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You can forgive folks at Manchester airport for feeling nostalgic Wednesday morning as they celebrated the 25th anniversary of the most important event in its recent history: The 1998 arrival of Southwest Airlines.“That changed the dynamic overnight,”...
On July 15, 1942, a formation of six Lockheed P-38s and two B-17s from the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) were making their way across the northern Atlantic Ocean heading for Great Britain.[1] Using the call sign Tomcat Flight, the small P-38 fighters were escorted by the larger B-17 bombers that had a dedicated navigator and a radio operator on board shepherding their “little friends” on the long journey. While this area of the globe is known for its fickle weather, the summer months were generally considered the best time of year to transverse the expanse. However, on the third leg of the jo...
Historically Speaking: The interesting life of Valentine Mathes Tony McManus Here's a bit more about Valentine Mathes. In addition to being a co-founder of the Piscataqua Navigation Co. he was an important factor in the success of the Dover Navigation Co., an organization created in the late 1870s by some local bigwigs that led to several decades of profitable Cocheco River shipping activity and support for many of our community's commercial enterprises. In order to supply his coal business Mathes was responsible for regular shipments of product to the Dover waterfront. Back when Cocheco Str...
DURING WORLD WAR II Grenier Field in Manchester was a busy stopover facility for military aircraft bound for Europe, and it provided training for an estimated 50,000 airmen. During the course of the war the population of the base reached up to 6,000 servicemen. Many of the support functions at the base were carried out by African Americans. The first group of Black servicemen came to Grenier Field in December 1941, and in 1942 and afterward hundreds more arrived. The Army was segregated, so these men were billeted in an area that was separate from the barracks for the White soldiers. As Manch...