Note: This post is a duplicate of a permanent page I added a few weeks ago, but I am repeating it today as a blog post in honor of the 384th Bomb Group Junket XI visit to England, of which I am a part.
We will be visiting Station 106 on Saturday, September 21 and touring the remains of the air base. I know I will be referring to the maps as I see, for the first time, the air base on which my dad served in WWII. I will be walking on the same ground Dad once did, seeing the remains of a piece of his history from seventy-five years ago.
The WWII-era site plan for Grafton Underwood (Station 106) was mapped out in 1944 into fourteen separate sites, with Site No. 1 sub-divided further into seven areas. Our 384th Bomb Group NexGen Archivist, Mark Meehl, extracted individual maps with numbered keys from the site plan and kindly shared them with me. The individual sites are:
- Site No. 1 – Airfield and Hardstands
- Site No. 1 – Group Headquarters (HQ Area)
- Site No. 1 – Technical Site
- Site No. 1 – Southeast Area
- Site No. 1 – 547th BS & Maintenance Technical Site
- Site No. 1 – Warkton Common Bomb Stores
- Site No. 1 – Old Head Wood 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 Bomb Squadron Area
- Site No. 9 – 547th Bomb Squadron Area
- Site No. 10 – 545th Bomb Squadron Area
- Site No. 11 – 546th Bomb Squadron Area
- Site No. 12 – Sick Quarters
- Site No. 13 – Sewage
- Site No. 14 – Sewage
On my upcoming visit to Grafton Underwood, I wanted to have a handy map guide to take with me during my tour of the air base, so I have combined Mark’s individual maps into a PDF document that I could print into a small booklet.
Thinking others, especially those visiting Grafton Underwood for the first time, might like their own copy, I am including a download here. To download a copy of the 384th Bombardment Group, Station 106, Grafton Underwood, England, Maps and Site Plans, click this thumbnail of the cover page:
The download is in PDF file format and may be viewed as a digital image on a computer, tablet, or phone with a PDF reader, or may be printed in any format desired, however, the document prints best as a 5 ½-inch by 8 ½-inch booklet. Note: download before printing to print the booklet format!
In the booklet format, the location keys appear on the page opposite the corresponding map, in most cases.
To print a 5 ½-inch by 8 ½-inch booklet on letter-size paper in Adobe Acrobat Reader, set the following printing preferences:
- Page Sizing & Handling to Booklet.
- Booklet subset to Both sides for duplex printers (see note below for non-duplex printers).
- Sheets from 1 to 13.
- Binding to Left.
- Orientation to Portrait.
- Optionally, check Print in grayscale (black and white)
After printing, fold pages in half (one at a time is easier), maintaining page order. Staple along the left side about 1/8-inch from the left edge in three places: one inch from top, in the middle, and one inch from bottom. Optionally, cover staples with one-inch wide masking or other tape.
Note: If printer is not a duplex printer capable of automatically printing on both sides of the page, choose Front side only to print the front sides of the pages, then reload those pages (check your printer manual for proper paper orientation for reloading) and choose Back side only to print the back sides of the pages.
Acknowledgements and Final Notes
Cover artwork courtesy of Marc Poole.
Maps and site plans courtesy of Quentin Bland, Ken Decker, Robin Dodson, John Edwards, Kevin Flecknor, Mark Meehl, Fred Preller, Matt Smith, the 384TH Bomb Group Photo Gallery, and the RAF Hendon Archives. Hardstand identification and key transcription courtesy of Mark Meehl.
All maps are oriented North up.
To see the complete Station 106 site plan in detail, download the high resolution digital map images to a computer or tablet and zoom in as the print size in the map booklet is not conducive to viewing the complete large format site maps and they were not included. Maps and site plans may be found on and downloaded from Photos.384thBombGroup.com in the 384TH During WWII album, Station 106 Maps sub-album. The Station 106 Airfield Area map and Station 106 Domestic Area map are particularly detailed drawings with keys.
Keep the show on the road…
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2019
The Arrowhead Club 