When America Came to Essex
Welcome to Essex’s WWII Heritage
A Place Where America Once Found a Second Home
Essex holds a remarkable chapter of history that connects Britain and the United States in a deeply human way. Essex, like Virgina Beach has a deep connection to our miliary services, we are proud to remember the US service personnel who lived and worked across Essex as we stood should to shoulder against the tyranny sweeping across Europe in the 1940s.
For US visitors especially those from Virginia, Essex is more than a story, It’s a place where your fellow countrymen once lived, worked, fought, and forged friendships that shaped a generation.
In the spring of 1944, Essex transformed almost overnight. As Allied forces prepared for D‑Day, thousands of American airmen arrived across the county, by May of 1944, more than 43,000 American servicemen called Essex home. Quiet villages became U.S Air Force Communities. Local pubs filled with young Americans eager to experience English ale, Jeeps rattled down narrow country lane and overhead, the skies roared with the engines of Mustangs, Thunderbolts, Liberators, Flying Fortresses, and Marauders.
In all, there were over Sixteen U.S. airfields operating across Essex, including: Boxted, Wormingford, Earls Colne, Debden, Andrewsfield, Great Dunmow, Rivenhall, Gosfield, Little Walden, Ridgewell, Birch, Wethersfield, Boreham, Shortgrove Park, Stansted.
The England That America Loves
By late 1944, friendships between U.S. airmen and locals were strong enough to inspire a beautiful wartime exhibition at Colchester Castle “The England That America Loves”. Created collaboratively by American and British staff, it displayed the English scenes that had captured the hearts of American servicemen during their time here.
Personal Stories
A Welcoming Place of Refuge
One of the most vivid accounts of wartime Essex comes from E. J. Rudsdale, a Colchester Museum curator whose work placed him at the heart of U.S. presence in the county. His diaries are preserved at the Essex Record Office and describe the rapid building of airfields, the meeting of cultures, and the everyday encounters between locals and American troops.
He also recorded the experiences of African American servicemen stationed across Essex who worked as drivers, builders, and supply personnel. Despite the U.S. military’s segregation rules, the people of Essex welcomed their new American friends with Rudsale’s dairies documenting how Colchester cafés quietly welcomed both Black and white troops into the same spaces.
The Essex Record Office is situated in the centre of the City of Chelmsford and as well as Rudales’s dairies holds images and recorded memories of US military personal and local people during the war years.
In Their Own Words
The Essex Records Office holds copies of the diaries and all histories of both local people and American service personnel living in Essex during the war years records.
Kindertransport
A Place For All
Harwich a town in the north of the county of Essex, holds one of Essex’s most moving WWII connections.
Between 1938–1939, over 10,000 of Jewish children fleeing Nazi persecution arrived safely in Britain through the port of Harwich after travelling from mainland Europe. From Harwich, many children travelled onward by train from to London Liverpool Street Station, from there they found new foster homes across the UK.
Today a sculpture depicting the children stands in the town of Harwich with sister sculptures in London Liverpool Street station to commemorate their courageous journeys and as a tribute to the children who arrived with nothing but suitcases and hope.
A Safe Haven
In 2022 a series of sculptures were unveiled depicting the children who were rescued through the Kindertransport network. Safe Haven, by sculptor Ian Wolter can be visited on the quayside in the town of Harwich.
Essex Record Office, Chelmsford
Explore WWII diaries, airfield archives, photographs, and even trace family histories of U.S. personnel.
Markshall Estate
Walk the grounds where U.S. fighter and bomber groups were based. Today it’s a peaceful arboretum with a memorial garden.
Boxted Airfield Museum
A treasure trove of stories, aircraft items, and tributes to the American 56th Fighter Group.
The Gardens of Easton Lodge
Once used as an airfield during WWII. Today its gardens and memorial tree walk honour the nations who served here. Find out more.
Walk in Their Footsteps
Whether you’re tracing family roots, exploring military heritage, or simply seeking a deeper connection to the past, Essex is a place where your heritage is waiting for you to explore.
Come And Explore Essex
Walk where your ancestors walked.
Taste what makes this place special.
Feel the connection that has tied our communities together for centuries.
Virginia, welcome to Essex, welcome home.