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World War Two artwork saved from leaky roof

Ben ParkerSuffolk
Richard Daniel/BBC Two paintings of squadron insignias on a white brick wall. The painting on the left depicts a vulture and the one on the right depicts a unicorn. Richard Daniel/BBC
Two original paintings on a wall at the former base were at risk

Rare artworks from World War Two at risk of being washed away have been saved by repairs to a leaky roof.

The paintings, two murals of military insignia, are at RAF Bungay, a former airfield near Flixton, Suffolk, where about 3,000 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) personnel were based.

The USAAF Heritage Trust, a charity dedicated to preserving the site, was recently granted a 125-year lease and it appealed for help to fix the roof. The plea came after two irreplaceable pieces of art had already been lost.

The trust's Kerry Wilmot said over £4,500 had been donated within a week. "Whether it be £5 or £1,000, all of it means just as much. It's enabled us to save these paintings," she added.

Richard Daniel/BBC A woman looks to the left of the camera and smiles. She has blonde/grey hair that has been tied back. She is wearing a dark navy blue gilet jacket with a long-sleeved top underneath. She is standing inside an old building.Richard Daniel/BBC
Kerry Wilmot from the USAAF Heritage Trust said thousands of pounds had been donated in a matter of days

The artworks are in a building that once housed the Red Cross Aero Club, where personnel tried to relax between missions in B-24 Liberator aircraft.

They show the insignia of bomb squadrons that were based at Bungay as part of the 446th Bomb Group, known as the Bungay Buckaroos.

The bomb group led the Eighth Air Force's first heavy bomber mission on D-Day on 6 June 1944, attacking German coastal defences ahead of the Allied landings in Normandy.

Wilmot said the heritage trust wanted to teach future generations about the significance of the airfield and the bombing missions that took off from it.

"We're the custodians of history, it's not ours for the keeping," she said.

"It's been many, many years of water ingress that has washed two of the insignia away but the roof was getting worse," Wilmot added.

She said the repairs had been done within 10 days of the appeal and the part of the building with the paintings was now "watertight".

USAAF Heritage Trust's long-term aim is to open a visitors' centre.

"We're obviously waiting and looking for huge grant funding that we're going to need to go forward with the complete project," Wilmot said.

Here are some photos, old and new, of RAF Bungay.

Richard Daniel/BBC An old building that dates back to World War Two. There are bikes parked outside the building. It has green doors.Richard Daniel/BBC
The Erna Torney Collection A colourless image of a lounge inside a former World War Two building at an airfield. Personnel sit in chairs near a fireplace. The Erna Torney Collection
The building that housed the Red Cross Aero Club has survived
The lounge of the Aero Club was where personnel could relax

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