This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II opening he RAF Museum on 15 November 1972.
Today's Adopt An Artefact selected for our 50th anniversary is of remarkable footage recorded by one of the Museum’s curators in 1972. The film documents the official opening of the RAF Museum London (RAF Hendon) by Her Majesty the Queen, on this date in 1972.
Upon her arrival, Her Majesty signed the Guest Book and unveiled the Commemorative plaque that remains the foyer of Hangar 3.
To learn more about this artefact and to adopt it, please visit our website at: http://bit.ly/3EcDayt
This artefact is part of our digital collection and was chosen by our Curator of Film and Sound, Ewan Burnett.
This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II opening he RAF Museum on 15 November 1972.
To commemorate this anniversary we are now offering this extraordinary chance to adopt our Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I, for our 50th anniversary.
Now the sole surviving intact example of its type, originally set aside for preservation in September 1944! It was unpacked in 1960 and spent many years on display at the RAF Museum London (then Hendon). The Defiant now resides at our Midlands site, which is a fitting home for an aircraft manufactured in Wolverhampton.
Introduced as a new tactical concept, the Defiant was an innovative two-seat RAF fighter design by concentrating all armament in a four-gun turret. it proved no match for the Luftwaffe’s more manoeuvrable, single-seat Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters during the Battle of Britain. It was quickly withdrawn from daylight operations and moved to a night-fighter role.
Manufactured in Wolverhampton, the Museum’s Defiant N1671 served as a night-fighter with No. 307 Polish Squadron in the final months of the Battle. Truly an opportunity for an aviation history enthusiast!
Adopt it now by visiting our website at: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/support-us/adopt-an-artefact/boulton-paul-defiant_i/
If you're looking for something to do with the children, this October Half Term might we make a little suggestion?
We're open daily from 10.00am and admission to our Hangars and Galleries are free of charge - each one filled with amazing aircraft and stories of amazing people. For further information, please visit our website https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london
Massive congratulations to Flt Lt Frances Dawson (Frankie) who successfully completed the TCS London Marathon yesterday in 5 hours 09 minutes and 49 seconds, running for the Museum. 🥳🥳👏👏👏
On behalf of everyone at the Museum thank you for your efforts in raising £1,210 - particularly after stepping up the challenge with only six weeks notice, after our original runner became injured.
We know it wasn't, but you made it look easy and it was brilliant to see how much you enjoyed the experience. Once again thank you.
If you would also like to thank Frankie by helping her reach her goal of raising £2,000 for the Museum, there is still time to make a donation at: https://tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/frances-dawson
Royal Air Force Chief of Air Staff’s tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Her Majesty The Queen and offer our heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family at this moment. Her Majesty formally opened the Royal Air Force Museum in November 1972 and continued to be a source of inspiration and support.
Our sadness at this time is shared the world over, as we remember with affection and gratitude the service given by Her Majesty to the country and Commonwealth.
Floral tributes may be laid and Books of Condolence have been opened in the Sunderland Hall in London and the Visitor Centre at Midlands. The Books will be available to sign until 19 September.
After taking care of family and friends, will you consider leaving a gift in your Will to us? Every gift, small or large, helps keep the Royal Air Force Museum flying.
Thanks to our partnership with Remember a Charity, we are now able to offer our supporters a free Will writing service through Bequeathed for Remember a Charity Week.
Find out more here: http://ow.ly/nNCQ50KA14S #RememberACharityWeek
This August Bank Holiday weekend we will be opening up our London site, again, to those wishing to participate in the 2022 Spitfire 10K. This will take place on Saturday 27 August.
In this video, Martin Peagam explains that when he learnt he was able to run under the Museum's Sunderland Flying Boat, an aircraft type that his father served on during his time in the RAF, he decided to take part in his father's memory.
Register now and run in the memory of an RAF Serviceman.
All participants will receive a Roll of Honour Card detailing the life and service of a Battle of Britain Veteran, plus hints and tips on how to learn more about this pivotal moment in the RAF's and our country's history, as well as our much coveted Spitfire 10K medal. Charges apply.
