These are photos of the new display signs at the Natrona County International Airport, memorializing the airports' early role as an Army Air Corps air base While the early role of the facility as a B-17 and B-24 training base are still evident, in some ways, these photos serve to also demonstrate how much the facility has changed.
Display, with stunt aircraft painted in British World War Two colors, in the modern terminal.
Sign on location of the old parade ground.
Flag pole base of parade ground.
Parade ground.
Sign commemorating one of the original hangers, which is still standing.
This particular hanger, near the sign, is now owned by an air racer, and it also hosts a private museum.
The crash station, which I think at least partially retains its original use.
Contemporary tower, probably not the original.
Original hanger.
Hanger row, with new and old hangers.
View of what had been barracks.
What had been the base hospital.
I should note here that there is also a museum at the airport, in one of the old buildings, that's been featured here previously.
Looking for any photos of the 211th Base Unit, Corporal Edward Boczar, or of the B24J Liberator 44-95545 (before/or/after the Oct. 17, 1944 crash. Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind, I'll cross post your query on our This Day In Wyoming's History and Lex Anteinternet blogs, both of which get a fair amount of traffic.
ReplyDeleteAlso, have you tired the on line archive for Wyoming's newspapers. If not, you may want to. This was likely covered by the Casper papers, which will be on line for the surrounding dates.
Is this the aircraft that crashed in Mills, Bates Hole, or on Casper Mountain?
My mother Betty Howard grew up in Casper and gradated from NCHS, during the war she and her girlfriend's would go out to the airbases and go to the Officers clubs and NCO club to dance with the pilots in training. Her Boy Friend a Marine came home on leave, they got married and that stopped her going to the NCO club at the airbase. My father Robert Sherrard retuned to the Pacific for the invasion of Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa. He returned after the war in 1946 to Casper and the rest is history. There is a great museum there. I am researching about a B-17 that crashed near Edgerton, Wyoming into a field and it was buried onsite in a ravine. The mayor of Edgerton knows the approximate location of the crash and I piece of the plane is in the museum in Midwest
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