Camp Griffiss was a US military base in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Constructed within the grounds of

Bushy Park Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, (now in the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, it served as the European Headquarters for the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

from July 1942 to December 1944. From here

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

planned the

D-Day invasion The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. Most of the camp's huts had been removed by the early 1960s, and a memorial tablet now stands on the site.

Location

Camp Griffiss was at a

Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...

end of

, east of the axial road.

History

From 1942, Camp Griffiss in Bushy Park became the site of a large US base, headquarters to a number of the Allied departments. The camp served as the European Headquarters for the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

from July 1942 to December 1944. General Dwight Eisenhower was averse to working in the centre of London during World War II. He decided instead to make Bushy Park the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allied forces in north west Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the commander in SHAEF th ...

(SHAEF) centre for planning

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

, the code name for the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

invasion of north-west Europe that began with the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

landings. The base was named after Lieutenant Colonel

Townsend Griffiss Lt. Colonel Townsend E. Griffiss (April 4, 1900 – February 15, 1942) was a United States Army Air Forces aviator, the first American airman killed in Europe following the United States' entry into World War II. Early life Griffiss was born in B ...

. Griffiss had been aide to Major General James E. Chaney, and was killed in a friendly fire incident when the aircraft in which he was a passenger was mistakenly shot down by

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF) Polish fliers. He was the first US airman to die in the line of duty in Europe since the US entered World War II. It was a common belief amongst those stationed at the camp that the US base was originally intended to be at

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow re ...

in Hertfordshire and was built in Bushy Park due to an error.

Post-war

When the Forces left, for several years after, homeless families, referred to as

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

, moved into the empty huts, making use of the vacant facilities, toilet blocks, water stand pipes etc. Most of the camp's huts were removed by 1963. Near the Teddington end of the park, not far from Chestnut Avenue, are two memorials: A circular USAAF Memorial tablet on a raised pentagonal block within a five-pointed brick star within a small five-sided enclosure. File:USAAF through trees.jpg, USAAF memorial File:USAAF 5 sides.jpg, The USAAF memorial has a low five sided fence around it File:USAAF and deer, Bushy Park.jpeg, The area has been returned to the deer File:USAAF tablet, Bushy Park.jpeg, The tablet, erected by the RAF File:Plaque USAAF European HQ.jpg, Plaque in Bushy Park marking the

European HQ The former site of Eisenhower's office is laid out in brick, with a memorial to SHAEF and a flagpole. File:Eisenhower and dead tree.jpg, The site of Eisenhower's office is marked in brick with a flagpole File:SHAEF, Bushy Park.jpg, SHAEF memorial on the site of Eisenhower's tent File:SHAEF plaque, Bushy park.jpg, SHAEF plaque File:SHAEF and USAAF.jpg, SHAEF memorial in foreground with USAAF memorial among the trees Some American Forces had also been billeted at Upper Lodge in Bushy Park. When they departed they left a concrete obelisk with this inscription: 5 C D, TEXAS, 1942.twickenham-museum.org
Retrieved 5 January 2010

References

External links

*
Photographs of memorials relating to Camp Griffiss
*Mulvey, Stephen (14 February 2012)
Townsend Griffiss, forgotten hero of World War II
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

''. Retrieved 6 August 2021. {{coord, 51.4194, -0.3291, type:landmark_region:GB-RIC, display=title 1942 establishments in England 1944 disestablishments in England Bushy Park Closed installations of the United States Army Installations of the United States Air Force in the United Kingdom Military history of London Military history of Middlesex Military installations closed in the 1940s Military installations of the United States in the United Kingdom Operation Overlord