Speaker A
For over a century, the legendary tales that have surrounded our great British airfields have inspired generations of people, including me.
Explore the history and legacy of Britain's iconic airfields, focusing on Duxford's role from WWI to WWII and its preservation as a museum.
Key Takeaways
- Duxford is a crucial site for understanding British aviation history from WWI through WWII.
- Preservation efforts by the Imperial War Museum have kept Duxford’s heritage alive for public education.
- Sir Douglas Bader’s story exemplifies resilience and leadership in wartime aviation.
- The Big Wing strategy was a significant morale booster and tactical innovation during the Battle of Britain.
- The airfield’s buildings and aircraft collections provide a tangible connection to aviation history.
What the video covers
- The video explores the historical significance of British airfields, focusing on Duxford Aerodrome.
- Duxford served as a key air base during both World Wars and was home to famous fighter aces and the US 8th Air Force.
- The site features well-preserved WWI hangars and buildings, including workshops and the officer's mess.
- The video highlights aircraft like the Royal Aircraft Factory B2C and the famous Spitfire.
- Sir Douglas Bader, a legendary WWII fighter ace who flew despite losing his legs, is a central figure connected to Duxford.
- The formation and impact of the Big Wing during the Battle of Britain are discussed.
- The Imperial War Museum took over Duxford in 1977, preserving its aviation heritage.
- The video also touches on the daily life of pilots and ground crew, including American forces stationed there.
- Technical details about aircraft maintenance and innovations like the Belfast Truss hangar design are explained.
- The video combines historical narrative with personal passion and on-site exploration.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to British Airfields and Duxford
- 02:17Duxford’s Role in WWII and US 8th Air Force
- 04:20Historic Hangars and WWI Architecture
- 06:00WWI Aircraft and Their Roles
- 07:44Belfast Truss Hangar Design
- 09:31Workshops and Fabric Shop Hazards
- 10:51Officer's Mess and Life of Fighter Pilots
- 13:49Sir Douglas Bader and the Battle of Britain
- 14:53The Big Wing and Air Combat Strategy
- 16:40Pilot Stories and Aircraft Maintenance
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Which is why I am on a personal mission to cross the UK to visit some of our most important airfields to understand not just about their contribution to our past, but importantly, how many of them have helped define our future.
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From the UK's first flight through to groundbreaking innovations such as carbon fiber and the jet engine and the extraordinary efforts spent on preserving our aviation heritage.
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Join me as I explore the story of the airfields that have helped shape Britain and the world.
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Dunkford Aerad Drrome is one of the best preserved airfields in Britain.
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With its historic buildings and hangers full to the brim with beautifully preserved aircraft, this is a place where history isn't just alive and kicking, it's flying.
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Abandoned in the early 1960s, Duxford was brought back to life in 1977 when the Imperial War Museum, known as the IWM, took control.
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It's now home to an impressive collection of aircraft, vehicles, weapons, and artifacts from different countries spanning over 100 years of history.
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Duxford is, of course, of huge historical significance in its own right.
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Throughout the Second World War, it was a key air base and was home not just to some of Britain's most famous fighter aces, but also to the US 8th Air Force.
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If, like me, you have a passion for planes, this is the place to come.
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Peter, very nice to see you.
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Yes. Good morning. Welcome to IWM Duxford.
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Peter, no trip to Duxford is ever wasted.
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I guess for many people they associate it with World War II, but its history is much older than that.
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Oh, yes. The, um, happily one of our claims to fame is that we're actually a superb preserved example of a First World War RAF station.
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The site is dominated by these enormous hangers.
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When do these date from?
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Yes, indeed. Construction of the three big surviving historic hangers actually began in October 1917.
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And one example you can see straight away adjacent to the hanger behind us is the First World War flight hut which was extended during the 1920s to incorporate the watch office.
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And what aircraft were those early squadrons that were based here equipped with?
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The three squadrons that were mobilized from here were equipped with Airco Avro DH6 and DH9 biplanes.
