Cambridge ABMC cemetery

Discussion in 'War Grave Photographs' started by CROONAERT, Sep 1, 2008.

  1. CROONAERT

    CROONAERT Ipsissimus

    On the way back from my travels last week, I decided (again!) to nip into the ABMC cemetery at Cambridge - I thought I'd share some images of some graves that I found of interest...

    ...an Easy Red bringback?...

    [​IMG]

    Civilian...

    [​IMG]

    Double grave...

    [​IMG]

    Triple grave...

    [​IMG]

    MoH...

    [​IMG]

    Glen Miller...

    [​IMG]

    USAAF plaque...

    [​IMG]
     
  2. CROONAERT

    CROONAERT Ipsissimus

    ...oh yes, I nearly forgot ...another couple of curious ones (one of which seemed to nark the warden by it's "presidential"(!) inclusion in this cemetery)...

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Dave
     
  3. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    I was once looking at that triple one, thinking of how tangled those chaps must have been, when a P51 with invasion stripes flew over very low, even seeing your pic several years later sets the hairs on my neck on end.

    Madingley's a pleasing but strange place, like a little very well-maintained piece of the US sat in the English countryside, not unlike the 'German forest' feel at Cannock Chase. There seems to be a definite national 'feel' to different burial grounds.
     
  4. CROONAERT

    CROONAERT Ipsissimus

    Madingley's a pleasing but strange place, like a little very well-maintained piece of the US sat in the English countryside, not unlike the 'German forest' feel at Cannock Chase. There seems to be a definite national 'feel' to different burial grounds.


    I actually found myself a little disorientated there this time - finding myself saying "bonjour" to people who I passed!:unsure:

    (mind you, I did have an excuse - several hours earlier i actually was in France - but there certainly was a feel of "over there"ness in here ( I only went there to ease my depression of being back!)

    Dave.
     
  5. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Cheers for those Dave.
    Seems odd to see the 1990 burials there , anyone any ideas how they died and why they weren't flown back to the States?
     
  6. CROONAERT

    CROONAERT Ipsissimus

    Cheers for those Dave.
    Seems odd to see the 1990 burials there , anyone any ideas how they died and why they weren't flown back to the States?


    One was a MIA who was found in the channel in 1990 (in the US military a MIA's "official" date of death is the day upon which he is confirmed as officially dead (usually the date in which a set of remains is identified).

    The other (Caldwell, killed when his F111 crashed in Saudi Arabia - which caused so much annoyance to the warden as it's supposed to be a 1941-45 cemetery) is a Gulf War pilot whose (British) wife petitioned the president to have him included in this cemetery.

    Why weren't they repatriated? Well, repatriation was only ever done at the request of the NoK anyway so, at least in one case, it's obvious why he's here, but perhaps in the other case, the NoK requested he stay with his comrades.

    Dave
     
  7. Cpl Rootes

    Cpl Rootes Senior Member

    As I live quite near Madingley, I have visited a few times.

    I have seen the double and triple ones before, but never noticed Glenn Miller's name.
     
  8. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Ah , got it.
    I should've thought of British families of US Servicemen, with RAF Fairford up the road we've alot of those around here.

    As the first Gulf War was going on back then I wondered if they were due to that.
    Looks like Caldwell was .
    White House Commission on Remembrance

    Dessert Storm (1990)
    </CFIF>We Remember Them... 363 Who Died
    Thomas R. Caldwell
     
  9. CROONAERT

    CROONAERT Ipsissimus

    Caldwell...

    10 Oct 90 1 x F-111F Fighter-Bomber from the 48th TFW crashes inside Saudi
    Arabia returning to Taif AB from a night training mission, the aircraft hit
    the ground around 0530 in an area 5 miles SE of the airfield, killing both
    pilots. No ejection was attempted from the capsule. Night CFIT during recovery,
    but estimates were that it could have been using Pave Tack on self contained
    approach. USAF reacted with a full 10 hour safety stand-down. This brought the
    total US accident deaths to 31.
    v 1 x F-111F from the 45th TFS / 48th TFW
    - 74-0183, both pilots were KIA's
    - pilot: Capt Thomas R. Caldwell
     
  10. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  11. CROONAERT

    CROONAERT Ipsissimus

    Ha! Beat you!!!:p
     
  12. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    I would have hoped on a White House/US government site they might have picked up that particular typo:

    <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Dessert Storm (1990)
    </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

    Makes it sound like a fight in a supermarket.
     
  13. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  14. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    And...
    F-111F tail numbers


    <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=80>F-111F

    </TD><TD vAlign=top width=85>74-0183

    </TD><TD vAlign=top colSpan=5>'LN' 493TFS 48TFW - First F model modified with Pave Tack.
    Crashed and destroyed 10 October 1990 at the ASKR Range, north of Taif in Saudi Arabia. FATAL.
    <SMALL>The crash occurred at 0130 hrs during a practice loft-bomb maneuver.</SMALL> Crew CAPT Frederick A. Reid and CAPT Thomas R. Caldwell. (Reference: memorial 68-140)
    Callsign COUGAR 41

    One of 19 F-111F deployed with 12 hours notice after the infamous "Tree Chopping Incident", where North Korean troops murdered an US Army officer on the DMZ 16 August 1976. (Doc Servo)


    What is a loft-bomb maneuver?
    </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
     
  15. CROONAERT

    CROONAERT Ipsissimus

    Loft bombing is a good ,old fashioned approaching of the target and then releasing as the spad pulls into a steep (sometimes even vertical) climb to clear the blast area. The bomb can also even be released upwards!

    (They cheat nowadays though with Loft bomb release computers!)

    Dave
     
  16. CROONAERT

    CROONAERT Ipsissimus

    Here's a pic of a Skyhawk in a rather extreme Loft bomb practice (unsure whether the photo is the right way round though!)...
     

    Attached Files:

  17. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Dave,
    Just had a quick search for Dennis G Wise on the ABMC website, can't find him.
    Can you?
    I'm off to bed.
     
  18. Harry Ree

    Harry Ree Very Senior Member

    Dennis G Wise as a Major USAF Officer Exchange Program W/RAF would have probably lost his life whilst flying with his exchange RAF Squadron.Most unusual, his parent unit is not detailed on his headstone.

    Was a RAF aircraft lost around the time of his death?.

    The terms and conditions imposed for such exchange postings tend to be very restrictive in that the participants cannot be involved in any engagements against a third country while with the exchange unit which would compromise their nation's neutrality.For instance during the Malayian Emergency,any exchange USAF personnel were not allowed to be detached with their exchange RAF Unit to Malayia for operations against the jungle enemy.They had to sit out the period in the UK on another RAF Squadron.

    Getting back to Thomas R Caldwell,it looks as if he was in the back seat as the W.S.O. It makes sense that this would be the case for unit proficiency.

    Regarding the Web Sites created on aircraft losses,further information appears to be added by those who witnessed their end of an aircraft.The extra information, at times can give a slightly different account to the technical cause of the loss of an aircraft.
     
  19. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Harry, link in my post #10 which I cross posted with Dave gives the crew as this, Dave left out the other crewman.

    - pilot: Capt Thomas R. Caldwell
    - WSO: Capt Frederick Art Reid
     

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