The Eagle pub, Cambridge

While TDY to RAF Lakenheath some colleagues and I had the chance to spend some time in Cambridge. One of the things we did was join the F-15 bros for a D-day commemoration dinner at a pub that's well-known for its pilot heritage. Among other graffiti, there's the signature of Robin Olds, perhaps the most famous fighter pilot in recent memory, on the wall. Oh, and it's also known as the place where the discovery of DNA was announced..

Also in Cambridge, one can punt! On a sunny Sunday in East Anglia I and some fellow pilots (and WSOs, let's be fair) went punting on the river Cam. It's not easy. You use a pole to push off the river bed and steer. It's better to be a passenger I learned. Cambridge, punting, drinking Pimms. It was all quite lovely. ;)

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eagle_(pub)
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimm's

Grafton-Underwood, cont.

After visiting the church in Grafton-Underwood, I stopped at a cafe for breakfast and got to talking with the waiter. I told him why I was there and he suggested that I drive to the Vane Arms, a pub in the nearby village of Sudborough, because it has a connection to the aircrew who flew from Grafton-Underwood. The mantelpiece in the pub is something of a historical artifact.

The waiter and the bartender at the Vane Arms told the same story. As they told me, aircrew would frequent the pub and if they were flying a mission the next day, they would tap a penny into the mantelpiece before they left. Upon safely returning from their missions, they would visit the pub and take their penny to the bar for a pint. If they didn't return, their friends would hammer the coin into the wood to be left as a remembrance of their lost comrade. The bartender said these coins have been there ever since (although sadly some of them have been "nicked" over the years).

Seeing that mantle and hearing the story that goes with it was an unexpected bonus to my trip. After chatting with the bartender I had a pint and reflected a bit about the sacrifices those men made who left their coins at the pub. It was a good way to spend the Saturday after D-day.

Grafton-Underwood

Recently, while in England for a work trip, I had the opportunity to visit the area where my grandfather was stationed during the Second World War. Grandpa was a B-17 navigator and was stationed at Grafton-Underwood, which is about an hour and a half by car from Cambridge. There's nothing left of the airfield really, but there is a monument at the location of the approach end of one of the former runways. There is also church in the hamlet of Grafton-Underwood that has a stained-glass window dedicated "in remembrance of those who gave their lives for freedom during World War II while serving at Grafton-Underwood 1942-1945, especially those members of the 384th Bomb Group (H) of the United States Air Force." It was pretty moving being inside that peaceful church by myself on a rainy morning the day after D-day, think about the significance of that dedication.