Targets of the Thunderbolts of Millville

The Millville Airport was dedicated "America's First Defense Airport" on August 2, 1941 by local, state, and federal officials. In less than a year, construction of military base facilities began, and in January 1943, the Millville Army Air Field opened as a gunnery school for fighter pilots. Gunnery training began with Curtiss P-40F "Warhawk" aircraft, but after a few weeks, the P-40s were gone, and the Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt" ruled the skies over Cumberland County.
--History of Millville Army Airfield, www.p47millville.org¹

I've been aware of the history of the Millville Army Airfield for many years (even volunteered there a few times...something I really need to get back to!) and recently I wanted to learn more about the airfield operations in the wartime years, so I've been reading Images of Aviation: Millville Army Air Field - America's First Defense Airport. If you've never seen the Images of Aviation or Images of America series of books, they are collections of photos, typically 50/60+ years old that focus on specific airports or towns, respectively, documenting the important locations and people from "the old days." They're an amazing insight into any location they document. So while reading through the Millville book it keeps referencing the young pilots being trained in gunnery skills and ground attack flight techniques. It then occurred to me: if they're practicing shooting in the P-47's then there must have been targets built somewhere near the airfield. The book makes only one reference:

The gunnery ranges, strewn across fields to the south of the base beyond Buckshutem Road, which runs across the bottom of the map, are not represented here.²

A quick Google session led me to a site about one of the Lost Towns of Southern New Jersey, a little area called Baileytown. I could go into the history of the area but I believe in giving credit and attention to the people who have already done the work of assembling specific histories so if you'd like to read the story of Baileytown you can click here to visit the website I found³. A page on this site displays several maps showing former homes and farms before the land was acquire, but one War Department map was of the entire gunning range. This was a good starting point for my curiosity.

I then thought of one of my hobbies, geocaching, which is essentially a high-tech "hide and seek" where people hide items/containers out in the world and post GPS coordinates that give you a location to search for the items. In the past I've found many geocaches hidden near interesting ruins in the woods so I looked up any possible listings in this now forested area. I was happy to see about a dozen listed. So I programmed them into my handheld GPS and yesterday I went for a hike.

A good deal of this forest is swampland and what wasn't swampland was otherwise wet from rain the night before, so I didn't cover as much ground as I had planned and questionable weather also kept my time out there shorter than I would have liked. Instead of describing what I found, how about I just show you?

 I apologize that the first image posted to this blog includes my face, but oh well I have to live with it and now so do you!








There were six bunkers in a row out there. All were built at ground level and I assume covered with earth after they were constructed because I think they'd be in worse shape if they had been exposed to the elements all these years.

The bunkers were about 150 feet apart and there was something like a long, narrow hill connecting each to the next in line.

The structures were approximately 10 feet by 10 feet inside and I was pretty amazed at how well the concrete is holding up. There was hardly any noticeable damage and only one instance of graffiti out of the six bunkers. It's for that reason that I'm still reluctant to post exactly where I found these. It is very rare that something this old gets to survive in this state without massive damage or vandalism, so I might share if anyone asks me directly about how to find them but it's just a "maybe" at this point.

Shortly after visiting the sixth bunker the wind picked up steadily, the temperature dropped noticeably, and very light very scattered showers began so I took that as a cue to call it a day. But I will be back to hopefully find more!


On my way home I stopped by the Millville municipal building which I regard as one of the best looking government buildings in existence. Well....at least on this side!

 

I wish I could buy a print of this mural. It is absolutely beautiful!

 

 

A wonderful monument to the men who trained and sadly lost their lives while in Millville preparing to fight for their country. More people should see this, more people should know these names. Take a moment and read those names. You may forget them but at least for one brief moment you will have thought about them. 

To quote The Doctor... "People fall out of the world sometimes, but they always leave traces, little things you can't quite account for: faces in photographs; luggage; half-eaten meals; rings. Nothing is ever forgotten, not completely, and if something can be remembered, it can come back." 

 Citiations

1. "Millville Army Airfield," http://www.p47millville.org/P47-Millville.cfm?p=MAAF-Home

2.  John J. Galluzzo, Millville Army Air Field: America's First Defense Airport (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2011), 36.

3.http://www.baileytown-nj.com/world_war_ii.htm