For further information, please visit: https://bit.ly/3ksA1RD
Friends and family can show their support by cheering on loved ones at the start and finish line, or even take part in one of the shorter family races. Suitable for participants of all ages, the Spitfire Family Dash is a gentle 1km route where families can walk, run, hop, skip or jump their way to the finish line. Or for a timed challenge, take part in the 2km Spitfire Family Run, where the fastest in each age group will receive a prize. Upon completion of both races, participants will be rewarded with a unique medal, designed by the winner of a medal design competition run earlier this year. https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/whats-going-on/events/spitfire-family-run-and-spitfire-family-dash-london/
If you want to get your hands on a medal but can’t make it to the Museum for race day, why not sign up for the Virtual Spitfire 10K and join runners from across the UK and overseas. The virtual race launches on the bank holiday weekend and runners have until Battle of Britain day on the 15 September, to complete the 10K distance. Find out more online at: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/whats-going-on/events/virtual-spitfire-10k-2022-2/
Join David Irwin and the rest of the Historic Aero Engines Team this weekend at our London site to hear the mighty roar and witness the awesome power of a Merlin Engine.
Demonstrations will take place on Saturday and Sunday at 10.30am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 4.30pm.
Admission is free. Pre-book your entry at: https://bit.ly/3zQDcLd
A month today we run our 2022 Spitfire 10K at our Historic Hendon site on 27 August. In this video, Holly Taylor explains why her and her family decided to take part in the Spitfire 10K and congratulates her father on gaining the fastest time of the group.
Register now and run in the memory of an RAF Serviceman.
All participants will receive a Roll of Honour Card detailing the life and service of a Battle of Britain Veteran, plus hints and tips on how to learn more about this pivotal moment in the RAF's and our country's history, as well as our much coveted Spitfire 10K medal.
Charges apply.
For further information, please visit: https://bit.ly/3ksA1RD
#ObjectOfTheDay : A fascinating film from our Film Archives showing ground plus air-to-air shots of No. 601 Squadron equipped with de Havilland DH9A aircraft.
No. 601 (County of London) Squadron was formed in 1926 and flew DH9As until 1930. It was a reserve squadron, formed by wealthy aristocrats, earning it the nickname 'the Millionaires Squadron'. They were based at RAF Hendon, which now form the grounds of the current RAF Museum London. They were based in a now-lost 1918 hangar destroyed by fire during the Second World War.
An authentic 1918 #DH9A is on display in Hangar 1 at our London site. https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/collections/de-havilland-9a/
You can find out more about No. 601 Squadron via our Digital Trail https://rafm.tours/601-trail
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Places are still available for John Wilson's British Sign Language tour of the Battle of Britain exhibition at our London site.
This free event is in British Sign Language only with no voice-over or captions and will take place on Saturday 9 July at 3.00pm.
Where: Battle of Britain Exhibition in H3,4,5
This tour is free of charge.
Please reserve your place now at: https://bit.ly/388lo35
This tour is for adults and older children (13+) – we would not recommend it for younger children.
This tour was previously scheduled for 25 June, Armed Forces Day, but has been rescheduled due to the planned national train strike on this date.
Join John Wilson for a British Sign Language tour of the Battle of Britain exhibition at our London site.
This free event is in British Sign Language only with no voice-over or captions and will take place on Thursday 26 May and Saturday 25 June at 3.00pm. Where: Battle of Britain Exhibition in H3,4,5
This tour is free of charge.
Please reserve your place now at: https://bit.ly/388lo35
This tour is for adults and older children (13+) – we would not recommend it for younger children.
It may be a couple of Bank Holiday weekends away, but this August Bank Holiday we will be opening up our London site, again, to those wishing to participate in the 2022 Spitfire 10K. This will take place on Saturday 27 August.
In this video, Martin Peagam explains that when he learnt he was able to run under the Museum's Sunderland Flying Boat, an aircraft type that his father served on during his time in the RAF, he decided to take part in his father's memory.
Register now and run in the memory of an RAF Serviceman.
All participants will receive a Roll of Honour Card detailing the life and service of a Battle of Britain Veteran, plus hints and tips on how to learn more about this pivotal moment in the RAF's and our country's history, as well as our much coveted Spitfire 10K medal. Charges apply.
