Grafton Underwood air base museum welcomes 'pilgrimage' by Second World War crew member and veterans' descendants

Volunteers of a project to transform the nerve centre of a former American airbase near Kettering have welcomed a Second World War veteran to the station.

Second World War crew member Henry Kolinek and veterans' descendants witnessed the ‘marking of time’ and flag-raising ceremonies at Grafton Underwood.

Friends of the 384th, the group and volunteers of the 384th Bombardment Museum gathered outside the former Operations Room to mark the next stage of the museum.

Neill Howarth, chairman of the Friends of the 384th, said: “It’s something long overdue, somewhere to tell the stories of the American airmen who came through this place. From the beginnings of the 97th Bomb Group through the 305th, and the 96, and finally to the 384th - staying here for a full two years – they left a mark that is felt today.

“This place has a deeply profound meaning to all of us.”

Over the years, many US Airmen and families have made the pilgrimage back to the Grafton Underwood base ‘Station 106’ where about 4,000 personnel lived and worked.

Mr Howarth added: “Quite literally blood sweat and tears have gone into this project.”

After the ceremony, visitors were treated to a tour of the former runways in a cavalcade of vintage US vehicles, many owned by local re-enactors.

Mr Kolinek, 99, a tail gunner who flew on 35 missions, said he was most looking forward to the tour of the airfield but ‘the area had changed with far more trees’.

He said: “The best bit about my time here was finishing my missions and going home.”