Tours Take Off for Masters of The Air

Tours developed by Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides and Bury St Edmunds Guildhall in a joint partnership to tie in with the Apple TV Series Masters of The Air have proved so popular more dates are being added.

The 'Masters of The Air' tours scheduled over four months have been sold out so the Guides have added additional dates, one of them coinciding with Father’s Day, an ideal present for the ‘difficult to buy for man’.

With the final episode about to drop this Friday (March 15), Apple TV’s Masters of the Air series tells the true story of the WWII bomber boys of the American Eighth Air Force 8th Air Force, known as the Mighty Eighth. They were part of the Friendly Invasion when over 350,000 United States Army Airforce (USAAF) personnel were based at purpose built airbases across the East of England.

More than 3,000 GIs were stationed at Bury St Edmunds, now Rougham Control Tower Aviation Museum which tells the story of the 94th Bomb Group.

The 'Masters of The Air' walking part of the tour explores the changed use of buildings, peoples’ views and how the influx of Americans during the Friendly Invasion was handled.

A visit to the Royal Observer Corps Operations Room at Bury St Edmunds Guildhall is included - an opportunity to learn discover how a volunteer force plotted the planes in the skies saving thousands of lives.

The Tours are part of a wider national tourism campaign by the town's official tourism brand Bury St Edmunds and Beyond to showcase the town's links to this important period of history.

Marketing Officer, John Saunders said, “While some on the tours have been attracted by the TV series, many people want to find out what happened in Bury St Edmunds during World War II and we are able to show them how the use of key buildings changed and how we coped with the arrival of American troops, this being the Country’s biggest invasion since the Norman Conquest

"We are delighted at the excellent online reviews of the tour which reflect the comments of local people, Americans and visitors to the town.”

The tours have also catered for private group bookings including senior members of the 100th Air Refueling Wing from USAF Mildenhall who found it very informative with some really interesting history that they were not aware of.”

John added:“This is probably the busiest that the Guides have been. We are almost at the end of the ghostly and macabre season and have already achieved record bookings for those.

Daily Town Tours Start in April

The Guides will be starting their 11am daily tours of the Abbey and town commence on 1 April. These latest successes come on top of a season of ghostly and macabre tours which have achieved a record number of bookings, with a 25% increase from last year.

Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides have been shortlisted for the 2024 Tourism Superstar award with the winners decided by public vote via Visit England’s website. Voting will continue until midnight on 24th March with the winner announced on the final day.

To book any of the tours visit the Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides website.