‘Behind the Enigma. The Authorised History of GCHQ, Britain’s Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency’ tells the first-ever authorised history of Britain's secret cyber-intelligence agency GCHQ, Government Communications Headquarters. Famed for its codebreaking achievements during the Second World War, and essential to the Allied victory, GCHQ also held a critical role in both the Falklands War and Cold War.
Crack the code and be one of the lucky 10 who will win a free copy of this book. What's more we will be providing a 20% discount code for 100 runner ups.
To see the puzzle and enter our competition, please visit our website: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/competition.aspx Hurry as tomorrow is the last day of the competition!Bloomsbury Books
Warrant Officer Balbir S Flora MBE and Squadron Leader Amir Khan came to the RAF Museum to make a special donation.
'Bali' has served in the RAF for over 37 years. For most of these years he wore the light blue turban but, as these got dirty rather quickly, he requested a change of colour. In 2006, the dark blue turban design was accepted.
They presented the RAF Museum with three turbans:
1. RAF light blue colour turban (pre 2006) with RAF metal badge
2. RAF dark blue colour turban (post 2006) with RAF cloth No 1 hat badge (post 1996)
3. RAF dark blue colour turban with RAF WO No 1 hat badge
Sikhs have been serving since 1917, the days of the Royal Flying Corps. As such, we are thrilled to add the missing headdress to our collection.
The RAF Museum is wishing you a Diwali that brings happiness prosperity and joy to you and all your family!
Museum calls for personal Acts of Remembrance
The Royal Air Force Museum is inviting the public to remember service personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice during their tours of duty, by contributing a personal act of remembrance, either a poem, short story, or by designing a poppy, that will feature in a virtual display at both RAF Museum London and Cosford over the remembrance period.
Write a poem or short story about remembrance and share it with RAF Museum audiences. All the entries received will feature in a digital display within the Museum’s hangars in London and Cosford, and the two best entries will be incorporated into the services being held at the Museum on Remembrance Sunday.
For further details on how to assist us, please visit:
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/…/raf-museum-calls-for-person…/
On the evening of Thursday 17 September, a week ago today (24 September), the RAF Museum London held a small, private ceremonial event commemorating Battle of Britain 80 and the opening of the new Battle of Britain display and art exhibition.
The ceremony featured a QCS Sunset Ceremony and a flypast by a BBMF Spitfire. To conclude the evening RAF veteran Lawrence 'Benny' Goodman was presented with an early birthday present ahead of his 100th birthday today by RAF Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston CBE ADC and the Chelsea Football Club Foundation.
It is difficult to think of any aspect of life which hasn’t been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Since we first went into lockdown in March familiar routines of home, work, school and social life have been disrupted. Some will have found the experience traumatic, others will have been inspired by a sense of togetherness. Some will have had to cope with the personal tragedy of losing friends and relatives. But all of us have had to make changes.
The RAF has approached the pandemic with the pragmatism and dedication to duty you would expect. Over the next few days we will be highlighting some of their stories via our RAF Stories website: https://www.rafstories.org/feature/fighting-the-pandemic
Today is the final day for entries in The Battle of Britain Bake. Over the past two weeks, lots of you have been getting creative in the kitchen with your Battle of Britain inspired cakes and cookies, and sharing those designs with us. Here are just a few of the entries we have received so far.
It's not too late to take part, you have until the end of today to enter and winners will be announced on Sunday 20 September.
Winners from 3 age categories (Under 10s, 10-18 years and Over 18s) will receive an £80 prize bundle from the RAF Museum Shop and Royal Air Force Youth Engagement Team are providing RAF goody bags for six runners up!
For more details on how to enter visit our website: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/virtual-events/the-battle-of-britain-bake.aspx
Good luck and happy baking!
#BoBBake #battleofbritain #BattleOfBritain80
Thank you to everyone who has shared with us photos of their Battle of Britain inspired cakes and cookies, we have received some brilliant entries so far!
Entries for the Battle of Britain Bake are open until 15 September, winners will receive an £80 prize bundle from the RAF Museum Shop and Royal Air Force Youth Engagement Team are providing RAF goody bags for six runners up!
For more details on how to enter visit our website: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/virtual-events/the-battle-of-britain-bake.aspx
Good luck and happy baking!
#BoBBake #battleofbritain #BattleOfBritain80
The Untold Battle of Britain
#TheNationalArchives, the #RAF and the RAF Museum will release a collaborative bonus episode of On the Record at The National Archives to mark Battle of Britain Day on 15 September.
