I was stationed at RAF Bentwaters from Jan 69 to May 72. I was in the GUN SHOP (381st MMS). We maintained the SUU-16A Gun Pod which housed the M61A1 "Vulcan" Cannon. We kept care of the guns for the 78th (RAF Woodbridge), the 91st and the 92nd Tac Fighter Squadrons in the 81st TFW. Loved my time in England. Great people and beautiful country. Old pense still in place when I first got there. Did (1) night of CQ (Charge of Quarters) duty in the Command Post there in 1970 or so. Honorably discharged as a SSGT. Went TDY to Wheelus (Tripoli, Libya), Saragoza, Spain, Aviano, Italy, and Incirlik, Turkey. I'm 71 now but only a young whipper snapper back then !!!
Thank so much JG the Phantom era is my favourite. If you would like to share your memories with the Bentwaters Cold War Museum then please drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk to contact me so you can help us record the history of the twin bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
Just sat and watched the entire thing through, what an absolutely tremendous and knowledgable man. Thoroughly enjoyed the tour and hearing all the little snippets of information along the way was great. To be honest I could have probably watched it for an hour and still wanted to watch another hour haha! Thanks for posting this, superb stuff :)
Shucks LIKWID I'm blushing! I only know a small part of the history. It is enormous. Not a couple of years in WWII with maybe a single Bomb Group but 50 years from RAF through USAF. Biggest wing in post war history. Thank you so much for your generous words. Convert them to tangible help. We really need funds to help with things like a concrete pad for the A-10, our cafe/shop is collapsing, visitors are stealing things like patches so we need glass cabinets and so forth. £20 or $25 gets you membership and you can enjoy hearing from us through newsletters and if in UK come to the museum as many times as you like! Go to www.bcwm.org.uk/
Nicely done. Stationed at Bentwaters from '67 to '70 arrived as a 19 year old kid and rotated back home an adult. Like many airman, I spent my formative years in Suffolk serving my country.
Great to read this John. If you would like to share your memories with the Bentwaters Cold War Museum then please drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk to contact me so you can help us record the history of the twin bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
Wow, great virtual tour. I was stationed at Bentwaters from 1981-1984 as an avionics technician working on my favorite A-10 Aircraft loved my time there! I lived at RAF Edzel, Scotland from 1977-1980, and in the dorms at High Wycombe Air Station, London Central High School. Fun times!!!!!!
Great to read this Suzzanne. If you would like to share your memories with the Bentwaters Cold War Museum then please drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk to contact me so you can help us record the history of the twin bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
I was stationed there from May of 1960 to May of 1963. I was a crew chief on the F 101 Voodoo in the 92nd Tac Fighter Squadron part of the 81st Tac Fighter wing of 3rd Air Force. We were on alert for two weeks during the Cuban Missile crisis. Enjoyed my 3 years at RAF Bentwaters.
Great to read this Robert. If you would like to share your memories with the Bentwaters Cold War Museum then please drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk to contact me so you can help us record the history of the twin bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
I’ve had the pleasure of landing at Bentwaters on a fly out and of course a visit to the museum was the main objective. Could have spent much longer there.
Hello Paul Osborne. Thanks for the kind comments. Did you fly in a group or as an individual? We don't have many aircraft movements as it is restricted but also there is a lot of activity at the base so the owners are cautious to have too many flights. It is also fraught with safety challenges as there are lots of business visitors who are not familiar with aircraft movement. I flew in myself with a friend who is a group out of Rayne in Essex. A farm strip. Couldn't believe how quick it took to get there. And to fly in just like the A-10s (or Phantoms as they are my era) did was fabulous (translate awesome for our American friends!). So come back and visit for a longer look.
Lucky enough to be a Brit with a USAF All-bases pass in the 80's so spent many hours watching the 6 A-10 squadrons and talking to the pilots. So much variety in those days.
They were great days and so many people enjoyed watching the aircraft both when they trained or at Open Days. And it was a great way for the local British to meet the American service personnel. The museum could not open in 2020 because of the virus but we're hoping to open in 2021. Hope to see you there!
