As a Suffolk photographer I am always interested in what is going on in my local area and community. I was therefore thrilled to be asked to photograph the unveiling of the ‘Flight of Peace’ sculpture erected on one of the roundabouts on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds.
Suffolk has a long association with both the UK and American airforces. The ‘Flight of Peace’ sculpture is both a symbolic remembrance and the commemoration of the American servicemen based at a local airfield at Rougham during the Second World War and who flew B17 Flying Fortress Bombers in raids over Europe.
The tail fin insignia of the B17s provided easy identification of the base location of each aircraft. Those based at Rougham had a square background to the insignia with the letter ‘A’ in the centre of the square. The sculpture captures this insignia as well as incorporating a dove of peace in its design. It was officially unveiled in front of schoolchildren from the nearby primary school, US airmen and Bury St Edmunds residents. The roundabout was also landscaped and planted to represent the USA’s emblem of a five pointed white star in a blue circle.
A flypast by a DHC-1 Chipmunk and the release of white doves added to the excitement and kept the various photographers on their toes.
All images © Carol Street
Flight of Peace sculpture
Dove of peace
In celebration of the new sculpture, the Imperial War Museum in Duxford then ran a series of free workshops inviting participants to help build a large scale (1/8th size) model of a B-29 Super Fortress plane. In the two sessions that I photographed, again for Bury in Bloom, both children and adults had a blast and I now have a new party piece with which to impress my friends and neighbours. All I need is a very large Airfix kit and a couple of strong mates to help with the assembly.
Here are a few images from one of the workshop days:
The beginning …
Adding the wheels …
Securing the fuselage …
The finished article