 Transporting Past Times
- 6 April
2006
A leading Colchester shipping company has been enlisted
to transport valuable World War II records from Boxted
to a museum in the USA.
Wallis Shipping, based on the Severall’s business
park, has been contracted to move the documents from
Boxted to Heathrow and then by air to Savannah, Georgia,
where they will be displayed at the ‘Mighty Eighth’ Air
Force Museum.
The records, which are valued at an estimated quarter
to half a million US dollars, were produced by the
late Roger Freeman, a farmer and aircraft enthusiast
from Dedham who lived near Boxted airfield during WWII.
As a youngster, Mr Freeman’s passion for planes
led him to keep detailed records of the movements of
the US Eighth Air Force, which he later developed into
a series of ‘Mighty Eighth’ books and he
became the world’s leading authority on this
American unit.
 Stuart
Gregory, Managing Director of Wallis Shipping, said: “This
is an unusual and unique cargo, and although valued
at $250,000-500,000, it is a priceless
collection of letters and notes that has been described
by Mr Freeman’s friend and research partner Ian
McTaggart as the ‘Doomsday Book of the Eighth
Air Force’.
Mr McTaggart knows Wallis through previous business
dealings and approached them for this important shipment
as he knew they would understand the historical significance
of the cargo.
Mr Gregory continued: “When Roger Freeman sadly
died in October last year, it was his wish that the
records go to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in
Savannah; it is therefore an honour to ship these documents,
which are one of the best and last surviving records
of East Anglia’s wartime history.”
Steve Collins, who organised the shipment at Wallis,
added: “We have never shipped anything quite
like this before and we have made sure to package these
valuable documents very carefully. It is fascinating
to think that more than 2,000 American air force men
were based on what is now a mixture of farmland and
residential land. The airfield even stretched as far
as Severall’s business park where our offices
are based.”
Wallis Shipping Services
Ltd
Established in 1987, specialists in international
freight and logistics management, Wallis was one of
the first companies in the UK to provide a truly effective
link between international buyers and sellers. Wallis
has achieved considerable growth whilst innovating new
solutions for the complex modern supply chain.
Wallis offers tailor-made shipping and
freight management solutions, including forwarding,
customs documentation, warehousing, training and consultancy.
Wallis' unique outsourcing service provides clients
maximum flexibility, speed and cost-efficiency in the
handling of all types of freight and logistics projects.
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