Building on airfield that housed D-Day heroes ‘insults their memory’, say campaigners
A PROPOSAL to build thousands of homes on an airfield that was home to American airmen who fought with Britain on D-Day has prompted protests from campaigners who describe it as an “insult”.
Andrewsfield in Essex was the first airfield constructed by the US Air Force in England during the Second World War and from 1942 to 1945 it was home to the 322nd Bomb Group who attacked coastal defences on D-Day.
Campaigners have warned that the airfield is under threat by the North Essex Garden Communities project, a proposal by the local council to build 10,000 new homes.
Dr Mike Frost, a local anaesthetist leading the campaign to stop the development, said: “It’s very insulting. We wouldn’t walk down Normandy in France and expect to see a load of brand new houses built there, somewhere so significant, so I don’t see why it should happen here. It is an important monument to the airmen who helped us in our darkest hour and it should be preserved for future generations.” The air- field, the first of 14 US airfields built in England in the early Forties, is now private land and has been put up for development by its owners.
It has been an active flying school since 1973 and Mike Rowland, its manager, said the airmen who lived and worked in Andrewsfield “certainly left their mark” on the area.
He said: “The American pilots who used to live and work here would often come back and sign a plaque we have in the main reception. Most of them have passed away now, but still their children come to sign the plaque.
As the generations move on, we have recently started getting their great grandchildren visiting too. Andrewsfield is such a big part of the local community and is very historically significant.” A spokesman for the North Essex Garden Communities said: “The exact location of housing and other aspects of any new community will be subject to consultation.”
The landowners insisted that the developments won’t impact the “historical” aspect of the site, adding: “There’s very little of the original airfield actually left.”