IWM Duxford
The Imperial War Museum's aviation branch, on a Royal Flying Corps airfield chosen in 1917 that took part in the Battle of Britain.
An airfield, then a museum
IWM Duxford is the Imperial War Museum's outpost near the Cambridgeshire village of the same name. The site was picked in 1917 for a Royal Flying Corps training aerodrome, and it became a fighter airfield from 1925. No. 19 Squadron, based at Duxford, was the first to fly the Spitfire, from August 1938. From July 1940 the station saw considerable action in the Battle of Britain as part of No. 12 Group. The United States Army Air Forces began arriving in March 1943, flying P-47 Thunderbolts. The last operational RAF flight was made in July 1961. The Ministry of Defence declared the airfield surplus in 1969, the museum first used a hangar for storage, and permission to take over the whole site came in February 1976.
What is on the site
More than thirty of the 255 buildings listed in 2005 after an English Heritage review of aviation sites are at Duxford. The operations block carries a Grade II* listing, and inside is the wartime operations room that directed the station's aircraft. AirSpace, the redeveloped Hangar 1, officially opened on 12 July 2007. The Duxford Aviation Society's civil collection includes a de Havilland Comet and the pre-production Concorde G-AXDN. Air shows have been held here since 1973.
Before you go
Check opening times and tickets on the museum's website before visiting.