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But the main purpose of Duxford was as a training depot station.
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And we have four preserved examples of appropriate types on site here.
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And if you'd care to join me, I'd be delighted to show you a couple.
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I knew you'd have plenty.
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This is one of the four airplane types that the IWM has preserved which date from the First World War.
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This is a Royal Aircraft Factory B2C which were used on the Western Front for reconnaissance, artillery spotting, and light bombing.
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Now, unfortunately, it was such a stable airplane that it was actually, it turned out to be unsuitable for Western Front operations.
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Yeah. And it couldn't maneuver in the face of enemy fighters.
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So, it had to be withdrawn.
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It's an incredibly rare survivor, isn't it?
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But not to take away from the aircraft, Peter, the building we're in is absolutely beautiful.
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And of course, it's dominated by these incredible lattice beams.
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I suppose the lattice work construction is very impressive.
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It's very eye-catching.
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The design term is Belfast Truss.
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You can tell how durable it is simply because of the age of the buildings and the fact that the structure has survived some very stormy weather.
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The buildings here, these hangers are, I suppose, the jewel in Duxford's crown in many respects.
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But of course, it wasn't just about hangers.
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A huge array of ancillary buildings stretch out all around us.
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Can we go and take a closer look at some of those?
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Indeed. Yes. Let's go and have a look at some of the stores and workshops.
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So along the road behind us, the green buildings were First World War, um, clothing stores, technical stores of different types.
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And what's this one with 1918 written on it?
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Yes. What looks like a chimney, it's actually a fume extractor because this was one of the most important of the First World War workshops.
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It was the fabric shop where they did the doping because they had to have a way of getting the fumes away from the chaps and the girls working.
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Well, the dope workshop was an infamous place to be, wasn't it?
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The hazard was recognized at one of the counters, for example, was that the staff were given an extra milk ration.
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Yes. So, we're now approaching the front entrance to the officer's mess.
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It looks rather full-on there with all the leaves, but it must have been a very sumptuous building.
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Yes, indeed. They deliberately tried to make the accommodations and facilities as comfortable as possible and quite impressive.
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I can give you an illustration.
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This is actually a very poignant photograph.
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It shows one of the anterooms.
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So, you can see the windows.
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The windows are a real giveaway, aren't they?
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Yeah.
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And this is actually some of the station personnel, RAF and army liaison officers, listening to the declaration of war, the announcement over the radio by the prime minister.
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I mean, the life of a fighter pilot was one of great contrast, wasn't it, Peter?
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From being up there engaging the enemy to then landing and enjoying the relative comforts of a mess like this.
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Yeah, it was a very important morale factor.
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And I'm kind of rather moved by the fact that the greats kind of inhabited this building, the likes of Bard and others.
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Yes, indeed.
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And happily we can prove it as if you take a look at this photograph.
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Here's Sir Douglas as he later became with two of his fellow pilots here in 1940 during the period of the Battle of Britain.
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I think when you can place yourself in a moment in time like this with a photograph such as that one outside a building that has the pedigree and provenance that this one does at Duxford, it's quite moving, isn't it?
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Oh, very much so.
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Sir Douglas Bader was perhaps one of the most legendary of Britain's World War II fighter aces.
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Credited with 23 aerial victories, he joined the RAF in 1928, but famously lost his legs in a plane accident in 1931.
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Although able to fly with artificial legs, he was retired from the RAF against his will.
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Only with the onset of war in 1939 was he able to rejoin as a pilot.
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He convinced people at the Ministry that he should be allowed back into the RAF as a pilot, and he came back to fly successfully not just as a fighter pilot but as a very successful fighter pilot and as a squadron leader and then leading a whole group of different fighters from this station during the Battle of Britain in 1940.
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During the early stages of the Battle of Britain, Fighter Command was outnumbered in aerial combat.
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So to conquer this, the Big Wing was formed.
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It consisted of three to five squadrons made up of nearly 60 aircraft in diamond formations.
