Chipping Ongar / Willingale

[jason]

Whats at Chipping Ongar?
Can anyone tell me what else except the peri track near which the airstrip is exists, is there any structures left and what of a memorial.

[Jim C]

Have a look at this link.....

http://www.wartime-airfields.com/id18.html

[jason]

Thanks Jim, i'll get hunting these down when i next visit the site.

[PJH]

As far as memorials go, unusually there isn't a typical 'flash' USAAF memorial.
In the adjacent village of Willingale, the war memorial in the churchyard has one face engraved as a memorial to the airfield servicemen, whilst there are framed items within the church itself.

Peter

[Denis]

Our group the HAMG, responsible for building two airfield memorials in the area, have looked at Willingale closely.

We did draw up plans and came up with an acceptable design, and actually got around to selecting the only possible site to place a suitable airfield memorial. To us, it is no good just dumping a memorial anywhere, we take great pains to select the right place in our collective mind. We were going to do this in conjuction of another interested group who hold two prop blades from a Willingale based Marauder. these were to have been used in the memorial, after months of negotiations the whole idea came to a halt with the other party failing to maintain contact.

The trouble with Willingale/Chipping Ongar is that there is nowhere, apart from the selected location, that you could place it safely. The land is private apart from the usual rights of way. No one apart from dog walkers would see it!

The old main entrance is out of the question, as there is nowhere to stop and admire it due to the narrowness of the public road. All in all Willingale is a quite remote site with only one public road almost half a mile to the east. The other road is to the North of the site but is unsuitable in the way of security for a memorial.
Maybe one day it will get its long deserved memorial to the 'Tigertails'

[PaulHP]

Jason

Don't know if you have visited Willingale yet, but be warned it is the home of the Essex Shooting Ground. If I recall 4 days a week there is lead shoot and clay pigeons flying all over the place (and if it is harvest time the locals shoot the rabbits and hares they break for cover in front of the combine harvesters). If you go to their website there is a map on how to get there. http://www.essexshootingground.com/directio.htm

Denis I would have though the perfect place for a memorial would have been on the side of the B184 where the concrete light casings are.

Well done on the Hunsdon & Sawbridgeworth memorials by the way!

[Denis]

Denis I would have though the perfect place for a memorial would have been on the side of the B184 where the concrete light casings are.

Hello PaulHP,
The layby by the light casings is the site to the north that we rejected due to security issues. That road is dark & secluded at that point. That makes it ideal for rapscallions and ne'erdowells, to angle grind or gas cut off any prop-blade or bronze plaque affixed to said memorial

We did consider the next entrance on the Fyfield road towards Willingale where the old Nissen huts are. They stand by a cottage that could deter such lovely wonderful people from desicrating aforementioned memorial!

But as I said, the other party did not maintain contact and the idea fell by the wayside. Maybe one day it will get the memorial it deserves.

[Arcade Al]

to angle grind or gas cut off any prop-blade or bronze plaque affixed to said memorial

Unfortunately plastic is the new bronze as far as vulnerable memorials go.

[Jim C]

Found a couple of great photos on the Footnote website taken from a B-17 over Chipping Ongar/Willingale in December 1943....will have to study the airfield plan to try and identify which part of the airfield is shown.

[REF]

Nice photos Jim

Id guess the first photo i shere;
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.72....6&r=0&src=msl

I'd say the second photo is here;
http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.72....6&r=0&src=msl

If you have a site plan then you'll be able to work out the dispersal locations from the flashearth links above.