The Glenn Berge building has an official naming ceremony

03/03/2023

 

Today, Friday 3^rd March, our Glenn Berge building received its official naming ceremony. The building was developed in partnership with Biomed and when it came to the naming convention, a group of WWII enthusiasts from the Campus suggested it would be a fitting tribute to name the new building after Lt. Glenn Berge.

So who was Lt. Berge and why would we put his name on a building?

Lt.Glenn Berge was a US airman from Minnesota, based at Bottisham Airfield, Cambridgeshire. On Sunday 5^th March 1944, Glenn was to fly an escort mission and took off with his squadron from Bottisham Airfield. Shortly after takeoff his propeller malfunctioned which led to him crash landing on Copley Farm next door to the Babraham Research Campus. He died on impact.

The building was completed in 2019 during the 75^th anniversary of D-Day and the name was chosen to reflect to remember all of those who served and sacrificed themselves in the pursuit of freedom.

We were delighted to welcome Col Tyler Berge (no relation, just a weird coincidence!) from RAF Mildenhall to say a few words about the life of Lt.Glenn Berge. Also on the stage was Tom Weaver, CEO Petmedix who reside in the Glenn Berge building. As a fellow American and self-confessed history geek, Tom was integral to researching the story of Lt Berge, as was Derek Jones, CEO of Babraham Research Campus Ltd.

We were also welcome by members from the Bottisham Museum, who bought along a WWII Jeep to really set the scene.