Tail End Charlie - Through the Thickets in Search of the Genius Loci

Places with a certain genius loci always appeal to a specific type of person — those attuned to a specific theme, event or memory. Such a genius loci stirs the mind of anyone who is even slightly prepared for it.

Places with a certain genius loci always

appeal to a specific type of person — those

attuned to a specific theme, event or memory.

Such a genius loci stirs the mind of anyone who

is even slightly prepared for it.

For example, I would hardly be moved by

a visit to an old house that looks quite ordinary

today, even though a significant step in the

development of the tradition of Ore Mountain

lace was taken there several centuries ago.

I do not diminish the value of such heritage,

and I have great respect for this art, but

I would hardly be moved by a visit. But I don’t

understand it at all. While others might hold

their breath in awe, unfortunately I remain

unmoved.

It’s different for me when it comes to those

lonely fields and hedgerows among the villages

in the East Anglian counties of Norfolk and

Suffolk, though. That’s where a history close

to my heart unfolded some eighty to ninety

years ago, and the genius loci of tiny hamlets

or entire regions of scattered farms manages

to catch my eye like a hare peeking out from

the hedgerows there.

This summer, I had the opportunity to visit

the area again, as my museum colleagues

and I installed a permanent exhibition at the

100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum in Thorpe

Abbotts about the unit’s mission to Ruhland -

an event that we, here in the heart of Europe,

refer to as the air battle over the Ore Mountains

on September 11, 1944. We spent several days

exploring the museum itself - housed in

a restored control tower and its surroundings

- as well as the base grounds during our trips

to Hoxne, where we stayed in a charming

17th-century cottage.

We have visited Thorpe Abbotts many times

and some of us even consider it our second

home. The charm of the place is also due to

the people connected to it. With each visit —

the first of which took place 30 years ago

— we get to know the area better. On several

occasions, accompanied by Ron Batley, the

museum’s curator and trustee, we have visited

the base area where the various ‚sites‘ were

located – the overseas homes of the flight

and ground crews, support units and all the

technical, administrative and operational

facilities. Eighty years ago, the home of a US

Army Air Force bomber group in England was

essentially a small town with several thousand

Nissen hut at Communal Site 6 in the southernmost part of the base.

The same building in August 2026. Entering such buildings today is not only prohibited but also dangerous.

April 1945 – Maj. Gale W. “Buck” Cleven (later one of the main characters in the TV series *Masters of the Air*)

speaks with members of his former squadron after escaping from German captivity. The building

in the background is the 350th BS Operations Room.

THROUGH THE THICKETS IN SEARCH

OF THE GENIUS LOCI

Text: Jan Zdiarský

INFO Eduard

107

September 2026