(I AM going to break this one down into two posts - it deserves the attention...)
As mentioned yesterday, Tuesday 19th June was Aitch's birthday and prior to meeting up with our old schoolmates, we first went to North Suffolk to the village of Flixton, where we visited the Aviation Museum. Aitch served in the Air Force for some years and thus shares my interest; she is also (in case you missed my mentioning it before!) an archivist and very keen on museums!
Most of you long-term readers know me as a pacifist, but that I have immense respect for the members of our armed forces who have to face the things most of us wish didn't have to happen. Truly, I detest the fact that we have a need for any form of military force at all - but the pragmatist in me completely understands that the nature of mankind is such that it is unavoidable. The wars, and how the forces are used, comes down to those who govern (or perhaps that ought to be 'misgovern'); the forces themselves are peopled by humans of skill, dedication, love of nation and freedom and a desire to operate at the very best of their ability.
That said, in times of great wars, we know that manpower counts more than skill or dedication and recruits in those times received minimal training before being fed to the mechanisms of death and destruction.
I have always had a particular interest in the 'world wars' of the 20th century, both for the socio-political scene from which they arose and with a strong focus on the use of the aeroplane. The very first Airfix model I made was a Hawker Hunter... yup, like the one to the left here. It was quickly followed by a Spitfire and a Hurricane...
Flying in both those wars was a very 'naked' activity, quite literally seat-of-the-pants most of the time. One of the things I love about this volunteer-run museum is that it has so much 'personal' stuff to display. One got a real feel for the young men (and women!) who served. Am not going to show images in the order I took them; instead, today, let us focus on the big stuff, and tomorrow a little look at the smaller detail. I encourage those who are interested in this history to click that link to the museum's own website. You may be interested only in the USAAF Bomber Sqdrn 466, for which they have a dedicated page, or RAF Bomber Command, for which there is another separate page, or simply browse everything they have...
I shall name what I can here and include info boards where I have them... but for the keen, you may wish to go to Thunder & Lightnings website for more details on the jet craft. Other links are provided in the caption where appropriate.
I do hope you will be able to read the above. I downsize my images quite considerable for loadability and for image security so this can cause blurring. If you are really interested and would like a transcript I will be happy to provide that by email - just let me know!
Tomorrow, more of the actual history from the exhibits...
As mentioned yesterday, Tuesday 19th June was Aitch's birthday and prior to meeting up with our old schoolmates, we first went to North Suffolk to the village of Flixton, where we visited the Aviation Museum. Aitch served in the Air Force for some years and thus shares my interest; she is also (in case you missed my mentioning it before!) an archivist and very keen on museums!Most of you long-term readers know me as a pacifist, but that I have immense respect for the members of our armed forces who have to face the things most of us wish didn't have to happen. Truly, I detest the fact that we have a need for any form of military force at all - but the pragmatist in me completely understands that the nature of mankind is such that it is unavoidable. The wars, and how the forces are used, comes down to those who govern (or perhaps that ought to be 'misgovern'); the forces themselves are peopled by humans of skill, dedication, love of nation and freedom and a desire to operate at the very best of their ability.
That said, in times of great wars, we know that manpower counts more than skill or dedication and recruits in those times received minimal training before being fed to the mechanisms of death and destruction.I have always had a particular interest in the 'world wars' of the 20th century, both for the socio-political scene from which they arose and with a strong focus on the use of the aeroplane. The very first Airfix model I made was a Hawker Hunter... yup, like the one to the left here. It was quickly followed by a Spitfire and a Hurricane...
Flying in both those wars was a very 'naked' activity, quite literally seat-of-the-pants most of the time. One of the things I love about this volunteer-run museum is that it has so much 'personal' stuff to display. One got a real feel for the young men (and women!) who served. Am not going to show images in the order I took them; instead, today, let us focus on the big stuff, and tomorrow a little look at the smaller detail. I encourage those who are interested in this history to click that link to the museum's own website. You may be interested only in the USAAF Bomber Sqdrn 466, for which they have a dedicated page, or RAF Bomber Command, for which there is another separate page, or simply browse everything they have...I shall name what I can here and include info boards where I have them... but for the keen, you may wish to go to Thunder & Lightnings website for more details on the jet craft. Other links are provided in the caption where appropriate.
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| Canberra (cockpits only - English Electric jets) |
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| Gloster Meteor (foreground) and USAAF F100-D Super Sabre (background) |
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| Gloster Javelin |
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| De Havilland Sea Vixen |
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| North American T-28 Trojan |
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| Boeing-Stearman PT-27 |
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| Lightning (English Electric) |
Tomorrow, more of the actual history from the exhibits...
madi dad will love this post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE THIS POST
HUGS HIC
Hubby is the WW enthusiast here and would love to see those planes, he loves war planes and history. me not so much but i listen kind of sorta when he tells me in detail what he has watched on documentaries on the history channel. he cares not that i don't watch that channel on purpose. these planes and all the things you showed us here, i would like to see in person... my dad's brother was a tail gunner in one similar to these in WWII
ReplyDeleteOh, our Dad would love to visit this museum. He loves learning about planes and all things history-related too. We are going to show your post to him tonight.
ReplyDeleteWoos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber
I would love to be there... I like history and I like it to learn more about the past...thanks for sharing such interesting photos
ReplyDeleteHello, I would love to visit this aviation museum. I am thankful for all the pilots that went up in these planes. A World War is something I would never want to see happen again. Great photos and post.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos and I could read the accompanying texts as well. I have only ever been to Duxford museum, which also has a great selection of planes.
ReplyDeleteOh if only Human Grandad was still around. He would have loved this post too.
ReplyDeleteWow. That is impressive! I hear you about being a dove. We do need to be prepared, however.
ReplyDelete