I am beginning planning of a trip to England for my family (this summer).

Base information:
Family of four - efficient travelers, but little/no experience in Europe.
Dad (47)- Has traveled to Bavaria combining work/pleasure. Lived in UK when VERY young.
Mom (46) - Adventuresome; never been to Europe
Daughter (17) - Enjoyed 10 days near Madrid Spain (local family sponsor)
Daughter (12)
I would like to spend about 1 week.
London sites are a must.
I MUST visit airfield at Deenthorpe (near Corby) - My father flew B-17 bombers from this airfield in WW2.

We would prefer not to tour with the masses, but may be interested in local aides/tourguides.

A side trip to Normandy beaches is also important to Dad.

Suggested highlights/itineraries appreciated.

IMO you definitely need more than a week. The site of RAF Deenethorpe is up north near Corby/Peterborough and just south of Rutland. It is not a day trip from London sort of place - especially since I doubt you could get there by public transport.

You could spend 2 or 3 days in the area visiting your Dad's old haunts, plus places like Burleigh House, Rutland Water, and Stamford.

Then, you'd want a <u>minimum</u> of 5 or 6 days in London.

And a couple of days in Normandy - again not doable as a day-trip from London.

Plus one full day each traveling to/from the UK

So IF you can spare 11-12 days or so it would be a doable plan. But w/ just one week - nope. Remember - your first day will be pretty much lost to jetlag for at least some of you. So that takes almost a full day out of your London plans.

I can understand your desire to get to Deenethorpe...
My husband's grandfather flew B-17s out of Molesworth during WWII, and we were lucky enough to go there on one of our trips to England. It was a very moving experience for all of us to visit there.

Sites in London that are also related to WWII are the Cabinet War Rooms, where we spent a couple of hours, and the Imperial War Museum.

I agree that it is going to be hard to fit everything you have listed into a one-week time frame.

oops - just noticed a bad typo -- Burghley House

I think best rail station from London for Deenthorpe would be Kettering. From Kettering to Deenthorpe (just NE of Corby) by road is 19k (12 miles). Maybe there's a bus (at least to Corby anyway), but maybe it's also doable by taxi.

Corby visit is only a day. train, rent car, look at empty field come home.

Normandy really two but could try for an early train and a late train and a rush. Battle bus seems liked here.

London sites are almost infinite so you need a priotity list

I hope you have used Google,co,uk, where you will find http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/air...enethorpe.html
for example, telling you that Deenethorpe is used for agriculture, not much to see except maybe a few ruined buildings.

It's definately possible to visit in a day, but you will need to get a taxi or minicab from Corby. An 08.30 train from St Pancras to Kettering, and then an X1 bus, will get you to Corby by 09.54. A google search shows lots of taxi companies in Corby.

This should help you plan your journey:
http://www.traveline.org.uk/

The following links might be of interest:

http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/air...enethorpe.html

http://ukga.com/airfield/deenethorpe

If you have time, you could visit the nearest parish church or a pub that was popular with airmen during the war.

It has been restored to farm land - but there is a plaque. Yes - it is &quot;doable&quot; as a day trip. But that is what you'd see - a train, a local taxi, a photo of the plaque, while the taxi waits, lunch and back to London on the train. Not much fun IMO.

That is why I suggested taking a couple of days and exploring the local villages, pubs (many of which were much the same back when your Dad was stationed there) and some of the nearby sights. That would give you a better context than a metal plaque.

There are derelict buildings and one runway is in good condition; it was used last year. The links I've given include photographs of how it looks today.

Not totally sure - those photos of the base bldgs you linked don't have dates. I've found lots and lots of pix on-line, but most were taken in the 70's, 80's/early 90's. Your runway photos are dated in 2007 so that much is still there. Maybe there is a Northants Fodorite around who will know what else remains . . . . .

Here's what's there now.

You will see that the original flag from the base is in the local church - which has a stained glass window dedicated to the squadron.

I imagine they would also have a book of rememberance

http://tinyurl.com/4eht7p

That's great - quite a bit looks to be standing.

