Hawker Hurricane at Duxford
Last year while in the United Kingdom I had the opportunity to visit the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. Dating from the First World War, the Duxford Airfield was a Royal Air Force base which saw a great deal of action during the Battle of Britain. Duxford was part of a ring of airfields designed to protect London from aerial bombardment. Later in WWII it was used by the U.S. Eighth Air Force. After the war it was returned to the RAF who used it until 1961. After the closure of the base Duxford was used as a backdrop for the 1969 movie The Battle of Britain and again in 1990’s Memphis Belle. It continues to operate as a civilian airport.
In 1969 the Imperial War Museum outgrew its downtown London location and began to store aircraft at Duxford. In 1977 a full-fledged museum opened on the site. It is now Great Britain’s largest aviation museum and houses an amazing variety of aircraft. To get a chance to visit was a dream come true. Unfortunately, the couple of hours that I had there was barely enough time to scratch the surface. Duxford should be on every aviation junkie’s bucket list.
One of my favorite exhibits was the Battle of Britain hangar. The entire building was devoted to the aircraft and people involved in that struggle. German and British airplanes were used to tell the story of 1940-1941. This pilot jumping into his Hawker Hurricane scrambling to face the Blitz was a good reminder that it was not just about the airplanes. Historical commentary throughout the display taught visitors about the terrible human cost of war.