Have you been David? Come and see our A-10 at the museum. It took 13 years to lobby the USAF to acquire it (on loan) from Alconbury. We had to go dismantle it (took several weeks for volunteers to work on an airframe that had stood outside for 25 years and were not designed to be unbolted!). We had not support from anyone apart form a couple of friendly USAF chaps at Alconbury. It cost £15000 to transpoirt it from Alconbury to Bentwaters. Trucks, closed roads, police escort. Lots of vidoe on the internet. I was riding shotgun on the red Ducati. Amazing journey. We had the last Wing Commnder of the 81st TFW attend our dedication ceromony in 2017 when he siad it was better than the ones he received from the factory! Kind words which meant a lot to the volunteers who work so hard at the museum. But we need help. We need to fund a concrete pad for the A-10 to prevent the problems of not being on a hard surface. So come visit, join our membership, donate. Go to www.bcwm.org.uk/ to find out more.
I was stationed there 77 - 79, so I had a year with the F-4D and a year with the then-new A-10. Cool tour of duty. The base commander was Col. Rudy Wacker, who began his career as an enlisted and put extra effort into taking good care of his own junior enlisteds. I had an interview with him, in what I think is the building in this video.
Please do Jacob, we can provide a camp bed and tea/coffee in the morning! Seriously if you are in the UK then please visit. We are closed for 2019 and re open in April 2020. Check out the museum website. www.bcwm.org.uk/ for details. If you are not in Uk then make a trip over to Suffolk. Lots of other great museums to see. If you are a USAF veteran then we will always make an effort to accommodate your travel plans so you can see the museum and base (it is private property and only allowed on it with permission).
Top secret security clearance? LOL I was in there many times between 85-87. I was only 13-15 years old LOL It's great seeing this video My dad worked there 84-87. We miss it. Thanks for preserving it.
Thanks for the response Bad Driver. Guess the security chief would have been impressed that he's failed to keep it secure. Without doubt anyone entering without permission would have breached security. What did your Dad do? Drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk and share your story.
What about the ufo landing? I also know about an underground facility, directly underneath bentwaters, and large tunnels connecting it with its sister base raf woodbridge.
Yes pepper, near identical. We know the enthusiasts down at Upper Heyford and they have tried to create a museum similar to ours at Bentwaters. But it is difficult without supportive owners. We are lucky at Bentwaters to have such tremendously supportive owners of Bentwaters. Almost all of it still complete with only additional buildings to augment the businesses that are located there. I believe the Command Post is the same across the USAF bases in Europe but none have a museum or open to the public. We are so fortunate to have this iconic part of history to show to the public. We love!!!
Good video, but the image has interlacing artifacts. If it's not in the source material, maybe it could be re-encoded directly in a progressive scan format?
The cold war fascinates me, all that perceived threat and secrecy, both sides outdoing each other technically, the resources and tax payers money that was committed by the politicians...a crazy time. I intend to visit Bentwaters in 2019.
The Ralphster I have visited the museum 3 times now and have never been bored - it is a great tribute to the period, base and people that served there So many exhibits and a credit to the volunteers that run the place - so much enthusiasm Try and get on one of the organised base walks around the base
Ian Mangham Definitely a scary time Living only 10 miles from Greenham Common would not have been far from a warhead impact And then there was ‘Threads’ and ‘The Day After’ - great Saturday evening viewing not knowing if you were going to see Sunday
Did you make it Ralphster? What did you think? If it's a quite day then the museum is spooky! But some days we get busy. We do base tours for members so always consider joining us. It's £20 a year and you can come as many times as you like and get the base your on a coach. Plus monthly meetings with all sorts of aviaiton topics including talks by USAF veterans who served at Bentwaters/Woodbridge. And newsletters and trips to other bases and museums.
@@PaveFlight Thanks so much for the great comments. As volunteers we are in need of encouragement. You would not believe how sharp the comments we get from some members of the public, the worse from those who are aviation enthusiasts. It takes a great deal of effort to create a museum and to keep it going and then expand it. You can upgrade your entrance fee of £5 to full membership by adding £15 and then join our coach tour for members. If we have spare seats we will offer them to the public. The walking tours are held a couple of times a year. Usually sold out quickly. They last four hours and are not for the faint hearted! Check out Facebook for details. facebook.com/Bentwaters-Cold-War-Museum-159480594091625/
Simon Gladas It’s a pleasure Simon I cannot believe people can be negative about the place / museum - such a good place to visit Would love to upgrade to become a member but not really realistic as live about 3 hours away. Have done about 3 of the walks now and a great day out - especially with the ‘Lazy Company’ ambushes and Bob Hale commentary I believe there is one tomorrow, 27th October, and a group I am affiliated with are on it - hope it’s a good one and sorry I am missing it Best Darren
Ha! Space Dreamz!!! Well it was a very quick tour of the museum. I was asked by the chap doing the video of an A-10 pilot I know if I could show him the museum. He had little time so I just went for it. No script. No preparation. No make up!!! He filmed me and I didn't expect him to publish it. I'd been out on the airfield so my hair was a mess (I'm having a mid life crisis, think David Crosby of the Byrds). Maybe I'll arrange a longer video some time though if I had to rehearse it then it would be awful! Hope you enjoyed it and try to get to the museum if you can. It is an amazing place but then I'm biased!
