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My Father was a Radio Operator / Gunner in a B-17 during World War II. He was stationed at an airbase in the town of Podington, England. As with most of the Air Bases, it was closed shortly after the war and the buildings and land used for other purposes.
The exception here is that one of the landing strips was converted into a drag racing strip. It is now the Santa Pod Raceway. Visiting Podington was a priority for this trip.
Visiting this area on 9/11 added a bit more meaning to it. I have to admit, I felt a bit emotional seeing where my very young father risked his life for our country.
This was my dad, 20 or 21 years old. Just a baby really
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My dad was front row, 2nd from the left. 
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My dad was front row, 2nd from the left. Looking a bit more serious in this pic. I suspect this was after a few missions. 
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In 2003 my dad and I flew in a B-17. He was offered any space in the plane (other than the pilot's seat). He chose his old familiar one next to the radio. 
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30 Missions, he flew over Germany on each one, although in some cases the targets were not in Germany. 
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Dad was in the 8th Air Force, 92nd Bomb Group, 407th Squadron. Ally Oop was the caricature used on their patches. There were a number of different ones. The Pterodactyl was used, along with the phrase "Higher, Stronger, Faster" by the 92nd Bomb Group. 
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Podington
92nd Bomb Group was known as "Fame's Favored Few". The group tail code was a "Triangle B". My dad's squadron would have had PY on the side of the aircraft along with a B in a triangle on the tail.
Anyway, I went to the Imperial War Museum in Duxford because I knew that they had saved a bit of wall art from the air field. This was what I found. I had to stand on a chair to even see this. I was, to say the least, disappointed. They move planes around a lot, and I don't think this is a common situation, but they have an air show coming up, and a lot of these planes will be flying in the show. 
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I found a staff member outside, and told him my tale. He was more than happy to bring me behind the ropes and let me photograph the mural. This had been painted by an airman stationed there. It was in pretty bad shape before being rescued in 1988. 
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Back to Podington, I found the monument to "Fames Favored Few". 
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This house used to be the control tower. There are not a lot of buildings left, and all are being used for other purposes. 
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One of the landing strips was turned into this drag strip. 
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I knew there was another monument somewhere, but I could not find it. I asked a guy at the racetrack, and he said they had erected one in 2013 next to the starting point of the drag strip. It was erected by the racetrack, including CEO Keith Bartlett. The guy found a vehicle and let me follow him out to the location on my bike. Very gracious. He also showed me a pic of his friend's drag bike, which was named after one of the B-17's, and has the Triangle B painted on it. England really takes our sacrifices to the war effort seriously. 
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The town of Podington has not changed much since my dad was first there. He did visit the town again, maybe 15 or 20 years ago or so. 
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I don't know what kind of memorial there is there, as the church was closed when I was there. 
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Well, maybe the town hasn't changed much for a lot longer. Many of the buildings had dates in the early 1700's, but being listed in the Domesday Book means it may not have changed much for a lot longer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book although when I first read it, I thought it said the DOOMSday book.
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