Plaque: Berlin Airlift
Erection date: 14/5/1999
{On the plaque on the side of the plinth:}
This plaque to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ending of the Berlin Airlift on 12th May 1949 was unveiled by HRH the Prince of Wales on 14th May 1999.
Referring to Camp Griffiss in Bushy Park, this very useful document says "After the war the buildings in the North East corner continued to be used for various purposes including the co-ordination of the Berlin Airlift in 1948...". but we can find no other details or confirmation that Camp Griffiss buildings played a part in the Berlin Airlift - USAAF had left this site and ceased to exist by 1944. Its replacement, Military Air Transport Services, (which never used Camp Griffiss, as far as we can tell) organised the American's part of the airlift but that hardly explains the presence of this plaque here, attached to the USAAF memorial. It's a puzzle and life is too short to read all that Wikipedia has to say on MATS.
Site: Camp Griffiss - USAAF and the Berlin Airlift (2 memorials)
TW11, Bushy Park
The hard-standing is attractively laid out with slabs, bricks and tiles making a 5-sided star pattern. The girl on the bike, Beth, kindly agreed to appear in some of our photos to provide scale and colour.