Thanks Ade ... can you let me know the source of your knowledge? We take accuracy very seriously at the museum and if we are not correct we need to know. Help me understand your comment and the context in which it is made? What is the equivalent Air Force unit that compares to Top Gun?
Absolutely! I love doing that little quiz with visitors. Especially the kids. But I have to tell the mothers not to blurt out the answer. They can't help themselves from spoiling it for everyone.
Just my opinion but I think to revel in all this killing and violence is very distasteful. My family were utterly destroyed by the military. It still has negative impacts on us today. I do understand why people revel in this history, but I don’t have to agree with a biased representation. All part of public relations I suppose. 😢
I was stationed at RAF Bentwaters from Jan 69 to May 72. I was in the GUN SHOP (381st MMS). We maintained the SUU-16A Gun Pod which housed the M61A1 "Vulcan" Cannon. We kept care of the guns for the 78th (RAF Woodbridge), the 91st and the 92nd Tac Fighter Squadrons in the 81st TFW. Loved my time in England. Great people and beautiful country. Old pense still in place when I first got there. Did (1) night of CQ (Charge of Quarters) duty in the Command Post there in 1970 or so. Honorably discharged as a SSGT. Went TDY to Wheelus (Tripoli, Libya), Saragoza, Spain, Aviano, Italy, and Incirlik, Turkey. I'm 71 now but only a young whipper snapper back then !!!
Thank so much JG the Phantom era is my favourite. If you would like to share your memories with the Bentwaters Cold War Museum then please drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk to contact me so you can help us record the history of the twin bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
Very nice tour. Very knowledgeable guy with great anecdotes.
What an excellent talk. Will be visiting in the summer for sure.
Just sat and watched the entire thing through, what an absolutely tremendous and knowledgable man. Thoroughly enjoyed the tour and hearing all the little snippets of information along the way was great. To be honest I could have probably watched it for an hour and still wanted to watch another hour haha! Thanks for posting this, superb stuff :)
Shucks LIKWID I'm blushing! I only know a small part of the history. It is enormous. Not a couple of years in WWII with maybe a single Bomb Group but 50 years from RAF through USAF. Biggest wing in post war history. Thank you so much for your generous words. Convert them to tangible help. We really need funds to help with things like a concrete pad for the A-10, our cafe/shop is collapsing, visitors are stealing things like patches so we need glass cabinets and so forth. £20 or $25 gets you membership and you can enjoy hearing from us through newsletters and if in UK come to the museum as many times as you like! Go to www.bcwm.org.uk/
Nicely done. Stationed at Bentwaters from '67 to '70 arrived as a 19 year old kid and rotated back home an adult. Like many airman, I spent my formative years in Suffolk serving my country.
Great to read this John. If you would like to share your memories with the Bentwaters Cold War Museum then please drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk to contact me so you can help us record the history of the twin bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
Wonderful guy- very informative. Absolutely love all of the squadron motifs and the histories. Thank you.
Looks like a most informative tour, I hope that you got to see it for real and just through the video camera viewfinder.
Wow, great virtual tour. I was stationed at Bentwaters from 1981-1984 as an avionics technician working on my favorite A-10 Aircraft loved my time there! I lived at RAF Edzel, Scotland from 1977-1980, and in the dorms at High Wycombe Air Station, London Central High School. Fun times!!!!!!
Great to read this Suzzanne. If you would like to share your memories with the Bentwaters Cold War Museum then please drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk to contact me so you can help us record the history of the twin bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
I was stationed there from May of 1960 to May of 1963. I was a crew chief on the F 101 Voodoo in the 92nd Tac Fighter Squadron part of the 81st Tac Fighter wing of 3rd Air Force. We were on alert for two weeks during the Cuban Missile crisis. Enjoyed my 3 years at RAF Bentwaters.
