1918 - 1924
The aerodrome at Duxford was built during the First World War and was one of the earliest Royal Air Force stations. During 1917 the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) expanded and Duxford was one of a number of new stations established to train RFC aircrew. On 1 April 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps were merged to become the Royal Air Force, the world's first fully independent air force. In September 1918 Duxford opened as a flying school - No. 35 Training Depot Station - and after the war ended in November 1918 the airfield was used as a base for the disbandment of squadrons from the Continent. 
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| Bristol Bulldog at Duxford 1933 |
RAF Duxford become No.2 Flying Training School in 1920, equipped with the Avro 504, the DH9A and the Bristol Fighter. 1923 brought limited expansion of the RAF and a training flight of Sopwith Snipes was added to the School. From the pilots and aircraft at Duxford the nuclei of three fighter squadrons were formed - Nos. 19, 29 and III - and in 1924, under reorganised Home Defence arrangements, Duxford became a fighter station, a role it was to carry out with distinction for 37 years.
1924 - 1936
By the beginning of 1925 Duxford's three fighter squadrons were up to strength with Gloster Grebes and Armstrong Whitworth Siskins. No.19 Squadron re-equipped with Bristol Bulldogs in 1931, and, at the beginning of 1935, was picked as the first squadron to fly the RAF's fastest new fighter, the 230 mph (375 kmh) Gloster Gauntlet. The squadron gained a reputation second to none for formation flying and gunnery and was chosen, in 1935, to give a special demonstration of air drill over Duxford on the occasion of King George V's Jubilee Review of the Royal Air Force.  |
| Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle (IWM Neg TR 003737) |
In 1936 Flight Lieutenant (later Air Commodore Sir) Frank Whittle was studying at Cambridge University and regularly flew from Duxford as a member of the Cambridge University Air Squadron. Whittle was the first person to develop the jet turbine as a means of powering an aircraft and his engineering genius enabled Britain to produce the jet-powered Gloster Meteor in 1943 - the Allies' first operational jet fighter.
By the summer of 1938 No.19 Squadron's reputation was such that it became the first RAF squadron to re-equip with the new Supermarine Spitfire and the first Spitfire was flown into Duxford in August 1938 by Jeffrey Quill, Supermarine's test pilot.
The Gauntlet was by this time outdated but it was with this aircraft that 19 and 66 Squadrons stood by at readiness during the Munich crisis of September/October 1938, for re-equipment with Spitfires was not completed until the end of that year. 
Mark 1 Spitfires of No.19 Squadron 1938
On 3 September 1939 Britain declared war on Germany and Duxford was poised to play a vital role in the difficult years ahead.
1940
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| Douglas Bader (centre) at Duxford 1940 |
In February 1940 one of the heroes of the Second World War was posted to No.19 Squadron at Duxford. Flying Officer Douglas Bader had lost his legs in an air crash several years earlier and had been discharged from the RAF. Determined to serve his country in the way he knew best, he badgered the RAF until he was allowed to fly again. He would not permit his artificial limbs to deter him and soon showed himself to be a courageous pilot and a fine leader.
By June 1940 Belgium, Holland and France had fallen to the German forces and the conquest of Britain was their next objective. Duxford was placed in a high state of readiness and to create space for additional units at Duxford, 19 Squadron moved to nearby Fowlmere. Then came the start of Hitler's attempt to dominate the skies over Britain as a prelude to the subjugation of Britain.
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| Luftwaffe reconnaisance photograph taken during 1940 showing Duxford village and the airfield (IWM neg. no. MH6526) |
The period of intense air fighting that followed has become known as the Battle of Britain. Duxford's first Hurricanes arrived in July with the formation of No.310 Squadron, made up of Czechoslovakian pilots who had escaped from France. At the end of August the Air Officer Commanding 12 Group, Air-Vice Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, ordered the Hurricanes of 242 Squadron, now commanded by Douglas Bader, down from Coltishall to join 19 and 310 Squadrons on daily standby at Duxford.
Leigh-Mallory was impressed with the performance of 19 and 310 Squadrons and authorised Bader to lead 242, 19 and 310 operating together as a Wing. On 9 September the Duxford squadrons successfully intercepted and turned back a large force of German bombers before they reached their target. On the strength of this two more squadrons
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| The Operations Room, Duxford, WW2 |
were added to the Wing, No.302 (Polish) Squadron with Hurricanes, and the Spitfires of No.611 Auxiliary Squadron which had mobilised at Duxford a year before.
