Trip to London, UK

David and Dolores Moore

July 24, - July 31, 2006

We arrived at the Phoenix airport at 4:35 PM on Monday, July 24. We went through the security, had a sandwich, read and worked puzzles, wandered around the airport stores until 7:34 PM when we boarded our British Airways 747.

We sat in the last seats at the tail of the plane which worked out well because the hostesses were always nearby and we were served first. We had 3 full-length movies to choose from on our private screens.

Also on the screen were 10 games and a topographical map on which we could follow the progress of our flight. I found this very interesting to watch because even a small adjustment the pilot made in direction was shown. One could see exactly where we were every minute of the flight. For Instance, I noticed when we approached the Great Lakes we flew over the most western tip of Lake Superior and then into Canada. We averaged 30,000 feet altitude and almost 600 miles per hour. Alternately on the map were the figures for altitude, miles and kilometers per hour, the distance we’ve come, and how much farther we have to go, and estimated time of arrival, all in several languages.

Soon after departure we were served a fine meal. David had a chicken casserole and I had a salmon fillet both with a roll, salad and dessert. They served water and other beverages often.

By 11:30 PM we were above northern Canada near St. James Bay. The ride was rather bumpy here. The pilot climbed to 37,000 to avoid the bumps which soon smoothed out and we were served a fine breakfast while we were over the Irish Sea.

We arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport at 1:25 PM UK time on Tuesday, July 25. We rented a Ford Focus at Hertz and proceeded to the Jury’s Inn at Chelsea, London. David didn’t have any trouble remembering to drive on the left and no problem negotiating the round-abouts, but he did hit the left curb several times. We noticed they rented us a car with the left hubcap missing. We though they probably kept that car for Americans who hit the left curb a lot. At the hotel we met Daphne Jones (GrannyDaff) who I met years ago on-line playing Slingo. What a lovely person she is! We had a wonderful time getting to know each other, went out to dinner (fish and chips of course), and walked around Chelsea a bit.

Wednesday, July 24:

After a good nights sleep and getting used to the new time zone we drove to Gorleston-on-the-sea and the Best Western Cliff Hotel. This hotel was very old, the floors creaked, and there were many stairs for me to negotiate. David enjoyed evening walks on the beach. It was very hot and no A/C so David requested a fan that made the room livable. We slept well and had a fine breakfast. Complimentary breakfasts were all the same in every hotel, Eggs, scrambled or sunny side up, sausages, bacon, toast, grilled tomatoes, fruit, juice, coffee, tea (of course) croissants, toast, and baked beans. The room was decorated beautifully with carpeting, bedspreads and drapes that all matched, yellow and cream with tiny blue print. Bathtubs in all the hotels were high on the edge, huge and so deep I couldn’t get in. They don’t believe in mixing faucets so the temperature of the water is hard to adjust. I took a lot of sponge baths. The bathrooms in all the hotels were immaculate; newly white tiled and all very much the same. Only one had a separate shower, they said they fixed the unajustable water temperature but it only worked a few minutes. David fixed it really with a nail file.

We called Bob Collis, the historian who unearthed Doug’s plane in 1967, and who we’ve been in touch with ever since. We arranged to meet him near the Lowestoft museum. We toured the museum with Mrs. Jean Pawsey and son, John. We viewed and were amazed at the many pictures of the WWII bombing of Lowestoft and artifacts of that era. At the last room of this tour we noticed a folded American flag on the wall and after viewing the rest of the exhibits in that room they asked me to take the flag down. Revealed on the wall was a picture of Doug and the pilot, Bob Portsch to be exhibited and honored forever in this museum.

Then we went to the Dell School. This is the site of the playground where Doug was found. Someone there is in the process of excavating a large WWII bomb shelter. We toured the school. Our tour guides were saying they were going to make a memorial and document the crash of the B-17 and teach it as a history lesson to the children.

Then Bob and June escorted us to the Carlton-Colville site of the B-17 crash. Bob heard a woman who lived in a house nearby tell about how she heard the sound of the plane skimming her rooftop and looked out at her back yard at the destruction of her laundry hanging out to dry. It was covered in black smoke and oil from the burning plane. We visited the streets of the posh housing development. named for the crash. They were Fortress Drive, Seavert Close, Portsch Close, Ohio, and Bloomfield Roads. There, also prominently situated, was a large bronze sign commemorating the crash and honoring those who died.

We returned to our hotel at Gorleston-on-the Sea.

Thursday, July 27:

We drove to the Flixton and Bunge area to the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum that held many parts of Doug’s plane including an engine and propeller. Alan Hague, a friend of Bob Collis, escorted us to all the displays about the crash of the B-17 on March 13, 1945. There were many other interesting displays, both American and UK.

After this, we went to the lovely old town of Lavenham. Doug’s base was near by. This is a beautiful old town of half-timbered buildings and tiny shops lining the narrow old brick streets. The Swan hotel’s sides were slanting and sagging from old age. The sides of the bar had many signatures of service men who were stationed near here but we couldn’t find Doug’s name although we knew he had visited the bar. The local tourist guide sent us to the large very old and beautiful church in town where we found Doug’s name listed on the wall along with others of his bomber group. We found a little shop where we purchased a Paddington Bear for sister-in-law Jerry.

Then we drove to the USAAF base called Lavenham where first we saw a heavily concreted bunker that was used to guard the entrance to the base. A farmer owns the whole area now and rents some of the buildings including the tower to private businesses. We saw some housing and a Quonset hut where it looked like men were repairing an airplane engine. We also saw the remains of runways.