Great to read this Robert. If you would like to share your memories with the Bentwaters Cold War Museum then please drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk to contact me so you can help us record the history of the twin bases of Bentwaters and Woodbridge.
I’ve had the pleasure of landing at Bentwaters on a fly out and of course a visit to the museum was the main objective. Could have spent much longer there.
Hello Paul Osborne. Thanks for the kind comments. Did you fly in a group or as an individual? We don't have many aircraft movements as it is restricted but also there is a lot of activity at the base so the owners are cautious to have too many flights. It is also fraught with safety challenges as there are lots of business visitors who are not familiar with aircraft movement. I flew in myself with a friend who is a group out of Rayne in Essex. A farm strip. Couldn't believe how quick it took to get there. And to fly in just like the A-10s (or Phantoms as they are my era) did was fabulous (translate awesome for our American friends!). So come back and visit for a longer look.
Lucky enough to be a Brit with a USAF All-bases pass in the 80's so spent many hours watching the 6 A-10 squadrons and talking to the pilots. So much variety in those days.
They were great days and so many people enjoyed watching the aircraft both when they trained or at Open Days. And it was a great way for the local British to meet the American service personnel. The museum could not open in 2020 because of the virus but we're hoping to open in 2021. Hope to see you there!
Wow. I never knew of this place. Fascinating, thank you!
Well now you do Viking Teddy. Have you been to visit? We are closed for 2019 but open again April 2020.
That's a must visit. Love A-10's.
Have you been David? Come and see our A-10 at the museum. It took 13 years to lobby the USAF to acquire it (on loan) from Alconbury. We had to go dismantle it (took several weeks for volunteers to work on an airframe that had stood outside for 25 years and were not designed to be unbolted!). We had not support from anyone apart form a couple of friendly USAF chaps at Alconbury. It cost £15000 to transpoirt it from Alconbury to Bentwaters. Trucks, closed roads, police escort. Lots of vidoe on the internet. I was riding shotgun on the red Ducati. Amazing journey. We had the last Wing Commnder of the 81st TFW attend our dedication ceromony in 2017 when he siad it was better than the ones he received from the factory! Kind words which meant a lot to the volunteers who work so hard at the museum. But we need help. We need to fund a concrete pad for the A-10 to prevent the problems of not being on a hard surface. So come visit, join our membership, donate. Go to www.bcwm.org.uk/ to find out more.
Was there Nov 78 - 80, was on crew at EoR July 7, 1979 when Col Tompson flew his last flight to airshow and crashed.
I was stationed there 77 - 79, so I had a year with the F-4D and a year with the then-new A-10. Cool tour of duty. The base commander was Col. Rudy Wacker, who began his career as an enlisted and put extra effort into taking good care of his own junior enlisteds. I had an interview with him, in what I think is the building in this video.
You got out just before the visitors 👽👽👽
I reckon I could easily spend a week in that museum :-)
Please do Jacob, we can provide a camp bed and tea/coffee in the morning! Seriously if you are in the UK then please visit. We are closed for 2019 and re open in April 2020. Check out the museum website. www.bcwm.org.uk/ for details. If you are not in Uk then make a trip over to Suffolk. Lots of other great museums to see. If you are a USAF veteran then we will always make an effort to accommodate your travel plans so you can see the museum and base (it is private property and only allowed on it with permission).
Top secret security clearance? LOL I was in there many times between 85-87. I was only 13-15 years old LOL It's great seeing this video My dad worked there 84-87. We miss it. Thanks for preserving it.
Thanks for the response Bad Driver. Guess the security chief would have been impressed that he's failed to keep it secure. Without doubt anyone entering without permission would have breached security. What did your Dad do? Drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk and share your story.
What about the ufo landing? I also know about an underground facility, directly underneath bentwaters, and large tunnels connecting it with its sister base raf woodbridge.
the command post layout is very similar to upper Heyford command post even down to the colour of the walls and phone consoles
Yes pepper, near identical. We know the enthusiasts down at Upper Heyford and they have tried to create a museum similar to ours at Bentwaters. But it is difficult without supportive owners. We are lucky at Bentwaters to have such tremendously supportive owners of Bentwaters. Almost all of it still complete with only additional buildings to augment the businesses that are located there. I believe the Command Post is the same across the USAF bases in Europe but none have a museum or open to the public. We are so fortunate to have this iconic part of history to show to the public. We love!!!
