The University of Cambridge’s Higher Education Field Academy (HEFA) is supervising the excavation of a number of archaelogical test pits around the village this week. With the goodwill of local householders supported by Access Cambridge Archaelogy a number of young people will be finding out how to excavate and analyse their findings. For the householders and Gidding History Group this will be a peek into the past.
Gidding History Group have been chosen by the University of Cambridge to host this year’s Higher Education Field Academy. This annual event enables young people from local Academies to have a try at digging a test pit. Details are on the attached poster. We are seeking 12 willing garden owners, so please contact Julie Trolove on julie.trolove@gmail.com. There will be a History Group meeting in the Village Hall on Tuesday 23rd May to discuss and view the finds.
The January meeting of the History Group will be held on Tuesday 24th. Change of venue to Manor Site Farm. We will be looking at old (mainly black and white) photographs of Peterborough and surrounding village. 7.30PM start time
Why not give the new book…
MORE GREAT GIDDING HISTORY
AND
The reprinted 2001 book…
A Millennium History of Great Gidding
Both available now from the shop in Great Gidding.
Mr Robert Dalgliesh – Chief Agent to the Fitzwilliam Estate – began by describing the history and extent of the Fitzwilliam Estate and later concentrated on that part based upon Milton Hall and the Milton Estates near Peterborough.
He finally zoomed in upon the Fitzwilliam history and interests in Great Gidding, and some of the slides that he used to illustrate the latter part of his talk are shown below.
Mr Dalgliesh also brought some very interesting historical documents, maps and charts from the Milton Hall archive, including the Deed dated 1827 whereby Great Gidding was part of a sale of property by the Watsons of Rockingham Castle to the Fitzwilliam Estate. Also included were maps and associated lists from 1869 and 1889 showing the occupiers and owners of the village property which warrant further study.
During the second part of the evening Patrick Ellis, who has been researching the history of Great Gidding for more than 15 years, described two results of this research :
Firstly the history of how the village was laid out and organised and the duties of the village officials was included in a book jointly compiled with David Shepherd entitled A Millennium History of Great Gidding. This was first published in 2001 and reprinted last year.
A Millennium History of Great Gidding (left) and More Great Gidding History (right)
Secondly a new book, concentrating on the people who lived in the village and answering the question “Who lived Where ?”. This new book is called More Great Gidding History and also includes a number of photos, and especially some aerial photos and maps which have come to light since the first book was compiled.
Both the reprint of the 2001 book and the New Book may be obtained from the Village Stores.
Patrick Ellis. October 2015
Gidding History Group present:
A talk by Mr Robert Dalgliesh (Chief Agent to the Fitzwilliam Estate)
Followed by
Patrick Ellis introducing his new book about Great Gidding
The book will be on sale after the talks.
Entry is FREE but donations to Gidding History Group will be appreciated.
Light refreshments will be available to purchase after the talks.
Start Time: 19:15
Date: 2015-09-30
Location: Great Gidding Village Hall
Date: Wednesday 30th September
The A4 book – ‘More Great Gidding History’ – is printed in two parts and is completely new information that has been discovered since the publication of the first Great Gidding History book in 2001 (recently re-printed). Whereas the original book was mostly about the village and how it operated this new book is mostly about the people and where they lived.
Part 1 contains 100 pages discussing new discoveries from research during the past 15 years and histories of some of the principal properties and families in the village.
Part 2 with 110 pages is more of a reference book and contains maps, aerial photos and detailed descriptions of some 60 properties and their occupiers from 1640 onwards plus indexes totalling some 400 different family names.
The book is supported by The Earl Fitzwilliam Charitable Trust and its formal launch will be at an evening event at 7.15 pm on Wednesday September 30th in Great Gidding Village Hall.
The main speaker will be Mr Robert Dalgliesh – Chief Agent to the Fitzwilliam Estate. The title of his talk will be “Milton Estate – past and present”.
The new book will then be introduced by its author Patrick Ellis and wine, cordials and light refreshment will be provided for purchase in the Village Hall.
‘More Great Gidding History’ – printed in two parts
For those who were unable to visit the History Day last October, there will be a small display of some of the historical photos he has gathered over the years.
Enjoy VE Day’s 70th Anniversary… Gidding style. A celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2, 40’s themed, with hog roast, music and dancing, singalong, competitions, etc… something for all the family.
Yes, 7pm on 4th July at the Village Hall for a Gidding Forties Evening, when it will all be kicking off. The event will be featuring a live ‘Glen Miller’ style band, dancing, a hog roast, competitions, prizes and a sing-along and maybe some good old fashioned party games… a fun village night out for all the family. It promises to be a great evening and we’d love to see some of the younger families in the village there, so there’s a half price offer for children under 12.
The theme is the 70th anniversary of VE Day and the end of the Second World War in Europe (Gidding time). So get your 1940’s gladrags on and prepare to celebrate in civilian dress, service uniform, spiv’s trilby and co-respondent shoes, land girl dungarees, factory worker’s overalls? Or even for those of you stuck in the past the clothes you usually wear. There’ll be prizes for the best dressed. Of course you can just come as you are – the more the merrier.
The live music and dancing will start not long after you arrive at 7.00pm, with the Hog being carved from 8.00 onwards, until it has all gone! It promises to be a great evening and open to all. Bring the whole family, those who may remember the day as well as those just learning about the War at school.
