Rare Photos of Old Buckenham Airfield during the Second World War Discovered 4,000 Miles Away

Rare photos of military life in Old Buckenham during the Second World War have been uncovered after a set of lost films were found in Montana.

Old Buckenham Airfield was the home of the 453rd Bomb Group from December 1943 to May 1945.

After buying a box of photographic supplies and equipment from an estate auction in Montana, cinematographer and photographer, Stefan Tarzan discovered three undeveloped films within a collection of metal canisters with US Army Air Corps stenciled on. Inside the canisters were a number of 9X9 inch negatives, some of which were still on their original rolls. These rolls contained 90 never before seen images depicting life at Old Buckenham airfield from more than seven decades ago.

A majority of the aircrafts within the photos have been identified as USAAF B-24 Liberator bombers. The Liberators flew 259 missions from Old Buckenham against targets in enemy territory.

The photographs, believed to have been taken with a Fairchild camera—a camera specially used for reconnaissance missions over Germany to judge damage inflicted by allied bombing—has doubled the airfield’s archives. This could not have come at a better time since the airfield is currently working on a 70th Anniversary DVD.  According to the EDP, the airfield is appealing to anyone who remembers the base when it was active to come forward with their stories so that they can continue to build up their large archive of reminiscences.

American film star, James Stewart, was stationed at Old Buckenham during the spring of 1944 as the Group Executive Officer

If you would like to read more about the discovery of the new photographs, you can find the link to the EDP article here: EDP Article

Of interest may also be the website for the Old Buckenham Airfield where you can find out about their upcoming events and who to contact should you know anything about Old Buckenham during its years of active service: http://www.oldbuck.com/en/home/ 

And finally, you can always come check out our resources for the Old Buckenham Airfield at the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library in Norwich Millennium Library.  Here is a link to our website: http://www.2ndair.org.uk/

Hollywood in Norfolk (and vice versa)

In an article on Wednesday, The Guardian named Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film Vertigo the greatest film of all time, upsetting long-standing favourite Citizen Kane. Well done to its late star, James Stewart, former Lieutenant Colonel of the 448th Bomb group! Here’s a link to the full article.