Inside the Swan Hotel and Resort

A functioning private bar which is part of the Swan Resort is of museum quality. The Airmen's Bar is named after servicemen of the 'Mighty Eighth' Air Force and in particular the 487 Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Force, stationed in Lavenham between 1944 and 1945.

A hotel with plentiful amounts of history which dons it's beams, and to commemorate some of the specific history of our Airmen's Bar and the role it played in World War II and The 'Friendly Invasion'. The 'Friendly Invasion' is the term which describes the arrival of servicemen from the United States to East Anglia. The Army Air Forces Station 137, which was located near Lavenham was the base for the 487 Bombardment Group. During this time, many of those with a home in Lavenham provided their spare room for a serviceman to stay during their time here. For many servicemen, what is known as the Airmen's Bar was there place of choice to frequent in their downtime. 

The bar includes a "Signature Wall; Boot Challege, and many pictures on the wall particulaty remembering two of the 487th Bomber Group Commanders, Frederick Caslte and Beirne Lay.

Among the many pictures on the walls of the Airmens Bar lies a picture and biography of both Lt. Col. Beirne Lay Jrr and Brigadier General Frederick Walker Castle. When the Eighth US Army Air Force was activated, at the time, Captain Lay and Captain Castle were part of the original cadre of six officers sent to England in 1942 to embed the unit within East Anglia for combat. This was the start of Operation Bolero - the 'Friendly Invasion'.

Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Lay was assigned to the 100th Bomb Group in August 1943 based at Thorpe Abbotts where he flew on the infamous Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission.  Lay returned to the United States in September 1943 to take command of his own group, the 487th Bombardment Group and they arrived at Lavenham Airfield on 11th April 1944. The following month Col.Lay flew on a mission to bomb the Chaumont marshalling yards in France. He was shot down and evaded capture for three months before being liberated by Gen. Patton's advancing army, and after returning briefly to Lavenham, went back to the United States. 

His exploits were with the 487th Bombardment Group were documented in his book 'I've Had It' later published as 'Presumed Dead'. Retiring from the Air Force in 1946, Lay returned to Hollywood where he was to co-write the novel and screenplay 'Twelve O'Clock High'. In 1949, the Academy Award winning film was released starring Hollywood great, Gregory Peck.  His portrait in the Airmen's Bar was unveiled by his niece, Libby Lay-Wilder to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the activation of the Eighth United States Air Force.

Frederick Castle was Commander of the Fourth Combat Wing of the Eighth US Army Air Force and a veteran of 29 missions. On Christmas Eve 1944, learning that the 487th Bomb Group were to lead the Eighth USAAF's largest mission of the war, he flew with a B-17 crew from RAF Lavenham. The aircraft was shot down and five of the crew of ten lived to tell the tale but General Castle did not. His actions that day, led to him being posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest ranking member of the Eighth USAAF to receive the medal.

Source of information and photos: https://theswanatlavenham.co.uk/discover/the-history-of-the-airmens-bar/