Site 7 - Air Raid Shelter and Baseball Pitch

You are now standing at Site 7, where you can see the air raid shelter and the former baseball pitch. While the RAF likely used this area as a football field, the American crews formed their own station baseball team and often practiced right here.

The 381st team regularly flew by B‑17 to other USAAF bases around the country to compete in a wider baseball league. But the team was constantly affected by events in the skies over Europe, as many of the players were also combat crew members.

Baseball mattered here. For many of the young Americans at Ridgewell, stepping onto this rough little field was a way to feel close to home again. The crack of a bat, the easy teasing between teammates, the familiar rhythm of practice — all of it offered a few precious minutes when war felt far away. Even a modest minor‑league player was a star on a wartime base, and the game gave the men something ordinary and comforting to hold onto.

Martin Matyas was a young combat crew officer of the 381st Bomb Group. Before the war, he had been a talented baseball pitcher, playing in the American minor leagues. At Ridgewell, he practiced on this very field night after night, hoping to join the station’s baseball team.

He was due to start playing when tragedy struck. On 23 April 1945—just two weeks before the end of the war in Europe—Martin was killed in the crash of B‑17 Dottie Jean on North Barrule, Isle of Man. His loss was felt deeply across the base. His story is a reminder that even ordinary hopes and talents were shaped by the realities of war, and that behind every name was a life interrupted.