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It was thought the more fighters involved intercepting the enemy, the more aircraft they could destroy.
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Bader was a champion of this aggressive idea.
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On the 15th of September, when the Duxford Wing, or Big Wing as it became known, was involved in combat against the German formations twice on that day.
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What it did do was certainly persuade the Luftwaffe that the British Air Force wasn't defeated by any means.
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So if only from the morale point of view, Bader's Big Wing had a big impact on the Germans.
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So although Bader was the most famous character connected with Duxford, there were many other pilots here.
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Anytime between 60 to 80 pilots here.
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Anyone from Bader through to George Unwin to Brian Lane, who was the commanding officer of 19 Squadron.
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In a sense, the successful aces were the few of the few.
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But those are the guys with most of the shooting down of the enemy aircraft, but they're supported by other fighter pilots who up there maybe protecting their back in co-
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No wind. And this Yeah. Tell us a little more about this particular aircraft. It's quite a famous Spitfire. All Spitfires are famous, but this one was built in 1944 and actually flew at D-Day and it's got four victories to its
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credit. So, you're flying in quite an important airplane. In those days, of course, it was a single seater and uh it's converted after the war into a two-seater, which is good for you because I'm not sure you could go solo
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[laughter] on your first trip. It's my chance to finally do it. But how astonishing that this aircraft saw D-Day. It saw that great armada assembling off the Normandy beaches.
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Absolutely. Absolutely did. And indeed, it's painted in the colors that it was at that time uh in 1944. So, if I were to take to the skies in a Spitfire, this arguably is the one to do it.
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Absolutely. Well, Cliff, I've got you to fly me. We've got this incredible aircraft. We've got the most stunning blue sky above us. Should we get on and get up?
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Let's go and do it. I am too excited. Right. There you go. And lower myself down.
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Yep. All right. Okay. Elbow through there. And we'll do the same with the other side.
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Just pull those part and slide it over the head. Good stuff. Good stuff. Well done. Well done.
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See you at the other end. Yeah. Right. Well, I am strapped in. My parachute is on under my backside and we are about to get airborne. This really is a dream come true. A flight in a genuine World
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War II Spitfire. Let's go. What a wonderful noise. Yes. Isn't that a lovely noise? It's uh 27 L Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 series 1600 horsepower.
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Unbelievable. Oh god. Like stage. I was hugely inspired by the B and to see it from the air from a spitfire. Look at that.
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And of course, these aircraft would have been scrambled in seconds and then directed to the enemy by the incredible work of the ground controllers relying so heavily on radar.
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But imagine it, Cliff, taking off on a day like this when you can see almost nothing else in the sky but knowing the enemy, the bandits are out there somewhere. Absolutely.
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Many pilots talk of the aircraft being an extension of themselves. I can absolutely see what they feel like I have shrouded wings as cliff brings his in over the airfield at over 200 knots. There we go. And up into a
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climb back to the left and then the airfield above me. Oh, beautiful. Beautiful. There we are.
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Oh, the grace of this aircraft has to be felt to be believed. There we go.
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And we're done. Yes. Yes. Yes. Well, I've been coming to this airfield ever since I was a boy. I've watched the museum develop and grow. I never really thought I would ever get the chance to see it from the air or to see it from a
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Spitfire, but today really has been my lucky day. Cliff, thank you. Thank you very much indeed.
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Before operational bases like Duxford received their Spitfires, the pilots would need tuition. And this happened at training bases. But with most of the men at war, the role of maintaining the aircraft was left to the women's auxiliary air force. They weren't
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allowed to go into combat, but they did fulfill many ground crew roles from radar to engineering.
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The men had all been sent off to operational stations and the ones that weren't operational were getting short of mechanics. That's when they made the girls mechanics.
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When a pilot had done so many hours flying, operational flying, he was had to come and have a sort of break and a retrain.
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And that's when we looked after the aircraft and every time they flew, we did a quick inspection. Well, we changed the wheels and we did everything more or less the outside of the aircraft.
