Leaving the bombsite of my Man Cave in its early stages of being moved around I had a day at the Rocks By Rail Museum. In one of those humbling moments, Ray Bennett, one of the Museums great volunteers brought in something to show us. He is a member of the Saltby Airfield History Group, the airfield being located in Leicestershire and was active as a military base between 1941 and 1948 and is still in use today as a gliding centre. Being built as part of World War 2 it has an extensive history including being the base to America’s 9th Troop Carrier Command during 1944, flying paratroopers of the US 82nd Airborne Division to Normandy as part of the liberation of Europe. With the D Day celebrations last week, members of the American military visited the airfield and in amongst other things presented Ray with a plaque for the Airfield History Group.
Despite his youthful looks, Ray is of an age where he lived through the war years and with so few left who have done that, what better person to accept the plaque.
I am very lucky to know and volunteer with people like Ray!
There is a full run down on what went on at the airfield last weekend on the South Kesteven Website located here.
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