Lost Gallery: AAF at Bassingbourn

In the basement of an "antique store" these two books of 35mm negatives were found. They were destined for the dumpster no doubt, but rescued for LOST GALLERY and the enthusiasts who treasure the history and memorabilia of the second world war.

The first book of contains 327 negatives. The photographs were scanned and uploaded to a set on Flickr in 2007 and then grouped generally by subject for the pages of LOST GALLERY. Most of the photographs in this set are of aircraft in world war two. Nothing was known for sure about the photographs but slowly over the years some information has accumulated. It was established that the date for most of the photographs is late 1944.

Most of the negatives had notations on the accompanying index pages. Mostly the photographer was concerned about the lighting and exposure of each frame but occasionally also made notes on the subject matter. Where possible these notations will be included under each picture on this page.

The 205 negatives in the other file were taken postwar, about half in England and the rest in Texas, USA. The photographs apparently show a bit of touring before leaving the England based AAF unit and the first photographs after arriving in Texas.

This page will review all of the negatives in the set that feature photographs labeled "X-mas Party" and information that has accumulated since 2007.

All images are the property of
Lost Gallery
and the author. Permission must be granted for their use.
All rights reserved.

Our AAF photographer at Bassingbourn air base took time off from photographing items and events at the Bassingbourn AAF base to make at least one tour of the sights in London and the countryside.

Here he has a snap of two children on the train.

Kids on Train

House, don't know where

From Dave Nola on Flickr: A rare wartime photo of the pool of London with a even rarer picture of the port of London ARP post, as you can see very little shipping. In secret, most of the cranes from London's vast dock system was taken down and moved to Scotland where a large temporary dock was built.

Tower Bridge 90 mm El f6 3 40

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey poor

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

Rear of Westminster Abbey

Rear of Westminster Abbey
titled as "unidentified building" in photographer's notes.

Tower of London overcast 30mm wide angle

Bank of England

From Morrisoxford61 on Flickr (no longer active): Well, I can tell you where this one is its Threadneedle Street, City of London and the bank of England as per the title not much changed even today. Funny thing, the Times did a picture taken from the same spot in 1919 of Armistice Day.
To the right is the Royal Exchange.
What a lovely period picture.

Bank of England

From Morrisoxford61 on Flickr (no longer active): Still Threadneedle Street and the Bank of England.
Nice to see the van sign, written as Kelly and Kelly printers.
Notice the white paint on the mudguards (fenders) and bumpers as during the blackout only one headlight could operate and that was heavily shuttered
behind the van is a taxicab, many of which were converted to carry trailer pumps to assist in the Blitz.
Theres another detail: The car behind the taxi has a gas accumulator on the roof, inside a flimsy wooden box is a bag for storing coal gas, you start the vehicle on petrol the switch to gas. Horrible smell and smoke but it worked.

Cenotaph in Whitehall f12 5 60 brite thru thin haze yellow filt

Hitchin Rail Yard 6 3 100 01

Hitchin Rail Yard 6 3 100 01

Sir Thomas More mem

From Morrisoxford61 on Flickr (no longer active): An interesting old building still in place and much the same, even the two street name plates are still in place. This building is now a solicitors office and is on the junction of Serle Street and Carey Street, Camden Town, London WC2.
This is only a stones throw from Lincolns Inn Fields and Chancery lane the heart of the legal side of the city.

Sir Thomas More mem

Richard I monument

Dickens old curiosity shop

From Morrisoxford61 on Flickr (no longer active): 13 to 14 Portsmouth street London WC2
Still there, survived the Luftwaffe luckily.

Dickens old curiosity shop

The shop is still there today. Do a search on Flickr or Google.

From Morrisoxford61 on Flickr (no longer active): Apart from being a little cleaner its the same now.
And don't forget our King and Queen never left (during the blitz), thats why the morale of Londoners was so good. My parents and grandparents lived through the bombing knowing their King and Queen, Princess Margaret and Elizabeth were also enduring the same.

That looks like an American car in the foreground a London taxi to the left with the hood down and the other may be a Daimler

Their is a memorial to Queen Victoria in front of the palace. This would have been covered with shuttering for the duration of the war, and it would have been an ideal place to photograph from. The other usual stance pre and post war was to hire a Lodnon cab and climb onto the roof rack or fold the hood and set the tripod up in the back. Those older cabs are around 8 foot high.

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace gates Guards

Guard in front of Palace

Buckingham Palace gates Band

Buckingham Palace gates Guards

Guard Change at Buckingham Palace

Lord Mayor of London

Houses of Parliament

Tower of Big Ben

Buckingham Palace gates Scotts pipers

Victoria Regina Monument

Scotts guard band

farm yard side lite

Football Game

This seems to be an American style football game. The negative occurs on a strip between the portraits of Major Griffin and Lt. Speed (Seen on the AAF - Personnel page. So the game is being played in England.

At the right is a second shot of the Cenotaph in Whitewall. See better shot above.

Cenotaph in Whitehall f12 5 60 brite thru thin haze yellow filt

CLICK HERE to view the
POSTWAR PHOTOGRAPHY
from the other negative file from this same photographer.

Look at the bazookas on that little honey!

Click here for the whole story!

Here are more stories about the 91st Bomber Group and some of the missions flown on a fine website by
Sam Halpert

For others in the AAF Bassingbourn series see also
The P-61 Black Widow
B-17 Bomber
The Lancaster Bomber
P-51 Mustang
The Avro York
The Short Stirling Bomber
The Piper Cub with the Bazookas
The B - 26
The Aerial Shots
The Personnel
The Christmas Party (This One)
The Photographer Tours England
And Miscellaneous clouds, landscapes and snow
Bassingbourn from a Window on the base.

Bassingbourn 1944 Discovered! Long lost negatives taken during the winter of 1944-45 at Bassingbourn AAF base in England.

Area 51 and a Half You are probably not authorized to see these.

Don't take my picture! Oh! You DID didn't you! This is a collection of photographs that disappear on the way home from the photo processing shop.

And don't miss
Cabinet Card Gallery
Square America
Tattered and Lost
Vernacular Photography
The best
FOUND PHOTOGRAPH
sites on the web.

And for postcards try
POSTCARDY
And see what's going on over at
Sepia Saturday!

THE KIDS
It is always a mystery how a photograph of any of these precious children could end up lost or abandoned. Here are a few. You will probably say "Ooh..." at least once.