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Screwed things on and screwed things off and one thing and another. But when the pilot had to take it for a test flight and he had the engines going, two of us had to sit on the tail of the Spitfire
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because with the thrust of the props going round, it would have tipped up. So we used to sit on the tail until we turned into the runway. Then you jumped off. Well, one girl didn't jump off.
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She was lying across the tail and got airborne. And when the pilot wanted to bank or which is turned, he couldn't cuz his what they call the ailerons wouldn't work. So he had to get a emergency landing. And
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when he he got landed and this girl jumped off, the poor man was he was terrified. He thought he'd killed her. By July 1943, the Women's Auxiliary Air Force had swelled to around 182,000, serving in over 110 different trades.
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The Supermarine Spitfire wasn't the only star to be based at Duxford. In 1943, the Aer drone was assigned to the United States Army Air Force, the USAF, and it became known as station 357.
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Within a few weeks of the Americans moving in, Duxford became a showcase for the Eighth Air Force with plenty of famous visitors.
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Well, what better place to dive into the archive, Carl, than here at Duxford Cinema. This is incredible footage. When did the Americans arrive here?
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The Americans arrived here in April 1943. You can see on the footage there that this is shortly after they arrived when the the King and Queen visited. And they very quickly sort of made Duxford their home. You know, they very quickly
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changed the atmosphere, I suppose, changed the atmosphere of the whole region because you can't just clon 2,000 guys down in the middle of the Cambridge countryside for them to not have an effect.
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For many people, Duxford is synonymous with the Battle of Britain. And the American involvement here is perhaps a little bit unappreciated.
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That's right. And if you think about it in terms of the overall conduct of the war, Britain is on the defensive in 1940. Um, it's very much a defensive effort and Duxford is part of that defensive effort. Then when the
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Americans arrive that that very much signals that the war is going on the offensive and of course that's what they're there to do. They're there to take part in that strategic bombing offensive.
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But I suppose they bring with them a great sense of optimism. Britain's been at war for several years. It's feeling the strain and yet here come these new young, fit, fresh-faced boys who are keen to re-energize the fight.
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There's a lot in that. I think particularly Britain had been at war for quite a long time. It was a bit warw weary. It was a bit shabby. And you know these guys were coming over with an enormous amount of economic might. They
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could build 12,000 B7s, build the fighters. But they also clearly bring a real sense of glamour and exoticism to Cambridge.
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They brought a real sense of glamour of other worldliness. You know, it was called a friendly invasion. And there are two parts to that. Yes, it was friendly, but it I guess for a lot of people it did feel like an invasion
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because all of these people from a completely different culture were suddenly descending and having to mix and having to exchange their cultures in a quite a sort of intensive way, but also a tide of celebrities to go with it.
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Absolutely. So, um not only did many of them sound like film stars, some of them were actually film stars. So people like Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart, um, all doing their bit, you know, and then of course you had celebrities who were
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deliberately flown over to entertain the troops. So people like Bob Hope, people like Bing Crosby.
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But I'm reminded of that great phrase that emerged from the American invasion, if you will, of them being overpaid, over sexed, and over here.
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I think the one of the most interesting responses I I saw to that was an American who said that the Brits were underpaid, under sexed, and under Eisenhower. [laughter] Yes, of course.
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To pay tribute to the 30,000 American airmen who gave their lives flying from UK bases, the American Air Museum was opened at Duxford. It's home to an impressive array of American aircraft from World War II to modern day.
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This beautiful, purpose-built American hanger here at Duxford is packed with examples of the aircraft the Americans produced. That's a B7. Above me, the tail fin of a Marauder. up there, a C-47 Dakota. The whole thing is dominated by
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this enormous B-52, but it also contains examples of two of the aircraft that the USAF brought here in April 1943, the P-47 Thunderbolt and over there, the P-51 Mustang. And of course, with the planes came the pilots. One of these
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pilots was Huey Lamb of the 82nd Fighter Squadron. He amassed over 200 hours of combat flying, destroying five enemy aircraft in 61 missions.