There was an incident, in which Doug and crew were involved, in a previous B-17 upon returning from a bombing raid to Dresden. When approaching in fog to Lavenham base the plane over-shot the runway. One crewmember was hurt when evacuating the plane too slowly and the person behind him gave him a push. He landed too hard and broke his ankle. The new B-17, on its first flight, was totaled.

Friday, July 28, 9:45 AM:

We left our hotel at Gorleston to drive to the car park near Lowestoft to get on the double Decker bus to the Air show. 450,000 people attended so there was no driving into Lowestoft. The beaches were crowded (it was hot and muggy) with swimmers, sun bathers, umbrellas, large canopy’s, picnics, and both the beaches and board walks were also crowded with those who came to see the air show. The first thing that happened was Bernard Bagge, who telephoned me in 1997, to describe the B-17 Sally B’s fly-over at the air show and crash site in honor of Doug and crew, gave me a red rose corsage and 2 rose bushes. Then I met Roger Smith, who broadcasted my letter to the people of Lowestoft at the 1997 air show. Everyone we met in at the air show and in the UK were so very pleasant and kind to us.

The demonstrations, aerobatics, the sea rescues, the bi-planes, the fly-overs, the fighters, the Red Arrows, the Liberator, and helicopters were amazing. The Harrier jet stole the show with its maneuvers and ear splitting engine noise. It all reminded me of when my Dad took our family to the air races/shows in Cleveland when I was young.

I was interviewed live from the air show on the BBC and also by a reporter from the local newspaper.

At last it was time for the B-17, The Sally B, to fly over. I’ll always remember the smooth, low and mellow sound of the motors, just the opposite of the other aircraft we heard. I thought, at the time, that the sound of the engines on Doug’s plane must have been quite different.

It was near this point in time at the air show, when two strangers approached us as Bob Collis pulled a book from his backpack. The book is titled, “Eighth Air Force Bomber Stories” and was written by Ian McLachlan. The author was one of the strangers. His wife was the other. Ian inscribed the book to me:

This book is dedicated to the memory of S/Sgt Douglas Seavert USAAF, who lost his life in the skies over Lowestoft on 14^th March 1945. Presented to his sister Dolores on the occasion of her visit to England, July 2006. Their name liveth for evermore. - Ian Mclachlan

There are 12 stories in the book one of them is about the crash of the B-17, 44-6570, Doug’s plane, at Carlton-Colville, Lowestoft.

Bob Collis said the pilot knew I was in the crowd watching and he banked in front of me about four times. He must have known where I was standing in a crowd of 450,000! The last time he flew over there was smoke emitting from the two port engines to simulate the two engines burning on Doug’s plane in 1945. Later, on the way back to the car park, Bob showed us the area where Doug’s plane came over the beach and seacoast into Lowestoft between the two long piers.

When we arrived, and in increments during the air show, Bob Collis presented me with parts of the crashed plane, two pieces from the cockpit, two large sections of the fuselage, and a piece of barbed wire he had found in 1987 entangled in the wreckage. He mounted the wire beautifully on a bar of wood. At the car park Bob presented me with a piece of Doug’s parachute he had found entangled in the wreckage. I was deeply touched. He identified the parachute as Doug’s because the crew that bailed out each had their own chute and the pilot was found with his chute, and there were no extras.

Bob Collis is an incredibly likeable man, intelligent, interesting. Knowledgeable, kind, and thoughtful, we regretted saying goodbye knowing we probably wouldn’t see each other again. But there’s always an end to any good thing.

Saturday, July 29:

We proceeded to the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial. A guide cancelled his appointments to see two busloads of visitors through and cemetery saying families come first. We signed a special guest book. He picked up a small American and UK flag and showed us where Doug’s grave is. The guide put the two flags on either side of the flowers we brought in front of the cross. He rubbed the engraved name on the cross with a mixture of sand (from Omaha Beach) and water so the letters would show-up on the photographs. He took our picture by the cross and presented it to us as we left. The many flowers, the reflective pool, the huge trees, hedges and grass were perfectly groomed. The Italian marble crosses are scrubbed and polished weekly and are glaringly white in the sunshine. It is very beautiful and peaceful there. He gave us the flags.

We went to our hotel and then shopping at a nearby grocery store/ You have to pay to use a grocery cart and the checkout clerks sit down! In our whole trip we never saw a mall and only 1 strip mall, evidently every town has only small specialty shops. There are no old cars or pick-up trucks on the highways; all the cars are in excellent condition (no bumps or repairs evident). And they are very polite drivers. We saw a sign that said “Sorry for the slow traffic”! We never saw graffiti in the towns and near highways, only on walls between railway stations. We saw only one or two billboards during our whole trip.

Sunday, July 30:

After the usual breakfast at the Cambridge Belfry Hotel, we drove to the train station to go to Tower Hill in London. The train was clean and fast. The Tower of London was just as I pictured it, the guide was interesting when telling all the bloody stories that occurred there. The crown jewels were breathtaking. The beefeaters were impressive. I was nearing the exhausting stage and even after a good lunch at the Tower I couldn’t recoup my energy so after taking many pictures of the area we headed back to the train station and then after a couple of traffic jams around London, to the hotel near Heathrow, The Premier Travel Inn at Harlington. We had a fine dinner (David and fish and chips again, I had a chicken Cesar salad) and retired to a very nice room.

Monday, July 31:

We drove first to Hertz to return the Ford Focus. Hertz drove us to the airport. Customs came next and then seat assignments on the British Airways 747. The flight home was uneventful and included 2 good meals. Even though we left Heathrow quite late we arrived in Phoenix on time.