In 2017, we were named ‘runners-up’ in the 2017 Museums + Heritage Awards’ ‘Project on a Limited Budget’ category,” Bingley said. “This has led to more individuals donating and loaning items for display. We are particularly keen on personal items, as the ethos of the museum is to tell their stories. We can see just how deeply these stories resonate with visitors.” One of the frequent contributors is Don Madar, an author and historian. Madar has written several books about military history, all of them with a family connection. His interest in the 381st is tied to his uncle Andy Piter Jr., a member of a ground crew at Ridgewell who did not make it home. The Essex Gliding Club continues to use Ridgewell during the summer months, and has even painted one of its gliders in the markings of the 381st. It has also given pleasure flights over the base to veterans and their relatives,” he said. In 2021, we were sent an entire collection of uniforms, medals, and personal items from the U.S. by the son of a 381st tailgunner,” he said. “His father survived 30 missions before being transferred to the Pacific, which he also survived. It’s an awesome collection, which includes his secret combat diary, sunglasses, and ‘short snorter.’”

If you could meet any figure from history, who would it be and why? Also, if you could witness any event throughout history, what would it be? During the course of researching Bomb Group, I discovered that Ridgewell was the temporary home of 90 Squadron – an RAF Short Stirling unit. The interesting thing about 90 Squadron is that it had previously been the first outfit to take the B-17 Flying Fortress over Germany. During the summer of 1941, 20 B-17s were transferred to the British as part of the US Lend-Lease programme. The RAF reactivated a dormant 90 Squadron to operate the bombers. I’m now working on a project to tell the stories of those 20 B-17s and the crews who flew them. Because of the limited space, museum volunteers have learned to be creative with the donations they receive, as they recognize how important they are to the story of the 381st. An intimate history of a B-17 Bomb Group at the heart of the US Eighth Air Force's daylight bombing offensive against Hitler's Germany.In the fall of 2020, I was researching a story about Texas Raiders, the B-17 owned by the Commemorative Air Force Gulf Coast Wing. The aircraft, which is still airworthy, is painted in the colors of the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) 381st Bomb Group. All I knew about the 381st is that it had been based at Ridgewell Airfield in England during World War II. While there are other veterans associations and organizations that provide educational support to the children of those who served with the 381st, there aren’t many places to visit where their family members once served. My father was John Wezowicz, a pilot/aircraft commander in the 533rd who flew 31 missions in early 1944 and was based at Ridgewell. My dad later changed his name to Weston and remained in the USAF [U.S. Air Force] until retiring in the 1970s. He passed away in 2016 at 99. It was a very emotional experience, both being able to walk in my father’s footsteps and also seeing the dedication that Paul, Alan, and others have in ensuring that the memory of the 381st and veterans stays alive.” The bodies of the servicemen were painstakingly recovered from the Isle of Man, returned to Ridgewell for identification, then buried at the military cemetery in Cambridge. Because there is very little left of the airfield today—as most of the buildings and infrastructure, including the hangars, control tower, runways, and hardstands, are gone—the former base has been all but forgotten.

The death of Andy Piter, especially so close to the end of the war, had a profound impact on the family, Madar said.

I admire James Holland for his ability to convey military history so well. Unfortunately, I just don’t have his capacity to write the number of books he has. He’s a veritable writing machine. For books covering aviation, I highly recommend Sagittarius Rising by Cecil Lewis, First Lightby Geoffrey Wellum, and Combat Crew by John Comer. Three outstanding books by three very brave individuals. Most visitors—they get about 100 a day when they are open—do some research before they come to Ridgewell. Sometimes the visitors surprise the volunteers with what they bring. He befriended some of the 381st’s ground crews and built up a collection of wartime memorabilia, which he exhibited around Essex,” Bingley said. “Finally, he got permission to display his collection in a small section of the current museum building. Sadly, he passed away before seeing the fruit of his labors. The museum continued on, thanks to his friends, including Jim and Jenny Tennet, together with Alan and Monica Steel, and several others.” Consult university archives. Some universities have information as they have records of what the university did during the war. Others are repositories for select military groups, such as Texas Women’s University, which is the keeper of information about Women Airforce Service Pilots. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has information about the training of British pilots on American soil (No. 5 British Flying Training School). Obviously the internet has allowed access to archives across the world. While it doesn’t beat holding an original document in your hands, it has made researching a much easier task. The advent of social media has also helped. There are specialised Facebook ‘groups’ that are now proving invaluable in accessing information or individuals.

He’d been sending his money home and he bought his parents a house. They had a room waiting for him.” Don Madar, nephew of a Ridgewell ground crew member According to Paul Bingley, the chairman of the museum, it was the life’s work of Tony Ince, who had been a local schoolboy during the war.His next book, Essex: A Hidden Aviation History, uncovered the many forgotten (and oft-ignored) tales behind the county’s many memorials, museums and markers. From Essex’s links to the origins of the Supermarine company, to the UK’s largest known surviving group of Royal Flying Corps buildings on a former First World War aerodrome; Essex: A Hidden Aviation History is the perfect pointer. They really are walking in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfathers.” Sarah Allen, Ridgewell Airfield Commemorative Museum volunteer When I was there, Paul Bingley and I found where Andy lived, and when I walked by there, I got goosebumps and started to cry,” Madar said. “It hit me. It was his last residence, where he would last have a smile. The other significant thing for me was the morgue, as morbid as that sounds, as that was the last place they were before their bodies were shipped to Cambridge.” Paul’s first book, US Air Force Bases in the UK, retraced the concrete paths of 50 of the UK’s past and present American air force bases. The book examines how the so-called “special relationship” has helped shape the land we see today.