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Welcome to the placid English place
that revealed treasures -
about those who help people and nations
make thankful happy landings
 

HOW THE END OF ONE SAGA WAS THE START OF
ANOTHER 70 YEARS ON

 

One chronicler was to write: "It is generally agreed by many veterans of the Second Schweinfurt raid that 351Z was the outstanding performer in defending itself...
 

This airplane's saga is one of the most remarkable of all World War Two". 

 

At 6.24pm in the murk of "Black Thursday"
14 October 1943, B17F 
Flying Fortress #3351Z of the United States Army Air Force, out of fuel, came low and slow over the hill in the distance, glided past what's now Stirrups Country House Hotel and Oaktrees Garden Centre at Maidens Green, missed St Mary's Church at Winkfield, side-slipped into the tiny all-grass RAF airfield, hit the hedge in the middle distance,

and burned up in this quiet field about 200 metres
from today's Tally Ho Farm Shop.

 

Local senior citizens say that as schoolchildren they saw the plane, heard the thud, glimpsed the fire and were told to stay well away from the bangs (and bad language!)


They hoped the crew were safe. They were indeed - exhausted, but giving thanks.


Eventually, most survived the war to go home to long and happy family lives.


The USAAF came and replaced the divots and cleared the field of debris.

 

 

 

 

 


But not all debris disappeared.

At 10.22am on 20 October 2013 spent cartridge cases were found during a metal detecting dig at Tally Ho Farm. From this, the internet meant that stories could be dug up not only about the plane, but its crew and the places involved - then and in the years since. 

A heartwarming theme came to the surface: the generosity of spirit of ordinary people rebuilding lives and hope when conflct is done and dusted.

Thanksgiving Field is the outcome: a unique place for anyone to sit quietly, enjoy the vista, reflect on history, and think about things to be thankful for in their own lives.

Happy Landings! And welcome to...





THE UNIQUE HIDDEN HEROES AFTER-WAR MEMORIAL AT TALLY HO FARM WINKFIELD SL4 4RZ ENGLAND


Hugh Gibbons
is the creator and
Co-ordinator
of Thanksgiving Field

Contact
hughgibbons@just1.org.uk
Tel 01344 451847
Skype hugh.gibbons4

75 Qualitas
Roman Hill
Bracknell RG12 7QG
Berkshire
UK

The project has
all the advantages of
no committee,
no budget,
no mission statement,
and no lack of
imagination!

 
Helping on
these pages is
Doug the Digger,
representing
the Spirit of
Curiosity!



THANKSGIVING FIELD is what Americans might call a left-field idea - one that's different, surprising, unexpected.

 

IT'S BEEN MADE POSSIBLE BY THE SPIRIT OF GENEROSITY of  Jeff Thomas and the Tally Ho Farm team - just behind the barn on a short walk from the busy equine centre shop.

 

THE FIELD IS NOT ANOTHER WAR MEMORIAL  - definitely no Cenotaph, Gettysburg, or Menin Gate. If anything, it references the peaceful Appomattox Court House - where the US Civil War got signed off - and the film The Best Years of Our Lives rather than Memphis Belle. Celts might call it a Thin Place.  So it's a What Happened Long After War Memorial.

 

NOR IS THERE MUCH TO SEE  - a few square metres of grazing land behind the barn kindly given and fenced off by Tally Ho Farm.  There'll be simple seats, a couple of apple trees, an interpretive panel with information, and a vista for visitors across a flat field facing south and the sun. Beneath their feet will be the time capsule called the Tally Ho Hoard, to amuse and bemuse archaeologists in centuries ahead, filled with little items that speak of our good citizenship. And there'll be a couple simple plaques to help visitors think about things in their own life for which they should be thankful.

 

BUT IF YOU BRING YOUR IMAGINATION and park your mind, you should find things to appreciate - about so many good people today who help others have happy landings in their lives. About yourself, too.

 

THE FIELD DOESN'T doesn't pay tribute to individuals, or units or battles. You find on the Contents page the surprising cast list  of the people 1943-2014 that it treasures - 10 airmen, yes;  but those on the home front, mums, nephews, prisoners of war who helped dig their captors' families out of rubble,  local government officials, educationists, clergy, nurserymen, schoolchildren, librarians, riveters, historians, Rosies, FlyHelp volunteers, Flak Assistants, curators, and a mining engineer who put a grudge against the Nazis to good use.

 

THE FIELD IS A HANDY PLACE to to pop and see if you're visiting Tally Ho or taking in other local sights such as Windsor or Legoland.  And it's something for local schools to consider in search of something beyond the curriculum. When you've finished, we have Friends of the Field to refresh you - the cafe at Oaktree Nursery in Maidens Green, or The Winning Post restaurant and hotel in Winkfield Street.  

 

IT'S A FINE WARM-HEARTED STORY that'll be shared far and wide. If you'd like a talk about to a group or association, please get in touch.

 

THE OPENING DATE was FRIDAY 13TH JUNE 2014 - or D-Day Plus Seven to those who aren't thinking outside the box. It was a happy happening to let us appreciate the outcomes when luck didn't quite run out for Rich Lyng and all the crew of #3351Z at the end of their saga on that Black Thursday.

Hugh Gibbons
Co-ordinator of Thanksgiving Field

 

CONTACT

hughgibbons@just1.org.uk

 

75 Qualitas, Roman Hill, Bracknell,

Berkshire RG12 7QG United Kingdom

Tel (0)1344 451847

 

Skype hugh.gibbons4





WARDENS OF THANKSGIVING FIELD
ON PATROL AT 10.15 AM
ON SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER 2014
UNAWARE OF WHAT WAS
ABOUT TO BE UNEARTHED BELOW
THEIR SHOES










   
Some of the people who you'll find that Thanksgiving Field thanks and treasures
in a set of detailed pages
 
  • Those who quietly champion ideas - such as the team at Tally Ho Farm, who encouraged the offbeat memorial site of Thanksgiving Field

  • Those who serve and survive to return home and take up the duty of being good citizens and family members

  • Those in families and communities who help war returners cope with physical or mental burdens

  • Those former foes - such as the citizens of Schweinfurt, USFAG forces past and present, and the Second Schweinfurt Memorial Association - who build reconciliation and understanding

  • Those showing humanity in times of common danger - such as forced foreign workers and prisoners of war in the streets and fields of Schweinfurt, after the city was bombed 15 times in 2 years

  • Those benefactors - such as the 92nd Bomb Group Memorial Association, who've given thousands of pounds to the church and school at Podington

  • Those patient and persevering local government teams like TCAAP in Ramsey County MN, working to see the site of former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant regenerated for the benefit of their communities

  • Those who remember the memory of those who let their lives be interrupted - like the team who created the Rosie the Riveter Memorial Parks in Long Beach and Richmond CA in tribute to the women who rolled up their sleeves and went to work

  • Those who build on the legacy of good exemplars - such as the team who created Rosie the Riveter Charter High School, giving hope and happy landings to thousands of those who might otherwise crash in life

  • Those who caretake information sources - such as Whitegrove Library, and historians of memorial associations

  • Those who create and volunteer to build good causes, such as everyone involved with our air-related charity Fly2Help

  • Those local companies who are Good Sports and good at corporate social responsibility- such as the local Oaktrees Nursery and Stirrups Country House Hotel.

  • And all others who help when war is done with.


First public mention - local newspaper in 2013
 
Detailed Contents Page