Every day some sixty Spitfires and Hurricanes were dispersed around Duxford and Fowlmere. Bader's 'Big Wing', now known more formally as 12 Group Wing, was ready for action by 15 September 1940, which became known as 'Battle of Britain Day'. On this historic day they twice took to the air to repulse Luftwaffe attacks aimed at London. RAF fighter Command was successful, the threat of invasion passed and Duxford's squadrons had played a vital role in the victory.
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| Messerschmitt 109 in RAF colours, WW2 |
1941 - 1942
After the Battle of Britain, Duxford also became the home of several specialist units, among them the Air Fighting Development Unit. The AFDU's equipment included captured German aircraft, restored to flying condition for evaluation. The sight of a Messerschmitt Bf109, Junkers 88 or Heinkel III around Duxford at that time did not necessarily have the local people running for cover!
Squadrons with
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| RAF American Bell Airacobra of 601 Sqdn, Duxford |
newly acquired aircraft were posted to Duxford for trials. One of these was No.601 Squadron, the only RAF squadron to be equipped with the unusual American Bell Airacobra. Duxford also played a major part in developing the Hawker Typhoon into a formidable low-level and ground attack fighter and in 1942 the first Typhoon Wing was formed here. The first Wing operation - an offensive sweep over Northern France - took place on 20 June 1942.
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| King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth, Duxford 1943 |
1943 - 1944
In April 1943 the airfield was fully handed over to the United States 8th Air Force, which had begun to arrive in Britain the previous May. The 8th was the largest of the United States Army Air Forces at this time, in the order of 200,000 men at its peak strength. Duxford now became Base 357 and the headquarters of the 78th Fighter Group who were officially welcomed when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the airfield on 26 May 1943.
The 78th FG flew P-47 Thunderbolts and from December 1944, P-51
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| P-47 in 78 Group Markings, WW2 |
Mustangs and acted as fighter escort on the large US daylight bomber raids in occupied Europe and Germany itself. They also undertook sweeps over hostile territory and became adept at strafing, flying in at very low level to destroy ground installations and small targets. Captain Charles London of the 83rd Fighter Squadron at Duxford became the first official 8th Air Force Ace, when he destroyed five enemy aircraft.
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| D-Day Landings, 6 June 1944 |
On D-Day, 6 June 1944, the long awaited beginning of the Allied invasion of occupied Europe, every available 78th Fighter Group Thunderbolt was giving air cover to the Allied invasion fleet as it crossed the Channel. Later the group took part in raids on railway targets ahead of the ground forces. During the airborne landings at Arnhem in the Netherlands the 78th were awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for the number of sorties carried out.
The 78th also distinguished themselves by shooting down the first Me262 jet aircraft claimed by the 8th Air Force, and by the end of the war were credited with the destruction of 697 enemy aircraft either in the air or on the ground. Duxford was officially handed back to the Royal Air Force on 1 December 1945
B1945 - Today
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| Duxford Airfield, late 1945 |
During their stay the Americans had laid a perforated steel plate runway over the grass strip and it was deemed adequate by the RAF for jet aircraft in the short term. The first RAF aircraft to return to Duxford were Spitfires but by 1947 they were gone, replaced by jet-powered Gloster Meteors. By 1951 a new concrete runway had been laid and a type T2 hangar erected alongside the four First World War hangars. Although the original T2 hangar has gone, the Museum has since put up another two Second World War T2 hangars on the same site. No.64 Squadron took on the last type of fighter to serve with the RAF at Duxford - the Gloster Javelin FAW7.
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| Hawker Hunters and Gloster Javelin over Duxford, 1959 |
The station was entering its last operational phase, for the defence needs which had called Duxford into being as a fighter station no longer applied. Duxford was too far south and too far inland and the costly improvements required for supersonic fighters could not be justified. In July 1961 the last operational RAF flight was made from Duxford and for some 15 years the future of the airfield remained in the balance.
The Ministry of Defence declared its intention to dispose of the airfield in 1969. Plans for a sports centre and a prison were proposed but came to nothing.
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| Air Day at Duxford |
The Imperial War Museum had been looking for a suitable site for the storage, restoration and eventual display of exhibits too large for its headquarters in London and obtained permission to use the airfield for this purpose. Cambridgeshire County Council joined with the Imperial War Museum and the Duxford Aviation Society and in 1977 bought the runway to give the abandoned aerodrome a new lease of life.
