My late grandfather served with the 8th Army Airforce during World War 2.  Between 1943-1945 he was based at Mount Farm in Dorchester, Oxfordshire, England.  I think that he was with the 7th photo reconnaisance group.  I have recently been going through some of his old papers and have found some photos from around the base and the mess of him with his friends.  Some of their names are E.R. Dees Jnr from Oklahoma, Duke McConnell from Texas, Dan Sullivan from Montana, Ambress Dickey from Texas, Clayton Crocket from NJ, Vincent D'Amoto, Chester Leidtke from So Dakota and Eugene Peach from Texas.  I believe they were all mess personnel.  Most of them have Colorado on their t-shirts.  My grandfather's name was Freeman Marshall from Oklahoma.  I am interested to know if there are any books or online resources where I might be able to find out more about that period of time in England - on the base.  Any help would be appreciated.
thanks,
Lucy
 

Hello Lucy. Heres a couple of links to websites about the 7th Photo Recon and Mount Farm
 
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/gallery.php?Group=7prg
 
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3897/is_200307/ai_n9283641/pg_1
 
http://www.visionwebsites.co.uk/Contents/Text/Index.asp?SiteId=272&SiteExtra=14303760&TopNavId=587&NavSideId=2906 
 
You might also try to find a copy of the following book :
       Eyes of the Eighth: A Story of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, 1942-1945. Patricia Fussell Keen. Sun City, AZ: CAVU Publishers, 1996.
 

SHAEF1944 American Veterans Museum

Lucy,

The 7thPhotoGrp was originally formed in the U.S. at Peterson Field,
Colorado. This probably explains the stenciling on their t-shirts.

Good luck with your search.
Bob

Lucy,
 
My grandfather was also with the 8th army air corps, 7th photo reconnaissance, 14th squadron at Mount Farm, 1942-1945. His name was Philip J. Breen from Trumbull, CT. I don't have any of his papers and photos on hand, so I don't remember the names of the people he served with. He was a photo laboratory technician. I wonder if he knew your grandfather! We do not have many photos of him from the wartime period (I think he was always the guy behind the camera instead of in front of it), so I am hoping to find some websites where pictures are posted of personnel from this unit. I am hoping he'll show up somewhere ... if you happen to stumble across any interesting websites, please let me know.
 
~ Amanda McNally

MY FATHER WAS STATIONED AT MOUNTFARM, HE WAS STAFF SERGEANT
EUGENE ZIENTKIEWICZ, RADIO OPERATOR  13TH PHOTO RECON GROUP,
HE CAME FROM MILLWAUKEE WI, FROM OXFORD WHERE I WAS BORN,
THE SQD WENT TO LILLE IN FRANCE IN AUGUST 1944, ANY INFO, OR PHOTOS I WOULD BE GRATEFULL.

HI MY NAME IS JOHN, I AM THE SON OF USAAF AIRMAN
BASED HERE IN ENGLAND WW11,INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE ABOUT HIS TIME.

HI LUCY MY FATHER WAS BASED AT MT/FARM, OVER HERE IN ENGLAND, A BOOK YOU MAY TRY TO GET IS CALLED
(NOW IT CAN BE TOLD) ITS A LTD 500 COPIES, I'M LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE  A SIGNED ONE,YOU CAN TRY THE 7TH PHOTO GRP ASSOCIATION PHOENIX AZ 85016  TELEPHONE
602 274 5871. ITS GOT PICTURES AND ALL MANNER OF INFO, ALL THE BEST JOHN GENE,

HI MY NAME IS JOHN, I AM THE SON OF USAAF AIRMAN
BASED HERE IN ENGLAND WW11,INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE ABOUT HIS TIME.

HI LUCY FURTHER TO E/MAIL I SENT EARLIER, I LOOKED THROUGH BOOK
I TOLD YOU ABOUT,(NOW IT CAN BE TOLD) AND FOUND PICTURE OF
SGT PHILLIP J BREEN WITH MATES AT MNT/FARM.