For further information, please visit: https://bit.ly/3ksA1RD
On 20 November, last year, we held a very special free one day workshop, 'Freedom Fighters - Diverse Identities in the RAF'.
In it, we explored the lives of the African, Caribbean, South Asian and Irish volunteers who proudly served in the RAF despite many of these individuals being opposed to British rule in their home countries.
Speakers included Sunday Times best-selling author Shrabani Basu and Dr Joseph Quinn, a specialist on Britain and Ireland during the Second World War.
As well as exploring the diverse nature of those who served in the RAF the panel also critically examined the motivations of those who fought in the RAF.
The event was moderated by Dr Harry Raffal, who stated: “Freedom Fighters took place within the context of the rapidly evolving debate about Britain’s imperial past, with the issues of slavery, the growth of nationalism and the cultural legacy of empire under close examination. The event was timely as it came shortly before landmark anniversaries in the histories of Indian, Caribbean and Irish independence.”
Three volunteers were considered in detail: Noor Inayat Khan from India; Errol Walton Barrow from Barbados; and Irishman Robert Gregory. Speakers examined their individual motives for joining up, their treatment by British colleagues, and how they reconciled military service to the Crown with their political beliefs. These individual experiences were also set into wider context by two papers considering the experiences of Indian personnel and refugees and émigrés in the RAF during the Second World War.
Our Panel were:
Sunday Times best-selling author Shrabani Basu will speak about Indian SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan GC, executed at Dachau concentration camp on 13 September 1944.
Dr Joseph Quinn will deliver a paper entitled ‘”Nor law, nor duty bade me fight”: Irish volunteers in the RAF, 1918-1945’
Dr Harry Raffal (RAF Museum Historian) will discuss ‘No Foreign Sky: émigrés, refugees and volunteers in RAF
Our current London art exhibition ‘In Air and Fire: War Artists, the Battle of Britain and the Blitz’ will be closing its doors to the public on 27 February.
In this short film art historian and novelist Dr Alicia Foster discusses women war artists, their struggle for recognition and the subjects they depicted.
Only around 10 percent of war artists whose works were commissioned or selectively purchased by Sir Kenneth Clark’s War Artists’ Advisory Committee were women.
Our exhibition seeks to address this with half of the display devoted to women’s war art – works acquired for the nation by the WAAC, as well as produced independently and privately. Such artists include Dame Laura Knight, Doris Zinkeisen, Eve Kirk, Olga Lehmann, Elva Blacker, Rachel Reckitt and Mary Viola Paterson. Interview by Curator Julia Beaumont-Jones.
To see works featured in the exhibition why not consult our Collections Online here: https://collections.rafmuseum.org.uk/
Mum, Dad - it's February Half-Term! Why not visit the RAF Museum London? There's loads for your little ones to see and do, and admission to our galleries and hangars is free. Pre-book your timed entry tickets now at: http://ow.ly/Kf2550HTL3T Get ready for take-off!
Car parking available on-site, charges apply for this and some experiences.
Our current London art exhibition ‘In Air and Fire: War Artists, the Battle of Britain and the Blitz’ will be closing its doors to the public on 27 February.
In this video artist Stephen Mumberson, Associate Professor of Painting and Printmaking, Middlesex University, discusses the compositional approach of the ink drawing ‘Filter Room’ (1944) by artist Elva Blacker (1908- 84), who after her studies at the Slade School of Fine Art (1936-39) served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force as an Aircraftswoman at RAF Biggin Hill.
In it Stephen discusses Blacker’s convention of making small portrait drawings of individual sitters which she then combined into multi-figure compositions of activities – such as in the filter room where data was gathered by WAAFs from the Observer Corps and radar stations and passed to Fighter Command.
Admission to this exhibition is free of charge and is available as part of your general admission to our London site. You can pre-book your free ticket now at: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london
You may also view the works on display remotely by consulting Collections online at: https://collections.rafmuseum.org.uk/
2022's Vulcan Challenge is now open. Take part in this Challenge and get moving to keep us flying! Choose your distance and soar your way to 100km, 250km or 500 km.
