If you have visited this corner of the internet before and found nothing much to look at, we owe you an apology — and an explanation.
Building a website is one of those tasks that sits comfortably on a to-do list for quite some time. FOLA is a volunteer group, and like all volunteer groups our time and energy go first to the things that matter most — the walks, the memorial, the annual commemoration, the relationships with the families of those who served here. A website, however worthy, has a habit of waiting its turn.
But here we are. We are genuinely pleased to have a proper home on the internet at last, and we hope that what you find here does justice to the history of Station 137 and the men of the 487th Bombardment Group who flew from this Suffolk field between 1944 and 1945.
What the site has been up to while we haven’t
It would be wrong to suggest that FOLA has been quiet. Far from it. The summer walks have continued to run each year, bringing visitors from across the UK and — particularly meaningfully — from the United States, including families of the men who served here. Our Memorial Day commemoration service has taken place each May at the airfield memorial. Volunteers have continued to maintain the site and keep the memory of the 487th alive in the local community.
None of that required a website. But a website, we hope, will help more people find us — and find this story.
What you will find here
We have tried to build something genuinely useful. The history of the airfield and the 487th Bomb Group is told across several pages, including a Mission Log documenting the Group’s 185 combat missions. Details of the summer walks — including how to book — are here, as is information about FOLA, our Memorial Day service, and how to get in touch if you are researching a family member who served at Station 137.
There is more to come. We have plans for a gallery of historical and contemporary photographs, individual crew and aircraft profiles, and a growing archive of personal accounts and records. These take time to compile properly, and we would rather build them carefully than rush something onto the page that does not do justice to the men it commemorates.
So please do come back. The site will grow, and we will do our best to keep the blog updated with news from the airfield.
In the meantime — if you have not already booked a place on one of this summer’s walks, we would love to see you at the airfield. There is nothing quite like standing on the perimeter track and looking out across the landscape that those three thousand American men looked out across, more than eighty years ago.
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