THE UNIQUE AFTER-WAR MEMORIAL AT TALLY HO FARM WINKFIELD SL4 4RZ ENGLAND
"Civilisation is helping each other: people to people, nation to nation"
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THE UNIQUE AFTER-WAR MEMORIAL AT TALLY HO FARM WINKFIELD SL4 4RZ ENGLAND "Civilisation is helping each other: people to people, nation to nation" |
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| How Long Beach gives thanks for women with their sleeves rolled up | ||
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Another surprising story unearthed through
Thanksgiving Field |
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BEFRIENDING
FLY2HELP & ROSIE
SCHWEINFURT RECONCILED 1943-2014
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 GENEROSITY
OF SPIRIT runs through the stories of Thanksgiving Field -
seen in a great range of
people who've been of great service to their communities, across many decades.
Nowhere more so than in the good citizenship of
women at work in public service in special
tribute through the many decades since WW2.
They include those in the DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT PLANT where our B17 was made in 1943; the creators of the LONG BEACH ROSIE THE RIVETER FOUNDATION and the Park & Interpretive Center; the management and teaching teams and students in ROSIE THE RIVETER CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL IN THE AREA of Thanksgiving Field where the cartridges came to light, there were also many lumps of inchoate material - which the metal detector kept saying were aluminium. So my guess is that these were some of the burnt remains of the B17's metal after it crashlanded and caught fire. The USAAF said that the plane had been immediately salvaged. But eyewitness Marie Andrews - Marie Sharp at the time, a pupil at Cranborne Primary School, living in - said that she went over the fields a few days later and the wreckage was still there. Whatever the case, most stuff must have been taken away, the site cleared over, and the fields left to grow in peace. Googling produced a lot of information about the short life of our B17 No 42-3351. What also came to light is the legacy today in Long Beach - in the stories of Rosie the Riveter. By chance, the long-established C17 plant at Long Beach will close in 2015, and the community has to face new challenges of employment and future. |
  Who knows but the lump of stuff with the cartridges came from one of these B17s on the production line.  They built 'em tough. This B17 managed to get back to its base after a collision with an Me109. |
| Our Winkfield Boeing B17F #42-3351 | ||
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OVER 12000 B17 Flying Fortresses were built during World War 2.
About three dozen are still flying - including Sally-B, based at Duxford in Cambridgeshire. Our Winkfield Flying Fortress 42-3351 was built by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation at Long Beach in California in May 1943, and delivered to the USAAF at Denver on 15 May 1943. On 8 July it went through Dow Field in Maine, crossing the Atlantic to join 407 Bomb Squadron at Alconbury in Huntingdonshire on 24 July, where it was given the unit code PY-Z. A few weeks later the squadron transferred to Podington in Bedfordshire – from where Z took off on 14 October 1943. Many B17s were given names by their flying and ground crews – often seen as colourful nose art. Z didn’t have a name. But it was sometimes known as Caboose – the American equivalent of a guard's van – because it often had the rearmost position in the massed formations for raids. However, on Bloody Thursday Z it had to take over the lead in its formation. The plane was attacked many times on the way to and from Schweinfurt. Over the target, its bombs hung up. According to the official record, pilot Rich Lyng said the bombs were eventually released over the English Channel. "Over France" said ball turret gunner Jack Disher said in a BBC interview. Whatever the case, it means that they weren't involve in that day's destruction of St Josef's Catholic Church in Obersdorf, wheer the parish priest and two children were killed. |
 B17F Wingspan 103ft 9in Length 74ft 9in Wing area 1420 sqft Engines 4x1200HP Wright Cyclones Maximum speed 310mph Service ceiling (max altitude) about 35000 ft Range with bomb load about 1100 miles Bomb load usually 6000lb |
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| The riveting story of Rosies - then and now | ||
 ROSIE
THE RIVETER is a
cultural icon of the
United States, representing the American women
who worked in factories during World War II,
many of whom produced munitions and war
supplies. These women sometimes took entirely new jobs replacing the male workers who were in the military. Rosie the Riveter came to be commonly used as a symbol of feminism and women's economic power. Many national and local Rosie associations continue the celebration of the "home front" workers. In California, there are two permanent attractions. ROSIE THE RIVETER HOME FRONT NATIONAL PARK was opened on October 2000 - by chance the Second Schweinfurt anniversary day. This is at Richmond CA, near San Francisco - on the site of the former Kaiser Richmond shipyards and the Ford tank and vehicle assembly plants. You can find details here.
IN LONG BEACH, there's also a park and interpretive centre on East Conant Street. The park's location is just steps away from where thousands of planes were assembled by thousands of women during World War II at the Douglas Aircraft plant. "The Center preserves and represents the contributions of the women who worked at the plant and on the home front during World War II. The site also honors the great sacrifices made by those who served as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and in the Armed Forces." "Since the park's dedication, the Long Beach Rosie the Riveter Foundation has worked to raise funds for the historical enhancements that make this park the first of its kind in Long Beach and only the second park in the United States honoring the women known as Rosie the Riveter. The Long Beach Rosie the Riveter Foundation is a non- profit organization specifically established to raise funds for this park and its exhibits.
The dates and facts inscribed on the walkway and signs came from her research for the book. Schipske pointed out that whereas the government was quick to encourage women to work during the war, it was just as quick to send them back home when men returned from fighting and reclaimed their old jobs. "I think women have been shortchanged when it comes to World War II history." The park's timeline tries to correct that. It points out that in 1942, Long Beach housewives collected 37,000 pounds of fat and grease from their kitchens to turn into explosives, that in 1944 women working on production lines earned 65% of what males earned for the same job, and that in 1945 1 in 4 married women worked outside the home. The Park includes places for tributes to Hometown Heroes - local servicepeople killed in recent wars - joining in the Wreaths Across America ceremonies that sees wreaths laid around Christmas each year. The American Gold Star Mothers plaque (right) includes the well-known poem by Marsha Burkes Megehee A Mother's tears were shed today Not Heroes shiny medals,
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Two Rosies at work in the Douglas plant in Long Beach, where our Winkfield B17 was built. They built their Rosies tough, too. Here is Elinor Otto on her 93th birthday in October 2013. She's still at work - building spars for the C17 transport airplane. 
 
The creation of the Rosie the Riveter Park in Long Beach was driven by District 5 Councillor Gerrie Schipske (left), seen here with Congresswomen Laura Robertson at the opening ceremony.  
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| Rosie the Riveter Charter High School - and the W.I.N.T.E.R. program | ||
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A great echo of the generosity of spirit seen in Rosies is this unusual high school. Established in Long Beach in September 2007, the school helps students who have not succeeded in traditional high schools turn their lives around and become socially successful. Their WINTER program educates Women In Non-Traditional Employment Roles - such as car mechanics, electricians and plumbers. Thousands have been sent out into gainful employment. The school provides community transformation through life skills training, employment training, violence prevention strategies and family advocacy. The driver for this was Alex Torres, bringing both a hard hat and long experience as a builder of community action and concern. For more information, click here.
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| And Anything You Can Do We Can Do Too! | ||
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Those headscarves! That lipstick! Those muscles!
These are the good sports of the Fly2Help team at Kemble in Gloucestershire. You're looking at a former ballerina, a human rights lawyer, and a professional wing-walker (basic rule: never let go of what you've got hold of until you've got hold of something else) |
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And in Whitehall in London, not far from the
Cenotaph, is this touching tribute to all the women of WWII. It depicts their clothes and hats hanging on a wall. |
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BEFRIENDING
FLY2HELP & ROSIE
SCHWEINFURT RECONCILED 1943-2014
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