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Originally from Texas, he found the British climate difficult to get used to. We'd been on the Queen Mary for a week or two, and I hadn't had a a freshwater shower, so I took a shower, and it was ice cold. And
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then after that, I never got warm while I was over here. It was chilly.
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When Lamb's 78th Fighter Group initially moved to Duxford, they brought with them the largest and heaviest fighter in history to be powered by a single engine, the P47 Thunderbolt.
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When fully loaded with its eight machine guns and bombs, the P47 weighed a staggering 8 tons.
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When we got over here, we had a different opinion of the P47. And the reason was that they used 100 octane gas here and when we were training, they use 80 octane. So, it made that much difference. It's just it's just amazing
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how much difference. And we really respected the ability of the P47. And we also had a very good high alitude airplane with a a big uh supercharger and a excellent lowaltitude airplane for strafing and ground work.
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In 1944, Lamb made history as only the third 78th Fighter Group pilot to down the world's first operational jet powered fighter, a German Meshmmit 262.
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The kill took place during one of many low-level strafing missions. And although they were effective in destroying enemy targets, they also made the attacking aircraft vulnerable from the ground.
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You know, it's hard to imagine, but most of the people that were in our outfit wanted the dangerous missions. January, February of 45, we got a new CO, Colonel Gray, and he went up to headquarters, and he said,
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"I'm going to get you guys some good missions." That meant get some action. And so, we got some good missions after that.
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In December 1944, the 82nd Fighter Squadron were fitted out with new fighters, the P-51 Mustang.
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Lamb flew two Mustangs, both named Eta Jane after his little sister. The first one, however, didn't survive the war. On his very first mission out, the aircraft suffered an engine fire, forcing him to ditch it into the freezing North Sea.
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I thought I was going to make it to the shore at Arford Nest. About 3 miles off there, you'll find Edene the First. It's about 100 ft down in the ocean there. My right wing stalled and caught a wave and
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it cartw wheeled and that saved me because if it if I'd have landed straight, there's a scoop underneath the P. It's the one that would have brought it straight down. And I was also fortunate that I had people that saw it
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go in. And then my wingman, his radio was out and I was bringing him back when this happened. And and he flew and saw a walrus taxing out and he landed, set the brakes and told him that he had a man down and
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he lead them to me. It was, you know, it didn't fly very fast and and he would circle and then head out and then circle and head out and then they landed and picked me up. I didn't know it, but they
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had six attempts to start their engine and it finally got it started. So, I've been lucky all along. You know, everybody needs luck.
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Today, Huey Lamb has returned to Duxford and the American Air Museum. He's here for the unveiling of a brand new museum exhibit. The reason I'm I'm here for this visit is they have restored a P-51 and put the markings identical to
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Edigene the second that the plane I flew in combat here. Everything just as it was and that's the reason I'm back here to see it.
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Well, naturally it makes me want to fly fly it period. By 1944, the United States Army Air Force had deployed some 450,000 Americans to Britain. And with only 7% of those being pilots, the majority were ground crew.
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The American invasion that had swept across Britain, filling the country with thousands of young men, brought with it the possibility for tension. And in a bit to try and iron it out, the American authorities issued their troops with
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this. Instructions for American servicemen in Britain, 1942. Now, the book is pretty simple, but its message was vitally important. And it begins with this. You're going to Great Britain as part of an Allied offensive to meet Hitler and beat him on his own ground.
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But for the time being, you will be Britain's guest. And it reminds the American that Britain may look a little shopwhorn and grimy to you. The British people are anxious to have you know that you're not seeing their country at its
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best. There's been a war on since 1939. But it's also quite amusing. I love this one. The British don't know how to make a good cup of coffee. You don't know how to make a good cup of tea. It's an even
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swap. And so it goes on. It is always impolite to criticize your hosts. It is militarily stupid to criticize your allies. And that was what it was all about. If the Allied cause could not be united at every level, it would never
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stand any chance of success. During the period of World War II, about 2 million Americans would pass through Britain. Many would be stationed in East Anglia where they became a common site, flooding the nearby towns during their time off.