(I'd been to Deene Park a couple of times and didn't realize an airfield was so near. But then there are old air bases all over)

Annettetx, my dad was also stationed at Molesworth. Wonder if they knew each other! Dad's plane was called the Red Ass (had a red donkey painted on its side). Alas, the Red Ass did not survive the war; it was shot down in the fall of '44. Several of the crew were killed and the rest sat out the war as POWs in Germany He took me for a visit in 1998 and at that time there was still a small American presence at the base. I was very moved when a young American GI took us around and Dad shared with him stories that I had never heard him tell. We also went to the air museum at Duxford. One of the hangars there was devoted to American aircraft, WWII vintage. When I saw the B17, it looked pretty primitive. It is a wonder that any of them came back. (And I think the rate of return was pretty sad as it was.)

rick_k, I hope you have a chance to visit your Dad's old base and get to Duxford. Duxford is near Cambridge. We had a rental car and visited Molesworth and the American cemetery from Cambridge. But I think you could do it by taxi. We spent several hours at Duxworth as there is much to see besides the American hangar. We also visited several towns in the area and Dad recognized one of the pubs he had patronized while there.

irishface;

What a small world!

Jay's granddad was Col. Joseph Trojan, whose plane was the Yard Bird.

He was assigned to Molesworth in Sept 1942, and then was shot down over France (on his way back after what was supposed to be his final bombing run) in May, 1943.

We visited Molesworth in July, 2000. We signed the guest register at the gate, were given a tour of the base, and saw the few buildings that still remain from WWII. I remember that we had to be escorted, since the facility is used for intelligence analysis now, and my husband lingered behind our group, and was sternly questioned by one of the personnel on duty!

We also went to the nearby church whose steeple Granddad said he navigated by on take offs and landings.

The whole trip was pretty amazing -- Granddad died just this past February, and I'm so thankful he knew that we honored his service by visiting his old haunts.

Do you know when your dad was stationed there?

Annette

We rented Twelve O'Clock High recently; is this the same base that was featured in that film?

Lee Ann

Annette, my Dad would have just missed your Dad.&nbsp; Mine arrived in June, 1943. Some time in early 1944 he was assigned to High Wickham doing data (bombing) analysis and then returned to Molesworth in the summer of 44.

'Tis a small world indeed. Also recently played bridge with a lady who was a GI bride who lived near Molesworth and met her husband when he was stationed there.

Rick, sorry to have sort of hijacked your thread. I am really hoping that you can work out a visit to your Dad's base and Duxford. It will be a very moving experience for you and your family.

irishface &amp; annettetx:

I am SO pleased (and honored) to read your stories and remembrances. Visiting Deenthorpe is important to me; It is another way to honor and say &quot;goodbye&quot; to my father. (Dad died in December of 2006)

Dad flew out of Deenthorpe between December 1943 and July 1944.

Web links of interest:

http://www.401bg.com/photo_archive/p...pid=10347#menu

http://www.401bg.com/history/crew.asp?cid=12271

Notice that the list of Dad's 1st crew shows 6KIA and 2POW. Dad and his bombardier were the only two to come home (of a crew of 10) from a mission to Emden, Germany on 11 Dec, 1943. This was his second mission (out of 35). Dad spent 28 years in the &quot;Air Force&quot;, (originally US Army Air Corps), retiring at the rank of Lt. Colonel in 1970.

So many crews with so many losses and so many stories! I know Dad was not unique in his service and sacrifices, but he was MY hero and I am lucky to be here given the poor survival rates of bomber crewmembers in WWII.

I will continue to review comments to this thread. Maybe I can contact a &quot;local&quot; who has remembrances of the times when the airmen were there.

I will look further into Duxford. I have seen a LOT of vintage WWII aircraft, (mostly US). I've even seen a spitfire and German HE-111 in Addison, TX.

The tough part of organizing our trip will be balancing my desires to absorb WWII history against my family's desires to see all the other wonderful things available.

I will take everyone's suggestions for additional time to heart and work to extend our stay!

How do I balance the convenience and cost of organized tours against our preference to explore on our own?

My parents always said that the best way to see things was to take tours because you learn more, spend less time waiting in lines, and usually save a few pennies...

Thanks all!

Re: Duxford

It of interest to me that the B-17 at the American Collection at Duxford is painted with the markings of my Dad's Bomb Group (401st)!

http://aam.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.1129

Annette, check out website 303rdbg.com. It has pictures and stories from Molesworth. I am crying after just reading there.


Also I found a few mistakes in my chronology. Will be seeing Dad later this week and will have to ask him. He doesn't like to talk much about those days unless he is around others who went through it, though he does talk a bit more these days. How young all those men look in the pictures.