80 years on from the conflict, this episode focuses on lesser-known figures from the Battle of Britain to highlight the variety of people who contributed to the military campaign.
Vicky Iglikowski-Broad (The National Archives) reveals the bravery of three women who kept contact lines open while their airbase was under fire.
Lucia Walbank (RAF Museum) tells the story of Mohinder Singh Pujji and Vincent Bunting, two of the many pilots from overseas who enlisted to fight, while Mandy Singleton (RAF) highlights the engineers who maintained the planes and kept pilots safe.
In anticipation of the podcast's launch, today we have released a trailer below:
Once the podcast is made live in full, on 15 September, we will post a link to it on this page.
The RAF Rugby 7s team continue their attempt to run 80k in a single day, while other runners participate in Day 1 of the #VirtualSpitfire10k. The team are running from Biggin Hill to the RAF Museum in a single day. To show your support please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/raf7s-bob
Sqn Ldr Tim Barlow MBE, Executive Director and Head Coach of the RAF Spitfires Rugby 7s team is currently working for the RAF out in Oman. While 6 members of the team will be completing an 80K run around London this Saturday (tomorrow) to commemorate the Battle of Britain's 80th anniversary and raising money for the RAF Museum, Tim has set himself his own challenge.
He is currently in quarantine due to Covid-19, so will be completing sets of 80 stair climbs in his accommodation, in some very challenging temperatures.
‘It’s great be part of the RAF and the Spitfires 7s team today to recognise the efforts and sacrifices made by our RAF heros in World War 2, in particular the legendary ‘Few’. Five years ago, for the 75th anniversary, I organised a bike ride around Battle of Britain sites in Kent - 360 miles on Brompton Bikes. In March last year I organised a cycle ride back from The Great Escape Camp in Poland for the 75th anniversary of the iconic escape. It’s brilliant to be involved in events for the 80th this year, thank you for letting us join you!’
If you would like to support the RAF Rugby 7’s please visit their JustGiving page http://www.justgiving.com/RAF7s-BOB
#BoB80 #BattleOfBritain80 #Covid19 #Cornavirus
Our Virtual Spitfire 10K takes place from the 29 August – 15 September, to mark 80 years since the Battle of Britain. While thousands of runners will attempt to complete the 10 kilometre distance to commemorate the 80th anniversary and those RAF personnel who fought for their country, members of the RAF Rugby 7s Team, the Spitfires, are pushing it just a little bit further.
They’ve set out to run 80 kilometre in less than 12 hours on the 29 August to raise funds for the Museum.
Starting at Biggin Hill they will finish at the RAF Museum London passing four poignant locations on their way; The Cenotaph, Bomber Command Memorial, RAF Uxbridge Bunker and RAF Northolt.
Below we introduce Wing Commander Nick “Monners” Monnahan who is currently based at RAF High Wycmombe. A Puma Pilot by trade Nick is “Long retired from Rugby 7’s, however vanity keeps me hitting fitness training where I can and an unexplainable love for endurance events keeps me young - would like my bike for this one though!”
Follow Nick's and his other team-mates progress by visiting the RAF Rugby 7s page at : https://www.facebook.com/rafrugby7s
If you would like to sponsor the Spitfires in their efforts they have now set up a fundraising page at : https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/raf7s-bob
To find out more about the Virtual Spitfire 10K, visit our website at https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/virtual-events/virtual-challenge-the-spitfire-10k.aspx
On 29 August members of the @RAFRugby7s team, The Spitfires, will run 80k from Biggin Hill to our London site in support of our
Virtual #Spitfire10K as part of our #BattleOfBritain80 commemorations. Please support them by making a donation at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/raf7s-bob #BoB80
We're reopening on Monday 6 July
The RAF Museum is opening on Monday 6 July and promises to be a safe and great day out for the whole family. Please check out our video for details of how to pre-book your arrival time, and find out more about the new safety measures we have in place.
Entry to the Museum is FREE.
Click here to book your visit: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/
RAF Museum opening on Monday 6 July
The RAF Museum is opening on Monday 6 July and promises to be a safe and great day out for the whole family. Please check out our video for details of how to pre-book your arrival time, and find out more about the new safety measures we have in place.
Entry to the Museum is FREE.
