The last time I caught up with Mark Meehl was in October in Dayton, Ohio at the latest 384th Bomb Group Reunion. Both Mark and his brother Jerry attended as they have for many years. Mark and Jerry’s dad, Paul Edwin Meehl, was a ground crew chief assigned to the 384th’s 547th Bomb Squadron from early 1943 through the end of the war. He also transferred with the group to Istres, France at the end of the war in Europe.
Left to right: Mark and Jerry Meehl at the 2018 384th Bomb Group Reunion in Dayton, Ohio
Mark is the group’s archivist, is a researcher who specializes in ground personnel, and also maintains the master log of all combat sorties. Mark’s brother Jerry (Gerald) is also interested in military history and has written or co-written three books, one with 384th Bomb Group waist gunner Jack Goetz.
At the reunion, I mentioned to Mark that I wanted to attend the group’s next junket to England – in September 2019 – and hoped to find the site of some air base photos in my dad’s collection. Mark shared scans of a couple of maps of the Station 106 site plan at Grafton Underwood with me and using them I believe I may be able to stand in the very same area the photos were taken when I visit.
For starters, this map that Mark shared with me shows the entire site with runways, living areas, and the small village of Grafton Underwood.
Overall plan of the Grafton Underwood airfield and all the site areas.
Scan by Mark Meehl of original plans/maps courtesy of Matt Smith in England
Click on the image to open it to full screen. (Then use your browser Back button to return to this post). The legend for the map is:
- Site No. 1 – Airfield and Hardstands
- Site No. 1 – 547th BS & Maintenance Technical Site
- Site No. 1 – Group Headquarters
- Site No. 1 – Old Head Wood Bomb Stores
- Site No. 1 – SE Area
- Site No. 1 – Technical Site
- Site No. 1 – Warkton Common Bomb Stores
- Site No. 2 – Communal
- Site No. 3 – Communal
- Site No. 4 – Group Staff Quarters
- Site No. 5 – Ground Echelon Quarters
- Site No. 6 – Ground Echelon Quarters
- Site No. 7 – W.A.A.F.
- Site No. 8 – 544th BS Area
- Site No. 9 – 547th BS Area
- Site No. 10 – 545th BS Area
- Site No. 11 – 546th BS Area
- Site No. 12 – Sick Quarters
- Site No. 13 – Sewage
- Site No. 14 – Sewage
Mark also told me I could add the site map as an overlay on Google Earth, so armed with a few instructions from Mark, I came up with this…
Grafton Underwood site map overlaid on Google Earth map
I’ll be playing around with this feature of Google Earth some more and try to get better results, but I’m pretty pleased with my first attempt.
My dad was in the 544th Bomb Squadron, so one of my interests is in Site No. 8. I believe my dad’s photos were taken in this area, and I’ll explore that site in more detail in a future post.
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2018
The Arrowhead Club 
My father was John F. Schimenek.
His memorabilia is at The Bong Memorial in Superior, WI.
I have his diary of his missions.
Enjoyed seeing his photo with the Algar crew and write up. Nice reporting Cindy.
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Thank you!
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