Thunderbolt A10 Down
Saturday 7th July 1979
1342

In 1950 The U.S. Air Force required a permanent Security base in Britain and the 6940th Radio Squadron was formed at R.A.F. Chicksands in Bedfordshire. The base continued to be operated by the U.S. Air Force until the 30th September 1995 when the combination of modern technology and the lessening of East-West tension made the function redundant. Every year in July the U.S.A.F. had an open day; it was a grand social event which I often attended as a crew member with the Edwardian steam fire pump named Thorney. At this time in July 1979 Thorney was being refitted with a new boiler, and on this occasion I did not attend.
I decided to spend the day at home, however many firemen from Bedfordshire did visit, there were always plenty of activities for the family with a lot of American food and drink. The highlight was an Air display but Chicksands was not an airfield, therefore all aircraft were visiting from other U.S.A.F. stations.

At 1342 I was just finishing lunch when We were called, I ran to the Fire Station just opposite we were ordered on at 1344 and mobile at 1346, I was driving and L/Fm. Salter was the Officer in charge we had a total crew of four. From the outset there was understandable confusion as to the exact address. There were several repeat calls to the fire service control at 1343, 1344, and 1348. The address first given was The Red Lion Public House Haynes and we were ordered to proceed via the A.6 south towards Luton. We were not really sure where we were going. This was quite understandable in the circumstances. Another call was received by control and relayed to us, this was a corrected address and given as Dedmans Cross, Southhill Road, Aircraft Crash. This address turned out to be much nearer the incident, in fact when we finally arrived on scene it was very near the small hamlet of Ireland, the aircraft had crashed in woodlands known as Keepers Warren. We had driven a rather lengthy roundabout way.

As driver I was also pump operator which meant I would stay with the appliance, Leading Fireman Salter proceeded into the woodlands with another fireman for instructions, the time we arrived was 1411. A.D.O. Grunwell was the Officer in charge at that time and he had booked in at 1358. The Shefford pump was first on the scene at 1353 and the L.4.R. Unit from Bedford at 1355. After some time the L.Fm. returned, we were ordered to standby. There was a lot of activity at this time with other appliances arriving, and messages being sent. There was also serious concern that radioactive material may be involved. At 1400 Assistance was sent by A.D.O. Grunwell. “Make pumps eight.”

The U.S.A.F. fire department was also in attendance, they were based at Chicksands and were in the main English and lived locally, and we knew them well. At 1410 A.D.O. Grunwell sent an informative message. “One military aircraft crashed, fire involving aircraft and woodland.” Many thought this aircraft was an F1-11 but it was in fact an A 10 Thunderbolt. Colonel Thomas Thompson was the pilot and he had died on impact, age 45 and married with two children. The aircraft had just completed a fly-past over Chicksands with another A10. Their base was Bentwaters in Suffolk, as they flew over the arena the spectators could hear the pilot’s messages being relayed over the P.A. system; they may have listened to his last words.

At about 1425 a large Chinook helicopter appeared over the area where we were parked and made a landing in a field nearby, armed American solders had arrived. They soon surrounded the area to make it secure, after all it was one of there secret military aircraft that had crashed.

Soon the American solders had sealed off the area; well not quite, there was a dry ditch running by a hedge and near to the road. Three young boys had crawled along this ditch and got past the armed guards, they were seen inside the cordon when one stood up to take a look round, they were soon ushered away.

At 1437 A.C.F.O. Malpass sent a stop message, “Fire involving military aircraft, grass and woodland, two jets, two hose reels, and beaters in use.” At 1445 we were stood down and returned to station at 1535.

An interesting but very sad event, I never actually got close to the scene of the air crash but I thought it worth recording in my memoirs. On October 2nd 2007 I paid a visit to the Military base to photograph the memorial plaque that at one time near the entrance to the camp. I was unable to locate it and the guard room appeared to have no knowledge.

RAF Chicksands was set up in 1936 by the RAF; it played a huge part in the Second World War by receiving signals which were later decoded at Bletchley Park.
In 1950 American Servicemen began to arrive. Chicksands became home to the 774th Air Base Group which supported two major missions – the Air Defence Intelligence Agency’s 450th Intelligence Squadron and the Department of Defence Joint Operations Centre Chicksands – which provided rapid radio relay. The base’s listening device, 35 meters high and 400 meters in circumference, became a well known local landmark, and was known as the “elephant cage”.

The base resembled a small town with its own church, shops, petrol station, garage, fire and police station and school. Recreation facilities included a leisure centre, library, gym, bowling alley, tennis courts, soccer, rugby and American football pitches. The base had a population of around 3,600 people in 1995 – made up of 1,500 military personnel, 280 US civilians and dependants and 180 British workers.
The United States Air Forces in Europe left Chicksands after 45 years in 1995. The base was returned to the Military of Defence on the 30th September.