Click here to book your visit: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/
RAF Museum Armed Forces Day Message
Today, on Armed Forces Day 2020, we would like to share a special message from Maggie Appleton, Chief Executive of the RAF Museum, along with colleagues, volunteers and friends from the London Borough of Barnet and Cosford Military Wives Choir. We join together to say thank you to all those who have served and are currently serving, across all three armed forces.
Thank you.
RAF Museum 2019 Air Show activities
Today should have been the 2020 RAF Cosford Air Show (Official), but instead we are taking a look back at some of the highlights from the RAF Museum's activities at the 2019 Air Show.
We supported the show with a collection of our aircraft joining the static display line-up, including a rare reconnaissance Spitfire.
The Supermarine Spitfire Photo Reconnaissance PR. XIX PM651 was the centre of a Museum display in the Air Show’s popular Vintage Village which transports visitors back to the 1940s. Visitors to the Museum’s stand, themed ‘Summer of Spitfire’, were amongst the first to get up close to the last of the specialised photo reconnaissance Spitfires, for a view inside the cockpit.
The much more modern PR. XIX has a number of stark differences to the Mk1 on display in the Museum's War in the Air hangar at Cosford, fitted with the Griffon engine as opposed to the Merlin engine used in earlier models and was notably faster than its predecessor. The PR. XIX had extra fuel tanks in place of the machine guns, a retractable tail wheel making its profile more streamlined, and a pressurised cabin critical for the high-altitude reconnaissance flights.
Other Museum aircraft displayed at the 2019 Air Show included the Gloster Gladiator 1, Harrier GR3, de Havilland Devon, Percival Provost T1 and the Hunting Percival Pembroke C1.
In addition to aircraft displays, Our Access and Learning team delivered hands-on family fun to thousands of visitors in the Whittle Innovation Hub, including rocket car activities during free drop-in sessions, just one of the many STEM themed activities running throughout the day.
RAF Museum Trustee Nick Sanders and Museum Ambassador Robin Southwell completed a gruelling 101 mile walk at the RAF Cosford Air Show in 2019, joined by our CEO Maggie Appleton on the final leg. Nick and Robin led the march of over 100 miles to raise money for a bespoke outdoor children’s playground at the Museum site in Cosford, due to be installed later t
Every Sunday during lockdown have been focusing on women who served in the RAF or left their mark on the history of aviation.
As this week is all about Spitfires, today is the perfect moment to highlight that many women flew Spitfires during the Second World War. They served with the Air Transport Auxiliary; their job was to ferry RAF aircraft from factories and maintenance to units to the operational squadrons. This was a very important task as it freed up pilots to focus on the combat missions. They delivered more than 309,000 aircraft of 147 types, including all types of fighter aircraft, but also large bombers such as the Avro Lancaster.
One of these women was the enigmatic Jackie Moggridge. In 1940, at the age of only 18, she was recruited into the ATA. Beside ferrying aircraft, ATA pilots sometimes were called on to transporting passengers. Jackie’s daughter Candida was recently interviewed by the RAF Museum and she shared with us a story about her mother: ‘The weather was terrible and they were flying through this awful weather. And when they landed the commandant of the airfield came over and asked, “How was the flight?” And the chap who'd been given a lift said “well, it was just dreadful weather, and I can't believe not only was I flying back here by a woman but she was reading a book!”’ To this Jackie replied ‘”Oh no, I wasn't reading a novel, these are my ATA notes, I hadn't flown this type of plane before.” He nearly threw up. But this is what it was really like, they hadn't flown that plane before. They were just told that's what you're flying next.’
After the war she joined the RAF Voluntary Reserves. Jackie was given her RAF wings in August 1953. Together with Jean Bird, Benedetta Willis, Freydis Leaf and Joan Hughes, she was one of the first five women to be awarded their wings. The next didn't gain wings until Julie Ann Gibson in 1991 and we will tell her story this evening.
Candida shared a very moving and inspiring story with us from her ch
RAF Museum aircraft sneak peek
Can you guess which aircraft from the RAF Museum collection (London or Cosford) this is? Keep a look out on Facebook later this week when we reveal the answer.
Flight Lieutenant Roger Wilkins and his Hawker Hunter FGA9
In our next video we share the personal recollections of one of our hidden heroes, the late Flight Lieutenant Roger Wilkins, who was a long-standing RAF Museum Volunteer and the pilot of the Hawker Hunter FGA9 which is located in Hangar 3 at the RAF Museum London.