Tobacco housing looks same as 56-61 I lived only thing missing was roundabout still have pics from 59 airshow
If you want to share your photos Rick then I'd be delighted if you sent them to the museum. Drop me a line at simon.gladas@bentwaters-as.org.uk
Good video, but the image has interlacing artifacts. If it's not in the source material, maybe it could be re-encoded directly in a progressive scan format?
Thanks Andrew. Bit beyond me? Is this aimed at the producer of the video? And not the content?
The cold war fascinates me, all that perceived threat and secrecy, both sides outdoing each other technically, the resources and tax payers money that was committed by the politicians...a crazy time. I intend to visit Bentwaters in 2019.
The Ralphster
I have visited the museum 3 times now and have never been bored - it is a great tribute to the period, base and people that served there
So many exhibits and a credit to the volunteers that run the place - so much enthusiasm
Try and get on one of the organised base walks around the base
Ian Mangham
Definitely a scary time
Living only 10 miles from Greenham Common would not have been far from a warhead impact
And then there was ‘Threads’ and ‘The Day After’ - great Saturday evening viewing not knowing if you were going to see Sunday
Did you make it Ralphster? What did you think? If it's a quite day then the museum is spooky! But some days we get busy. We do base tours for members so always consider joining us. It's £20 a year and you can come as many times as you like and get the base your on a coach. Plus monthly meetings with all sorts of aviaiton topics including talks by USAF veterans who served at Bentwaters/Woodbridge. And newsletters and trips to other bases and museums.
@@PaveFlight Thanks so much for the great comments. As volunteers we are in need of encouragement. You would not believe how sharp the comments we get from some members of the public, the worse from those who are aviation enthusiasts. It takes a great deal of effort to create a museum and to keep it going and then expand it. You can upgrade your entrance fee of £5 to full membership by adding £15 and then join our coach tour for members. If we have spare seats we will offer them to the public. The walking tours are held a couple of times a year. Usually sold out quickly. They last four hours and are not for the faint hearted! Check out Facebook for details. facebook.com/Bentwaters-Cold-War-Museum-159480594091625/
Simon Gladas
It’s a pleasure Simon
I cannot believe people can be negative about the place / museum - such a good place to visit
Would love to upgrade to become a member but not really realistic as live about 3 hours away. Have done about 3 of the walks now and a great day out - especially with the ‘Lazy Company’ ambushes and Bob Hale commentary
I believe there is one tomorrow, 27th October, and a group I am affiliated with are on it - hope it’s a good one and sorry I am missing it
Best
Darren
Is there a second part to this
Ha! Space Dreamz!!! Well it was a very quick tour of the museum. I was asked by the chap doing the video of an A-10 pilot I know if I could show him the museum. He had little time so I just went for it. No script. No preparation. No make up!!! He filmed me and I didn't expect him to publish it. I'd been out on the airfield so my hair was a mess (I'm having a mid life crisis, think David Crosby of the Byrds). Maybe I'll arrange a longer video some time though if I had to rehearse it then it would be awful! Hope you enjoyed it and try to get to the museum if you can. It is an amazing place but then I'm biased!
Sorry to say that the aggressor Squadron is not Air Force the equivalent of the Navy’s Top Gun
Thanks Ade ... can you let me know the source of your knowledge? We take accuracy very seriously at the museum and if we are not correct we need to know. Help me understand your comment and the context in which it is made? What is the equivalent Air Force unit that compares to Top Gun?
Remember to look in the rear view mirror 😉😆
Absolutely! I love doing that little quiz with visitors. Especially the kids. But I have to tell the mothers not to blurt out the answer. They can't help themselves from spoiling it for everyone.
the americans had the first aircraft! but after turning up 3 years late for WW1 they had to buy french spads!! lmao!
They claim they had. Different from actually having it.
US Army bought first aircraft from Wright Bros, 1909. What was your comment again?
@@CastleGraphics tell us all how many kills those wright aircraft got over the western front? zero!
Just my opinion but I think to revel in all this killing and violence is very distasteful. My family were utterly destroyed by the military. It still has negative impacts on us today. I do understand why people revel in this history, but I don’t have to agree with a biased representation. All part of public relations I suppose. 😢