You now have until 14 April to complete the Challenge and be rewarded with a bespoke medal featuring the iconic aircraft. And if you’re completing the challenge with your furry four-legged friend, there’s even a pet tag medal for them too.
Whether your New Year’s resolution is to be more active, or you’re feeling the need to walk off the Christmas calories, this virtual race can be completed anywhere in the world, at a time and pace to suit you.
So you could achieve your selected distance through daily walks with the dog, cycling to work, weekend hikes, rowing your distance in the gym or even by having a quick dip in your local swimming pool - or it could even be a combination of them all.
To redeem the exclusive Vulcan Challenge medal, participants simply need to record their 100km, 250km or 500km distance in the downloadable logbook and submit their total at the end of the Challenge. Medals will be posted to participants after the challenge closes on 14 April.
Entry costs £20 per person and all proceeds will go towards supporting the RAF Museum charity (registered charity number 244708) to enable the Museum to continue sharing the story of the RAF and the thousands of service men and women who served in it.
To find out more and to take part please visit: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/virtual-events/the-vulcan-challenge/enter-the-vulcan-challenge/
Get moving to keep us flying! 🏃🛩️
There's only one day to go to the start of the Vulcan Challenge 2022! You will have 3 months, as the Challenge closes on the 14 April.
🏃♀️ https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/virtual-events/the-vulcan-challenge/🏃
Choose your distance and soar your way to 100km, 250km or 500km. You will have 3 months to complete the challenge. @niceworkrun
For more information about how to enter the Challenge click the link above. By entering the Vulcan Challenge, you are supporting the RAF Museum Charity and enabling us to share the stories of those who crewed and flew Vulcans.
Get moving to keep us flying! 🏃🛩️
It's 5 more days before the start of the Vulcan Challenge 2022! You will have 3 months, as the Challenge closes on the 14 April.
🏃♀️ https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/virtual-events/the-vulcan-challenge/ 🏃
Choose your distance and soar your way to 100km, 250km or 500km. Whether you decide to run, walk, cycle or swim your way to the virtual finish line we will be there to cheer you on. The best thing is, its virtual so you can take part anywhere in the world. Nice Work
For more information about how to enter the Challenge click the link above. You can purchase your entry to the Challenge on 14 January, so get the date in your diary and get ready to go. By entering the Vulcan Challenge, you are supporting the RAF Museum Charity and enabling us to share the stories of those who crewed and flew Vulcans.
Get moving to keep us flying! Only 10 more days before the start of the Vulcan Challenge 2022! Choose to complete 100km, 250km or 500km and fly your way to the virtual finish line. You will have 3 months to complete the challenge, it will close on the 14 April 2022.
The Royal Air Force Museum, London is now closed for the Christmas Holidays. We will be open again from 10.00am at both of our London and Cosford sites from 27 December, closing again for the day on 1 January 2022.
From all the team at the Museum, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas.
With just over a week to go to the big day we thought that now would be the appropriate time to send out this year's electronic Christmas card to all our Facebook Followers.
We would like to offer you Season’s Greetings from all the team at the Museum and take the opportunity to also wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
May your Holiday Season be filled with love, laughter and memories that will be fondly cherished in the years to come.
Thank you for your support over the last 12 months, we hope that we may either have the pleasure of welcoming back to the Museum in the next 12 months or reading your comments to our posts.
With best wishes from everyone at the Museum.
From tomorrow and throughout the Festive Season you will be able to hitch a ride on Santa's Sleigh courtesy of our 4D Theatre.
“Sleigh Ride 4D” takes you to Christmas Eve where Santa is making last minute preparations for the big night.
But when disaster hits, it only leaves a stuffy reindeer and a well-meaning but clumsy elf to take the reins. Will this unlikely duo be able to save Christmas by putting their differences aside?
Find out by taking a making a magical journey across a starry Christmas-tide sky.
The price is £5 for a single ticket : £16 for a family ticket ( any combination of 4 people, but children must be accompanied by an adult)
Sleigh Ride 4D is suitable for all.
Pre-book your ticket to secure your Santa's Sleigh Ride Experience at: https://royalairforcemuseum.digitickets.co.uk/event-tickets/33593?branches.branchID=2042
