Thorpe Abbotts is a village within the civil parish of Brockdish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 6.5 miles east of Diss, and 20.8 miles south south west of Norwich.
During the Second World War Thorpe Abbotts became home to the United States Army Air Forces and the base became operational in June 1943 when the 100th Bomb Group took up residency equipped with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The group became known as the ‘’Bloody 100th’’ because of the heavy losses incurred by the group on a number of their combat missions.
“Eddie the Ghost”, as the American personnel were to nickname him, began to appear on the Base after the first Berlin raids in 1942 when he was regularly reported walking through walls of the airmen’s quarters. Stories of Eddie persisted to the point where some of the men began to take their carbine rifles to bed with them. Fearing an accident, Colonel Jeffrey, the base commander, forbade all talk of Eddie on penalty of court martial.
The USAAF left the base in December 1945 but sightings of Eddie, although less frequent have still been recorded; occasionally he is seen when the restored control tower is locked at night – some say he appears at the first-floor window looking out as if to say good night!
Today, it is tempting to ask if the strange apparitions surrounding Eddie are in danger of being ‘embellished’ with some visitors to the fully restored museum even reporting an overpowering presence within the control tower, occasionally accompanied by the brief glimpse of an airman dressed in full flying gear. sometimes along with the sound of VHF chatter and the sound of aircraft.
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Sources:
Wikipedia
Feature Heading: The Phantom Airman
Other Photos: Google Images
