Our Museum's Different Buildings
Engine Room
The Engine Room was previously Hethel's gymnasium. Today, this room holds aircraft parts that have been found on the property, nearby fields, and local farms. Other highlights include a piece of a V-1 Rocket that landed nearby. Outside are two bomb wagons used to haul 500 lb bombs to the planes.
Chapel
Next door you will find the Hethel Chapel. The chapel was used for all denominations. Behind the altar you will see a crucifix that was painted in 1943 by Sgt. "Bud" Doyle, assistant to Father Beck. The Hethel Chapel organ was used at services from 1943-45 and has been returned to the chapel after standing for many years at Hethel's All Saints church. It was made by W. W. Putnam. The potbelly stove would have been a common sight in most buildings. You may also spot our "Honor Roll" book and the 389th Guidon.
Father Beck's Room
This room has recently been redesigned to focus on the RAF Forces who served in WWII.
The large display map in the center of the room depicts the size of RAF Hethel at its height.
You can find a map on the wall depicting location of all bases in England during the War.
Underneath the American and British flags you will find an original WWII-era painting of the European continent.
2LT Lloyd H. Hughes Nissen Hut
Following the path around the main building you will come to two Nissen Huts. The first building was named in honor of Pilot Second Lieutenant Lloyd H Hughes who was posthumously awarded a Medal of Honor for his valor on the Ploesti raid.
Hughes was born on July 12, 1921, in Alexandria, Louisiana, to Lloyd Sr. and Mildred Hughes. By 1923, however, his father was out of the picture, so his mother moved the two of them to Texas. She started working for the postal service, remarried and had four more sons. Hughes went to Refugio High School, where he was captain of his football and basketball teams. After graduation, he attended Texas A&M University, where he studied petroleum engineering and was a member of the Corps of Cadets. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in January 1942 and earned his commission as a second lieutenant in 1943. He served briefly at a few locations across the states before being sent to North Africa in June 1943 with the 564th Bombardment Squadron. He took part in four combat missions in Italy and Romania. On Aug. 1, 1943, Hughes was part of Operation Tidal Wave. Nearly 180 B-24 Liberator bombers were tasked with flying for 18 hours on a 2,400-mile roundtrip mission to Ploiesti, Romania. Their goal was to destroy one of the Nazi's largest oil refineries. The 22-year-old was piloting one of the B-24s flying at the tail end of the formation. Before Hughes' aircraft could reach the target, it had suffered heavy damage, including a ruptured gas tank which was sending fuel streaming from its bomb bay and left wing. While Hughes had time to make a forced landing, he pressed on. The plane emerged from the area, having successfully dropped bombs on its target, but its wing was on fire. Unfortunately, the aircraft was too damaged to be saved; it crashed and was consumed by flames. Of the aircraft's 10 crew members, Hughes and six others died immediately. An eighth died two days later, while the two remaining men were taken prisoner until the war’s end.
Anderson Shelter
Sandwiched between the two Nissen huts you will find an Anderson Shelter.
Designed in 1938 and named after Sir John Anderson, this type of air-raid shelter was designed for use in the garden. When covered with earth, the shelter would give some protection from shell fragments and bomb splinters although dampness was an ever present problem. Designed to accommodate up to six people the government supplied them free to low income families and later sold to others to wealthier people. 1.5 million Anderson shelters were distributed in the months immediately leading up to the outbreak of war. When production ended 3.6 million had been produced.
MSgt Earl Zimmerman Nissen Hut
Our last building to visit is the Zimmerman Nissen Hut.
Radio Operator Earl Zimmerman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross while serving with the 389th Bomb Group at Hethel. The young radio operator, who survived a mid-air collision over Seething airfield while preparing for a raid on the Romania oilfields at Ploesti, had joined the 389th Bomb Group in June 1943. While on his third mission, flying from Benghazi, Libya, their B-24 Liberator crashed in 'neutral' Turkey, where he was interned. He returned to Britain in January 1944, and married Norwich native June Courteney in 1945. After the war he was posted to Norwich for a five-year tour as an agent with the Office of Special Investigations. Their son was born in 1954 at the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital. Earl was a leading member of the 2nd Air Division Association, serving two terms as president and was treasurer at the time of his death. He and his wife returned frequently to Norfolk, where he took a keen interest in the restoration of the 389th's wartime chapel.
Be sure to stop inside to visit the FU-Bar Canteen and Gift Shop.
