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.
Annual Report by the Committee for year ending 29 February 2024
The year ending 29 February 2024 was an exceptionally good year for the Group and the Museum.
Committee: The committee only meet physically twice due to 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 87, including 5 honorary members, compared to a total of 89 in the previous year.
Club nights & Social activities: 4 meetings, as well as the AGM in April were held. Sadly, as no volunteer has come forward to continue organising these events the evening meetings are, for the moment, discontinued.
The big social event of the year was the weekend of 10/11th June to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the first American service personnel arriving at the airfield. Thirteen American guests plus members, attended a memorial service at the airfield monument where a USAF Honour Guard was present. In addition, there was a flypast by a P51 Mustang and a P47 Thunderbolt. There was also a guided tour of the airfield site and a barbeque. On the Sunday there were presentations by some of the American guests about their relatives at the airfield during the war.
It was appropriate that June saw the launch of the long -awaited book “Boxted Station 150-The Story of an Airfield”. It has been well received and so far, 124 copies have been sold.
Museum: The museum opening season was well supported with 300 visitors.
The museum again participated in the Heritage Open Days on 9th and 10th September which were attended by about 80 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 several visits to the museum by various groups and relatives of personnel who served at the airfield.
We have had lots of compliments from visitors. The Essex Museum Development Officer who visited us in November commented: “What a gem it is. I have been raving about it to all who will listen.”
A big vote of thanks is extended to all our stewards who made the opening season a success.
In July 2023, as a result of successful negotiations with the Trustees of Markshall Estate, the ownership of the Marauder tail section of “Mr. Shorty” and its associate items were transferred to the Museum. Previously we had them on loan for the past eleven years.
There have been several items donated to the museum, including airman’s earphones and a helmet microphone and a portable compressor.
Work on refreshing displays, maintenance tasks and care and conservation of the uniforms collection have continued, as well as the cataloguing and presentation of new acquisitions.
In August, members of the Gooding family gathered at the museum to pay tribute to Robin Gooding. Tricia unveiled the name board for what is now the Robin Gooding Visitor Centre. There is also a memorial plaque in the chapel area.
Work on refurbishing the link trainer and restoring the motion section have continued and solar panels have been installed on the display container.
Once again, it has not been possible to display all our “Buildings Then and Now” photo exhibition due to space restrictions.
The DVD is continuing to sell well with 6 sales, and 3 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 5730 hits in the past 12 months. Additionally, the museum has been publicised on Google Earth.
In addition, our Chairman has given a number of talks to outside groups. The museum has also been represented by a stand at the Galleywood Remembrance Day.
Good progress has been made on digitalising files previously obtained from US websites.
Future plans:
2024 marks the 80th anniversary of D -Day and there will be two guided walks around the airfield buildings not normally viewable. In addition, it is hoped to display the “Buildings Then & Now Exhibition” in full, for the first time since 2019.
Work will continue on the Link Trainer project and also on conserving and displaying the mobile compressor.