Subject: two nations divided by a common language Date: Monday, April 05, 1999 23:36 Recently I had the opportunity to hop across the pond and visit England on business. As I was going to be able to spend a couple of extra days, I thought I'd get in touch with the Kraits, the only UK Air Warrior squadron I know of, and see if any of them wanted to tag along as I visited the few places I would be able to get to. Fortunately, Fidd took me up on my offer, and went one better. He invited me to "pack my kit" and stay the night with he and his wife Maria. I could not have had better hosts. I took him up on the offer, but as I would be venturing into the wilds of the British Rail system for the first time, I declined to take my entire load of baggage, and kept the hotel room I'd arranged. This was fortunate, as Fidd picked me up in his Austin 7 ( the British equivalent of a Model T). On his suggestion, we set off toward Tangmere (after a visit to the local pub, an excellent King and Barnes bitter for me, and a shandy for Fidd) and we chugged along at a most enjoyable pace. Once, Fidd commented at the appropriateness of going to Tangemere in an automobile that was operating at the time Tangmere was operating. We could just imagine the poor sod who got his bird shot out from under him trying to cram his chute and other kit into the back seat and make his way back to base. Tangmere, once we got there, was absolutely wonderful. It had lots of personal effects ( pilot's rescue kit, different typed fo uniforms, etc) and good amount of the detailed info you wouldn't expect to get at a big museum. It didn't have many planes, but I know that "deficit" would be take care of on the following day. Fidd and I had a cup of tea and ambled about the memorial garden they have out back. That evening, Fidd and Maria and I went to local Indian restaurant. The Madras style chicken was quite tasty, when washed down by what I think was draught Kingfisher lager... On the following day (Sunday) Fidd and I set out in a more modern conveyance. His Vauxhall was quite a bit faster that the Austin, and we navigated the motorways to Duxford and the Imperial War Museum quite swiftly. Fellow US fliers, if you get a chance to hop the pond, make sure you see Duxford. As you approach the American Air Museum you'll see a wall of glass. On each pane (approx. 3' by 6') there are about 4" square pictures of planes, heavy and medium bombers, and single and dual engine fighters. This wall goes on for 100-150 yards and each picture represents a plane lost in combat from the UK during WWII. All told, I think 30,000 airmen lost thier lives flying from Duxford and other British bases in WWII. That wall seemed WAY to long.... Inside the American museum, they have the B52 (not WWII, but hey....) and the only example of the B29 in Europe. They also had a B17-g with a cutout with a plexiglass bubble so you could see how tight the quarters were in the waist and tail. They had a P47 that was one the floor (Fidd explained why one shouldn't generally touch a planes prop. After I'd done it, of course...) They also had a P51 and what looked like an Avenger suspended from the ceiling. And upon close inspection, the Gooney isn't such a bad plane (though thier was STILL leaking oil...) and they had a U2 hung up from the ceiling as well. In one of the other hangers at Duxford, we could see a JU52 and a F4U being rebuilt. A British transport (quite similar to the Lancaster, I think Fidd said) was ready for the final painting. We saw a wing in a jig, apparently being fixed. From just a view of the underside, Fidd correctly identified it as the Spit 5. In the static (non-flying) displays, they had an ME 109 and the spanish version whose ID I forget. They had some BLOO planes, the F4U, F4F and F6F, as well as a nice P40 and a Hurricane and another p47, and more Spits than you'd find over the pond in RR ETO.. In the fighter collection of Airworthy craft, they had (of course) a couple of Spits, a Britol Blenheim, a Catalina, and a Hind attack chopper. (The guide book shows having 33 WWII planes as Airworthy craft up to a B17G and a B25) On the way home, Fidd made what I'll consider to be the (almost) ultimate sacrafice. We'd discussed my travel plans, and after his offer to continue at his place, I decided to chuck the hotel and spend the remaining evening with he and Maria. Rather than drop me off at the train station and pick me up near my his home in Haywards Heath, Fidd offerd to drive into London, pick up my gear, and then drive out. You know what they say about mad dogs and Englishmen.... American folks, if you ever even think about driving in London traffic, you should seriously think about getting professional psychiatric help. Even with Fidd, we missed 2 turns going into London and 2 more coming out. (PPIG isn't the best navigator in strange terrain... and the Brits mark their streets differently than we Yanks do...) Later that evening, I had the pleasure fo watching Fidd's performance in the Sicily frame (#2 I think). I don't remember how many kills he got, but I think it was 5 A2A and 4 A2G before he saw the red screen. When I left the following day, Fidd dropped me at the airport terminal (as Gatwick was only about 20 minutes from thier home). I cannot thank Fidd (Tim) and Maria enough for their kindness and hospitality in showing this American about in the U.K. I just hope I'll someday be able to return the favor. -- PPIG - Tigers AVG (remove NOSPAM from reply address) p.s. Ask Fidd about how he describes a particulary agressive R.O.C...