Today Duxford is established as the European centre of aviation history. The historic site, outstanding collections of exhibits and regular world-renowned air shows combine to create a unique museum where history really is in the air
The Imperial War Museum first began to operate at Duxford in the mid 1970s. The historic site and growing collection were immediately of interest to the many American veterans who flew from East Anglia and who revisited their old bases and the surrounding area in large numbers. Lasting and warm relationships with these American visitors rapidly developed and the Museum installed temporary and then permanent exhibitions illustrating the role of the 8th Air Force and recording Duxford’s time as a USAAF fighter base from 1943 to 1945. A particularly close relationship grew with the 8th Air Force Historical Society and 8th Air Force Memorial Museum Foundation, which consistently supported exhibition and restoration activities at Duxford.
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| B17 Flying Fortress - 'Mary Alice' |
In the same period, the Imperial War Museum aircraft collection was growing apace and a number of important American examples joined the displays. The B-17, subsequently restored as “Mary Alice” of the 401st Bomb Group, joined the Museum collection in 1978. The B-29 flew in to join the collection in 1980 and the B-52 arrived in 1983.
In the mid 1980s, plans began to develop for a more ambitious commemoration of the role of American air power in the Second World War and subsequent years. An initial group of distinguished American supporters was formed who enlisted the help of Norman Foster, the leading British architect, to prepare outline plans for a new building.
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| Construction of the roof in February 1996. |
The design brief for the American Air Museum was to house Duxford’s American collection in a building striking and economical, practical for its purpose of preserving and displaying aircraft and other exhibits, but of great distinction appropriate to its memorial and educational roles.
Great stress was laid on minimising maintenance and running costs, and the design team’s solution was a stunning piece of architecture and engineering, providing 6,400 sqm (nearly 70,000 sq ft) of exhibition and ancillary space, with a huge glass front 90 metres (295 ft) wide and a great domed concrete roof.
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| Roof complete and scaffolding removed |
The building was to be carefully positioned in the existing Museum complex, alongside the preserved First World War hangars. A raised entrance line would give a dramatic impact on entering the building, level with the cockpit of the giant B-52 and give a panorama of the whole collection. A perimeter ramp around both sides of the body of the collection would connect the mezzanine with the ground level. This would enable visitors to view the aircraft first as a collection and then as individual exhibits at close range. Additionally, the ramp and mezzanine would maintain a constant view of activities outside on the airfield.
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| Major Stokes - former pilot of P47 Thunderbolts with 83rd Fighter Sqaudron cuts the ceremonial turf. |
1987 saw the start of a ten-year fundraising campaign, during which Duxford acquired a huge constituency of US friends and supporters. The recruitment of Founding Members began in 1989, over the signature of General Jimmy Doolittle. The first US events, in Houston (1989), Washington (1991) and Los Angeles (1992), greatly raised the profile of the American Air Museum project. The contribution of $1 million from Saudi Arabia, secured through His Highness Prince Bandar, the Saudi Ambassador in Washington, in 1993, enabled the Museum to go on with the detailed design of Norman Foster’s brilliant concept. The £6.5 million awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund in 1995 meant that the dream of many years could come to fruition.
The project reached another milestone on 8 September 1995 as Major James E. Stokes, former P-47 pilot with Duxford’s wartime 78th Fighter Group, broke ground for the new building. The event took place in front of around five hundred guests including 300 American Air Museum Founding Members who travelled from the United States for the ceremony.
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| Following the opening ceremony, the Queeen met many of the WW2 veterans who had served in Britain. |
With the building project started, there was a massive increase in Duxford’s restoration activity. At the same time detailed planning of the exhibitions got under way. The American Air Museum in Britain was opened by Her Majesty The Queen on 1 August 1997, before an audience of over 5,000, many of whom were drawn from its generous Founding Members in the United States. The project cost a total of £13.5 million including design, building, exhibit restoration, exhibition research and installation.
Since that day, the Museum has gone from strength to strength. Subsequent developments have included the construction of a Museum shop and café and the creation of a Founders and Friends Room, which was generously supported by AAM’s US Co-Chairman Georgia Frontiere, South Cambridgeshire District Council and Rotary International.
The design and building soon won several awards; the Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize and the Royal Fine Art Commission/British Sky Broadcasting Building of the Year Award in 1998, the Civic Trust Award in 1999, the Concrete Society Award for 1999-2000 and Regional Winner of the Celebrating Construction Achievement Awards in 2000.