The food, while perhaps not rationed as it was all those years ago, will include those things everyone at the time must have dreamt about and will feature a hog roast, with lots of accompaniments and, of course, trifle, jelly and blancmange for ‘afters’ – real 40’s grub!
There is also a possibility (if we can attract some Americans GIs) of Nylon Stockings and Hershey Bars.
Hog roast and jelly • Swing band • Bar
Dress code: 1945 demob, uniforms or land girls (prize for most authentic/best costume).
Tickets: £15 per adult, (£7.50 children under 12) from the Village Shop.
Location: Great Gidding Village Hall
Start Time: 19:00
Date: 2015-07-04
Bruce Jordan has kindly given to us a collection of cuttings and letters that he has gathered together whilst researching and collecting information in relation to the US bomber ‘Bam Bam’ that crashed just outside of Great Gidding in 1944.
These details have just been released after a 70 year ban on publication the previous story in the Memoriam is – well just a story. The happenings afterwards were, of course, provided by the survivors.
In June 1944 the weather in the UK was awful, so much so that D Day was put off for 24hrs. It was essential that the German airfield at Nantes was quickly put out of action due to its close proximity to the landings. The US 8th Air Force was tasked to do this operation. (June 10th 1944 Mission 177) At Molesworth ILt Sam Oliver joined the line of B17s heading for take-off unfortunately he ran off the taxi-way and became firmly stuck in the mud.
He was ordered to leave his plane (The Floose) and take Bam Bam the stand-by aircraft. When on board, note this plane had already done 42 missions, the crew reported to control that there was a very strong smell of fuel inside. They were told that as the aircraft had been standing for some while it could be expected and would probably ventilate as they got going. When they joined up with all the rest they again reported to control saying that the smell was worsening all the time… then nothing Bam Bam had exploded. It is thought that they were about to request a return to base.
The B17G crashed one quarter of a mile southwest of Great Gidding, Huntingdon, England. Four crewmen escaped the other six died in the crash.
The B-17 went down on June 10th 1944 shortly after take-off, just after joining the formation on a mission to attack an airdrome at Nantes, France. There apparently was a control disfunction and when last seen, her left wing dipped down and the aircraft went into a dive. Pilot 1Lt Sam Oliver managed to pull it out and climbed to the level of the formation but there was a second plunge followed by an explosion, apparently caused by the bombs, and the tail was blown off. The B-17 crashed a quarter of a mile southwest of Great Gidding. Oliver and five others were killed. Four managed to bail out and survived.
Bruce has lived in Great Gidding, about half a mille from the crash site, since 2001 and when he became aware of the World War II mishap he was distressed to discover that it had gone unmarked over the last half-century. Due to Bruce’s efforts the 358th Squadron crewman who died in the incident now have a memorial in St Michael’s Church and the names of the 303rd Bomb Group crewmen who died will be read out in church services every November, along with the names of all those in the village of Great Gidding who lost their lives in the two World Wars.
1Lt Earl D. Metko was substitute navigator on the 10th June mission. He was blown out of Bam Bam, when it exploded, with only one riser of his parachute fastened. He had an injured shoulder and was hospitalised. He became Lead Crew Navigator and completed his 30 mission combat tour on 22nd March 1945.
T/Sgt Whitney Haskell was the third person safely to eject. He managed to exit from the nose escape hatch. He had only one riser attached to his parachute harness. He lost consciousness but regained his bearings as he was free falling outside Bam Bam. After a futile attempt to buckle the 2nd clip he pulled the chute ripcord which immediately and safely opened. He came down in a tree and was rescued by the farmer and his wife who then took him straight to hospital. He flew on fourteen additional missions, after the 10th June crash of Bam Bam, as a Lead Crew Engineer. He completed his 30 mission combat tour on 9 April 1945 and died in 1991.
2Lt Harry Chapple had both risers fastened to his parachute harness but was unconscious during his fall except for just before impact. The explosion propelled him through the plexiglas nose causing over 40 rents in his gabardine flying suit and fairly serious cuts in his scalp and eyelid. He was hospitalised for several weeks after returning to Molesworth. He flew on three additional combat missions after being released from hospital. He left the 303rd on 22nd August 1944, later becoming ill with Parkinson’s disease and he died on 11th June 2000.
S/Sgt Wayne Humphries was the last of the four men to exit from Bam Bam. He managed to reach his parachute and clasp it to his chest after the explosion severed the tail compartment from the B-17. He fell out of the B-17 just off the tail wheel in a tumbling mode. He managed to buckle both sides of his harness to the chute clips and pull the rip cord. He was able to drift clear of the remnants of Bam Bam and made a successful landing. He flew on no other 303 BG(H) missions after his 10th June 1944 bailout. He was transferred from the 303rd on 18th July 1944 to the 9th Air Force in France and flew additional combat missions in an A-20 ‘Marauder’ low level twin engine attack bomber. Following WWII he returned home to Shelley, Idaho and lives in a house next to his daughter Stacia Herndon.
The archive contains grateful letters of thanks from relations of the crew.
Visit of S/Sgt Wayne Humphries’ granddaughter in February 2023
Thank you for your time and dedication Bruce.
An exhibition of ongoing research into those from the Giddings who served in the Great War has been mounted in St Michael’s Church.
The exhibition will run from Friday 7th November until Thursday 13th November, and will be open from 8.30am – 4.00pm each day.