Boxted Airfield Historical Group
Group History
The group based in Colchester Essex was formed in the year 2000 by Richard Turner. Richard has researched the history of Boxted airfield since 1995 and has staged exhibitions with the material collected since January 1999.
There was a lot of local interest and so he decided that if this project was going to continue, more help was needed. So after a meeting of enthusiasts, the first committee was formed in February 2000.
Membership now stands at almost 100 worldwide, including airfield veterans, both American servicemen and RAF personnel, who were based at Boxted. The group holds regular meetings with guest speakers, film evenings, etc. Full details can be found on the “Group Events” page on this web site.
We would welcome your comments on the layout and information contained in this site - please use the form on the "Contact Us" page.
If you would like to become a member of our group, please go to our "Group Membership" page for details. We also offer free life membership to any personnel who served at Boxted, whether it was with the US Army Air Corps or the RAF.
Refurbishment of airfield memorial
During 2007, a grant was given to Langham Parish Council to repair the village war memorial. Included in the application was a request for money to refurbish the airfield memorial. Our group was asked if we would like to be involved in the design process and, after some deliberation, we suggested a wall should be built about 5 feet high around the present monument, which was agreed by the Parish Council. Carved into the granite are the names of the American units and the dates that they were stationed at Boxted, and also details of the RAF use of the field. The refurbishment was completed in April 2008.
The year ending 28 February 2023 was an excellent year for the Group and the Museum, the best since pre COVID times.
Committee: The committee only meet physically twice due to restrictions and new ways of operating in the modern World but kept in touch and consulted digitally and by phone during the year to carry out the essential business of the Group.
Number of members: Total of 89, including 4 honorary members, compared to a total of 103 in the previous year.
Club nights & Social activities: After meetings in recent years being curtailed by the pandemic it was possible to hold 9 meetings, as well as the AGM in April.
A highlight was the September meeting when Jackie Muncy and her family came over from Alaska. Jackie’s father, Captain Jack Norton, was a Signals Officer with the 354th FG which was based at Boxted. The first half of the meeting was about his service life, whilst in the second half, Jackie spoke about Alaska where she lives. Jackie also donated further items of her father’s uniform and these will be on display next season.
Museum: For the first time since 2018 we have been able to hold a full museum opening season. We were delighted to receive 86 visitors at our May opening.
The museum again participated in the Heritage Open Days on 10th and 11th September which were attended by about 78 visitors, an increase on last year. Whilst these two days were admission free, the museum benefited by sales of refreshments, souvenirs and donations.
There have been a large number of group visits to the museum, including from members of the Essex Society for Archaeology & History and the Friends of Historic Essex. Both of whom made grants to the cost of the uniform display cases and were delighted with the outcome.
A big vote of thanks is extended to all our stewards who made the opening season a success.
The new outside reception and NAFFI facility has proved a success and the generally fine weather has enabled visitors to enjoy their refreshments outside.
The range of sales items was expanded with two new styles of mugs and the introduction of a lapel badge.
Work on refreshing displays, maintenance tasks and care and conservation of the uniforms collection have continued.
Work on refurbishing the link trainer and restoring the motion section have continued.
It was not possible to display all of our “Buildings Then and Now” photo exhibition due to space restrictions.
The DVD is continuing to sell well with 17 sales and 12 copies of Peter Potter’s book were sold.
Publicity /website: The Museum continues to receive regular publicity in the local press and through the distribution of flyers and posters to other museums, libraries and locations. The website plays a valuable role in raising the profile of the museum and the Group’s activities. A copy of this report will be placed on the website. The website has had 6359 hits in the past 12 months. Additionally, the museum has been publicised on Google Earth.
In addition, our Chairman gave a talk at the Essex Record Office in July and the attendant display provided additional publicity and sales.
Good progress has been made on checking and cataloguing files previously obtained from US websites.
Work has continued on providing information for the forthcoming book.
Future plans:
2023 marks the 80th anniversary of the arrival of Americans at Boxted. It is planned to hold a two-day special event on 10 & 11 June for members and our American guests. During the year there will be two guided walks around the airfield buildings not normally viewable.
Work will continue on preparing the long-awaited book on the history of the airfield for publication.