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During the war, Cambridge was very much a social hub for the American GIS and airmen stationed around air bases in East Anglia. Behind me here we have the Bull Hotel as it was which was converted by the American Red Cross. The Red Cross
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clubs were really providing a home away from home for the Americans. They could read magazines and newspapers that had been shipped in from the United States.
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They listened to American music on the jukebox. And there was plenty of Coca-Cola, coffee, and donuts on hand to really make them feel at home. But the one thing the Red Cross clubs didn't have is alcohol. They weren't licensed.
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So the GIS would have to go to the local pubs if they wanted to get a drink. And in Cambridge, that meant a trip to the Eagle.
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Already popular with RAF air crews, the American servicemen continued the tradition of inscribing the numbers of their flight squadrons on the ceiling of the Eagle. Using lighters, candles, and lipstick, the Americans left their mark.
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But it was their personalities that left a stronger impression. When the Americans first arrived, there was a certain degree of suspicion about them coming from the British people. Um, often they felt that they didn't look like an army in the way that they
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expected them to. They didn't march uh quite as rigidly as the British men. Partly this was because the Brits only saw the Americans when they were off duty, you know, when they were out having a good time. And often there was
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this kind of idea that are these really the people who are going to save us?
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They don't seem up to the job. The British women for the most part came to really appreciate the Americans. They had a real allure. Partly this was because for British girls mostly they'd never seen an American in their life
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apart from at the cinema. So when the GIS came over they had this uh aura of Hollywood glamour attached to them.
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The first time I ever saw the Americans were the time when we, my friend and I, came out of the dance and we heard the wolf whistle and and wondered who are these people [music] in these uniforms.
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We had never seen them before. They were very handsome and nice manners and they smelled nice, too.
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They had lovely cologne on which our poor guys. I feel sorry for them because I had a brother in the the army. They weren't um able to get all this stuff.
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The Americans were advised not to brag too much to the local [music] people or not to swank as they called it at the time. But in fact, a lot of them did.
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One woman actually married an American guy [music] who had told her that he was in oil, but when she got over to the United States, it turned out that he was a gas pump attendant. The American salaries were more than five times that
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paid to British troops, making their generosity particularly attractive to women. Around 70,000 British women became GI brides and around 9,000 babies were born out of wedlock as a result of British American liaison.
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Um, [music] the first American that I knew and I I was so fond of him. And can I can I read this for you?
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If I can if I can get through it. It always makes me a little bit tearary, but never mind. He was 22 and I was 17.
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I thought he was lovely and he seemed very keen. But he was a bomber pilot.
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Didn't stand a chance. When singled out by fighters shot down over France that evening, as usual, I waited. His friend came instead. I sobbed as he told me. my lovely friend was dead. Since then, I've loved a dozen times, but first love so
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sincere. Remember him? Of course I do, especially this time of the year. So, that was the first time that anything like that really hit me. But it happened. You You'd have a date and your date wouldn't turn up and somebody else
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would say, "Oh, him. Oh, he didn't come back [music] from such and such." and you'd think I can't I can't be doing with this. [music] I just can't.
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Betty met a number of Americans and at a dance one particular GI took a liking to her.
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He would call me and we'd meet in London and dance again as you do at the Pal or wherever it was and have a lovely time.
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And then one day after the war had been over, he phoned me up and he said, "Would you would you marry me?" It was a bit of a shock. I hadn't thought about getting married. I must admit it wasn't
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something in my diary for the next day or week or month. Besides, I was still sort of still hankering after my soldier that had gone overseas.
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Anyway, not to worry. When the GIS left, they left a real void for many of the British people who'd grown used to them being around. They'd grown used to these cheery personalities, to their charm and their wit and their good manners. Um, and they
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really missed them. Just a month after the end of the war in October 1945, the Americans left Duxford and the base was returned to the RAF.
