Cambridge
has important historical connections with the United States. The
town and the surrounding area were the major source of early migration
to New England. The Massachusetts Bay Company was founded in Cambridge
and John Winthrop, the leader of the Great Migration, lived in nearby Groton.
Cambridge
faculty founded Harvard University which is still located in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. The historical connection was dramatically revived
during World War II. Cambridge is located within the region of England
called East Anglia, a flat landscape perfect for run-ways and air bases.
It was here that the Allied forces launched their air power to raid and
severely weaken the Germany stronghold on the Continent. Thousands
upon thousands of American air-men called East Anglia their home. There
is a sixteenth-century pub in Cambridge called "The Eagle" where the pilots
and crew would visit quite
frequently,
most notably the crew of The Memphis Belle. In one of the pub rooms
known as the Air Force Room, their legacy lives on with the names and flight
division of pilots burnt black on the ceiling with the flames of candles
and cigarette lighters. Within a few miles of Cambridge at Duxford,
the Imperial War Museum houses one of the finest collections of American
war planes, spit-fires, and bombers. Also, a five-minute drive from
Cambridge, stands the Cambridge American Cemetery covering thirty and a
half acres. It was constructed on the site of a temporary cemetery established
in 1944 on land donated by the University of Cambridge. After the
war, it was selected as the only World War II cemetery in the British Isles.
A high portion of those buried here were temporarily interred in
England and Northern Ireland and represent American servicemen and women
who served as crew members of British-based American aircraft. The
cemetery is situated on the north slope of a hill from which Ely Cathedral,
fourteen miles distant, which can be seen on clear days. The grave
area contains 3,812 headstones: Stars of David for those who professed
the Jewish faith and crosses for the others. It is a tremendously
moving experience and one which will never be forgotten.