Places that you didn't realise were historical in your home town !

[paulscoot]

Hi guys, This plaque went up on the wall of one of my local drinking holes & I didn't even realise till recently, also I used to DJ here up to a few years ago ,thought you might find it interesting. Regards , Paul


Of course we had the siege of basing house back in the English civil war but I find a better connection with these heroes

[Gimmie]

Here in Enschede theres not a whole lot of history, except that the airfield here was taken over by the luftwaffe during the war and that most of the city was destroyed by American bombers because they thought we were a German town. (Close to the German border.)

[CARL]

Nice idea for a new topic, thank you for posting.

Thread will now be moved to the After The Battle forum.

Carl

[MAP]

OK, I'm all the way on the other side of the pond...so what could be so historical about Long Island NY???? Well lots! and I grew up either on or within a few hundred yards from not one but three major historical landmarks (there is actually a 4th but that is US Civil war related and I won't discuss here).

So here we go...

1) Camp Mills: WW1 - (outlined in Blue) The mission of Camp Mills was for the preparation of Army units prior to their deployment to Europe in World War I. It was established in September 1917 as a place to mobilize the 42nd Division (the famous Rainbow Division), made up of National Guard units from various states.

My childhood home (built in the late 20's) is built right on the camp (Red / White circle). The Red/White triangle is the monument for the 42nd Rainbow division. It is 300 feet from my house

2) Mitchel Field: WW2 - (outlined in purple). Established in 1918 as Hazelhurst Aviation Field #2, the facility was renamed later that year as Mitchel Field in honor of former New York City Mayor John Purroy Mitchel who was killed while training for the Air Service. WW1 training was on Curtis Jenny's (see #4 below). The Jenny's were famous post war for "barnstorming".

During WW2, Mitchel Field was a US Army Air Force base. Used as both training, regional air defense (remember, lots of German Subs in the area) and a staging area to ferry bombers to Europe. As a kid in the 70's I used to explore the old airfield and dig out 50 cal and 30 cal bullets from the test firing range.

3) Roosevelt Field. (Yellow outline) This is the farthest from my house but still only a short walk as a kid. My elementary school was built on part of this field. Roosevelt Field was made famous by none other than Charles Lindbergh. This is where he took off on his non-stop flight across the Atlantic.

4) Curtis Aircraft (Pink outline). This was the site (or so I have been told), of the old Curtis Aircraft factory (see Lindbergh above, he flew a Curtis). Long Island had a rich history of aircraft design and manufacturing. The largest being Grumman, famous for the Wildcat and Hellcat used in the Pacific.

This is all gone now. Roosevelt Field is now a shopping mall, Camp Mills is all residential, and Mitchel Field is office complexes, a sports stadium and a University. Almost no one I know remembers this history behind these sites but my Dad was always teaching and reminding me when I was a kid.

A few pictures....


Map - Double Click to enlarge


Camp Mills





Monument to the Rainbow Division at Camp Mills



Mitchel Field (Hazelhurst Field 2)







Roosevelt Field (Hazelhurst Field 1)

[carpediem]

Great topic! Unfortunately I don't have any World War stuff nearby, except now dismantled railroad yards through which German POWs came, still in their uniforms when my grandfather worked as a locomotive oiler. He told me he gave a carload of them an accordion once, but that's all he ever said. There were also local factories involved in the war effort, all gone now save one. Other than that, I live right on top of some American Revolution history.

[Larry C]

Geez Michael.....great and detailed info .

Off you go now to the principles office ....enjoy

[MAP]

Geez Michael.....great and detailed info .

Off you go now to the principles office ....enjoy

Assistant principals office Larry....Assistant Principal!

The Civil War site was Camp Winfield Scott, commanded by General Thomas Sherman. It was a camp of "instruction". Nothing exciting. Not like there was any fighting around here.

The Curtiss Airplane factory (Jenny, P-40 Warhawk of the Flying Tigers, etc.)

In the background is Roosevelt Field. The factory is (was) just a few hundred feet from my house. Many of the buildings are still there.



The "Jenny"



The P-40 (by this time the factory was no longer producing planes, it was Sperry Gyroscope (a famous defense contractor). Sperry was the creator of the Ball Turret Gun mounted under the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator



Sperry Ball Turret





Lots and Lots of history right in my back yard!!!! How could I not grow up collecting this stuff!