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But by 1961, Duxford was deemed too far south and too far inland to be of any strategic value and it [music] was abandoned.
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In 1977, the Imperial War Museum gave the site a new lease of life. The museum needed a bigger site outside of London to exhibit their larger displays and house their conservation workshops.
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These workshops are one of my favorite parts of the museum here at Duxford because their contents change year upon year, month upon month. You never quite know what you're going to find. Take this for example. This field gun is the
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field gun that fired the first British round during the First World War. They've just cleaned it up. This is the front end of a handley page Halifax and next to it a post-war Spanish-built Hankle. This one starred in the movie
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The Battle of Britain. But take a look over here. This is extraordinary. This is the fuselage of the Measesmith that Rudolph Hess was flying when he landed in Scotland and was captured. But of course, it's not just the old stuff they
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deal with here. You'd be surprised at some of the new material that's [music] coming through every day.
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This is perhaps my favorite part of the museum. You get to see all the jewels in the collection passing through here at some point, don't you?
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As well as preserving the aircraft and the vehicles that we work on. We're trying to preserve the skills so that we can maintain these objects as they should be maintained.
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Now, I can't help but notice Huey Lamb's Mustang sitting over there in half. What's going on over there?
Speaker A
Right. What's happening with this aircraft? We're going to be suspending it when we refurbish the American Air Museum next year. So on this aircraft, because there is a natural joint there, we've separated it. We're going to put in a fish plate reattached to the
Speaker A
empanage. So we just have a small loop protruding above the fuselage and then we can suspend it like that. And it's less intrusive than a lot of systems you'll see.
Speaker A
So what's the biggest project that's come through your hands here? The biggest project I personally dealt with is the B-52. We had to paint strip that aircraft completely, repair skin panels that had been corroded, left outside, and then repaint it.
Speaker A
That must be the biggest aircraft here. Surely it is the biggest aircraft we have in our collection. It's 185 ft wingspan. I believe it's about 165t long, about 50 foot high. So yes, it was a big big project.
Speaker A
You have had the chance in your time here to have in your care some of the real gems in the museum's collection.
Speaker A
What's your favorite item? My favorite item, I suppose really, if I had to push it, would be the engine we have over there from the Baron von Richtoven's triplane. As a child and a young boy at school, I was fascinated by
Speaker A
fight races in the First World War. So to actually touch that, handle it, and make decisions on its future is really quite something.
Speaker A
Let me just get this absolutely straight. You're telling me that over there is the Red Baron's engine from his Fauler triplane? Yeah. From his DR1 that he was shot at me. Yes.
Speaker A
You see, that's why I love this place, Chris. You never know what you're going to find. This is a place to me where history is so alive and so tangible. You can reach out and touch it. And you get
Speaker A
to do that on a daily basis. Yes. It's different. And there's so much variety. Any given day, I might be dealing with a First World War fighter.
Speaker A
I might be dealing with an SR71. I might be dealing with Baron von Retoven's engine. Could be anything. I don't know very often what's going to come across my desk on any given day.
Speaker A
How exciting is that? Well, thank you very much indeed. I can see that there's plenty of work going on here. Plenty more still to do before this aircraft is hung from the ceiling. But um next time we build an FX model, I'll think of you.
Speaker A
By preserving the vintage aircraft and the stories of the Aer Drrome, Duxford's vital role during World War II will never be forgotten.
Speaker A
As a kid, Duxford was the first airfield I ever visited, and nearly 40 years later, I'm still exploring it. The collections here are second to none.
Speaker A
This is a place where the story, not just of British aviation, but of world aviation, is so accessible and so tangible, you can virtually taste it.
Speaker A
The Duxford story itself has [music] inspired countless generations, both past and present, and I have absolutely no doubt that it'll continue to do so long into the future.
Topics:Duxford AerodromeBritish airfieldsWWI aviationWWII fighter acesImperial War MuseumSir Douglas BaderBattle of BritainBig Wingaviation heritagehistoric aircraft