In this short video Roger recalls paired take-offs, dog fights and the effects of G-Force whilst flying the Hunter during his time in Aden, serving with No. 43 Squadron, RAF in the early 1960s.
The Hunter was the first high-speed jet fighter with radar and fully-powered flying controls to go into widespread service with the Royal Air Force. It was one of the most successful of the British post-war jet fighters; it became the Royal Air Force's standard single-seat fighter, replacing Meteor, Sabre and Venom aircraft. In 1958 the Royal Air Force held a competition to find a suitable type to replace its Middle East-based Venom ground attack fighters. Hawkers won with a proposal for a modified Hunter F6, this new version was designated FGA9 to show its new role and the first flew in July 1959. FGA9s saw most of their service overseas.
You can learn more about the Hunter, including its full aircraft history on our website: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/collections/hawker-hunter-fga9/
Roger's valuable contribution to the Museum will be sadly missed by all his RAF Museum friends. We would like to thank Roger's family who have kindly given their permission for us to re-share this video of Roger.
FC95-309 Speed-up on Stirlings - AssemblyLine Edit (1).mp4
Following up on our previous post about the Short Stirling heavy bomber of the Second World War, here is a 1942 film on the production of the Stirling at the Short Brother factory in Swindon. It is fascinating to have this insight in the production facilities with only minimal automatisation. The film also clearly shows how dependent the industry was on women.
From ‘IWM Film and Video Archive’
The Canberra
Story of the English Electric Canberra and footage of different models of Canberras at RAF Cottesmore
RAF Museum Hawker Typhoon 1B aircraft build
Next in our new video series is behind the scenes footage of the Hawker Typhoon 1B aircraft build.
Originally designed as a twelve-gun fighter, the Typhoon was intended to be the successor to the Hurricane. It suffered many development problems both with the airframe and its twenty-four cylinder Napier Sabre engine.
At the time of its introduction in 1941, it was the first 400mph fighter in the RAF and proved a match for the low level tip-and-run Focke-Wulf Fw190s. It was, however, in the low level close support role that the Typhoon excelled.
The Typhoon reached the height of its fame operating as a tank destroyer. During the final European campaign, the aircraft flew in standing patrols, known as "cab ranks" awaiting calls from ground forces to make immediate strikes against any German target which lay in the path of Allied troops. They disrupted enemy communications and wrought havoc amongst his transport both on land and at sea, thereby playing a decisive part in many of the final battles.
With the end of the war in Europe the Typhoon's specialised role was finished and it quickly disappeared from service.
You can learn more about the Typhoon, including a full aircraft history on our website: https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/collections/hawker-typhoon-1b/
Vying for Victory: Britain’s Army,Navy and Air Force in Myth and Memory
Vying for Victory: Britain’s Army,Navy and Air Force in Myth and Memory
The Second World War was the first major conflict to see the implementation of a truly joint operations and command: three different services with three different sets of traditions, cultures and experiences.
Now, 75 years after Victory in Europe, how do we recognise the contribution of the separate branches of the armed forces on the Road to Victory? Should we view it as anything but a joint operation?
Author and historian James Holland joins lead curators from the National Museum of the Royal Navy, the National Army Museum and the Royal Air Force Museum to explore the highs and lows in the evolution of this unique working relationship. And, as the modern media continues to draw on wartime experiences and expressions, they will assess how each of the services has cemented its own contribution in myth, tradition and popular
culture today.
There will be a Crowdcast live Q&A at 7.00pm sign up at: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/vyingforvictory/register
Virtual VE Day 75 Festival - The Blue Bird Belles in Conert
Round off your Bank Holiday celebrations with a concert from 40s trio The Bluebird Belles. Sing along to some iconic tunes and practice your newly learnt dance moves. This will be broadcast at 5.00pm on our YouTube Channel and this page.
Join us, @NAM_London , @NatMuseumRN from 5.00pm today as we commemorate 75 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe. From what was on the wireless to digging for Victory, find out what life was like on the Home Front and the Front Line. https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/about-us/virtual-ve-day-75.aspx
Join us from your home tomorrow, 7 May, as we kick off our #VE75Day weekend of virtual commemorations alongside the National Museum of the Royal Navy and the National Army Museum at 5.00pm. Download your your free programme of events at https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/about-us/virtual-ve-day-75.aspx
#StandWithYourServices
RAF Museum aircraft sneak peek
Can you guess which aircraft from the RAF Museum collection (London or Cosford) this is? Keep a look out on Facebook later this week when we reveal the answer.
