My Feltwell Memories by James Mahoney
James was stationed at RAF Mildenhall from '68-'72, He lived in Barracks 93 and in the NCO Club quarters at RAF Feltwell from October '68-Aug '70.
As far as stories, most of those would be fairly mundane and shed little light on village life at that time. Since we worked at Mildenhall, we'd arrive back at Feltwell around 5:30-6:00 pm during the week, and were often away on weekends. Evenings were often spent in Joan's West End pub, playing darts and generally socializing. The pub was just over the fence from our barracks, so it was very handy! The denizens of the West End included RAF blokes, with whom we were quite friendly. Joan had a daughter, Carol, who suffered from multiple-sclerosis or some similar condition. She was always in the public bar with Joan. Though she could not speak other than to vocalize sounds, she was unfailingly bright and cheery in response to our friendly, "Hello and how are you, Carol." Many of us regulars made it a point to always greet her.
I consumed substantial numbers of egg and cheese sandwiches at Sid's Blade Cafe--occasionally even after hours. (The Blade Cafe was located in Long Lane, so called as it had an aeroplane propeller over the entrance, and was run by Sid Worrell. The cafe closed after he left.)
In my experience, the people of Feltwell were always friendly. In all my time, other than the inevitable, transitory incidents involving individuals that occur everywhere people live, we all just got along. As visitors, we never felt unwelcome.
The caravan park was housing for families, as was the ranks of buildings in the whole lower part of the photo (within the area bordered by Lancaster Road and the B1112 access road). The caravan park was generally where Vincent Close is now, and the caravans were located roughly where the houses on the north/west side of Vincent Close are now. Because I knew people who lived in the caravans, and they were accessible directly from the base streets, I always thought of them as being on-base. They may not have been, and could have been part of the village and not the base. (They were part of the village, not of the Base.)
You may already know that the reason USAF personnel were housed at RAF Feltwell is because France expelled US Forces based there in, I think, 1967. When I arrived in August '68, the sergeant I was to replace told me that until the French expulsion, RAF Mildenhall had been a "sleepy little base" with about 250 personnel. Within a very short time, the population increased to 2,500. There wasn't enough housing in RAF Mildenhall for all, so space was leased from the RAF at Feltwell. That's how I ended up living there.
At first blush, it seemed like a bad deal to have to travel 14 miles or so to and from work and all the better amenities at RAF Mildenhall. But as we all did, I soon realized that being in Feltwell was actually a good deal. Because we were so far away, our squadron HQ folks largely left us alone, and we were seldom inconvenienced with "AF BS" off-duty. In addition, the friendly reception in the village was a bonus, and the fact that the West End was literally 20 yards from my barracks was a double bonus. It was an unusual opportunity to quickly get to know, and enjoy, the "real" England. ;-)
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