You never know where you’ll come across Grenier Air Base history. How about Eden Prairie, Minn.? That’s where Mr. John Quinlan, a total stranger to the Aviation Museum of N.H., recently purchased an edition of ‘The Beacon,’ the Grenier Base newspaper, at an estate auction. Published on July 24, 1943, it brings the now-vanished base (the site of today’s Manchester-Boston Regional Airport) instantly back to life, showing what a busy place it was while the nation was in the thick of fighting World War II.
Among the headlines: a two-day inspection visit from First Army Air Force Maj. Gen. Ralph Royce; the story of troops battling a stubborn forest at the Bombing Range on Joe English Hill in New Boston; the derailment of a passenger train carrying Grenier personnel in Nashua, N.H.; and an account of a U.S. fighter pilot colliding with a Japanese Zero in the South Pacific. We’re grateful to Mr. Quinlan for his offer to donate the newspaper to the Aviation Museum, and look forward to adding it to our collection.
If YOU have any Grenier Field memorabilia that’s been in your family since the days the base operated (1941 to 1966), please get in touch with us! Contact Leah Dearborn, author of ‘Grenier Air Base: Beacon on the Home Front’ (published in 2024 by the Aviation Museum) at ldearborn@nhahs.org or (603) 669-4877.
We’re actively collecting material for a second edition of the book in honor of the airfield’s 100th birthday in 2027. Any documents or artifacts from Grenier Air Base can help tell the story, as almost nothing was saved when the base buildings and infrastructure were demolished in the decades after the base closed.
Learn more about Grenier Air Base by visiting the Aviation Museum! We’re open Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. And unlike the Grenier barracks, we’re air-conditioned!