Currently home to the National Museum of Flight, RAF East Fortune near Edinburgh is one of the UK’s best-preserved Second World War airfields. Re-examination of finds from previous excavations, on the site, as well as new evidence from recent field observations, has shed light on its long military history, as Dr Matteo Randazzo and Olivia Jones report.
Put your military history knowledge to the test with our competition.
In a new book, Jonathan Glancey tells the inside story of Operation Bowler, the audacious WWII plan to destroy German strategic outposts around Venice’s port, while leaving the legendary city unscathed.
Between 1943 and 1944, reconnaissance units from the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) trained for combat deployment over the skies of England. They flew over airfields, radar installations, and ancient monuments, as well as major settlements, in order to…
REVIEW by COLIN POMEROY A renowned writer on air combat in World War II, Professor Patrick Eriksson is well known for his detailed research, something he fully demonstrates in this new book, which takes its name from the fighter pilot’s…
It was granted to the museum by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, ‘in recognition of its objectives to educate and inform the public and members of the RAF about the history and traditions of the Royal Air Force'
The winners of this years MHM Book Awards...
REVIEWING THE BEST MILITARY HISTORY EXHIBITIONS
WITH Graham Goodlad.
John Lock resumes his series on the ‘Butterfly Effect’. Last time (MHM June/July 2021) he assessed the possible impact of Stonewall Jackson’s accidental shooting at the Battle of Chancellorsville. This time, equally controversially, he turns his attention to the Battle of Britain.
The exhibition opens at the Imperial War Museum’s Duxford branch in December
In this image, Wing Commander Guy Gibson can be seen sitting in field of poppies at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire in July 1943. It was from this airbase that Gibson led 617 Squadron to carry out Operation Chastise, more commonly…
Nigel Jones explored the vexed relationship between President Lincoln and General McClellan in the first year of the American Civil War last issue. This time, he takes a look at Prime Minister Churchill’s relationship with the British generals in WWII.
The team from Arco Services had to abseil from the hangar’s 30m-high roof to get access to the various aircraft, which include a Vulcan bomber and an English Electric Lightning.
Despite depictions of the Battle of Britain as a campaign waged by grown-up men and women, the average age of an RAF fighter pilot at the height of the Second World War was just 20 – with those involved in…
This is a fine, deeply researched book, with Frank Whittle’s story beginning with a lad of humble origin who, aged just 16, entered the RAF as an apprentice fitter, already with strong views about the viability of gas-turbine aero engines…
The best military history events, lectures, and exhibitions in May 2021, including an online course delving into the discovery of King Richard III in a car park, and an exhibit on Disney wartime propaganda.
He became known as the ‘Flying Sikh’ because he wore a specially designed helmet that fitted over his turban.
The annual high-level cleaning took place at the end of April and was conducted by specialists from ArcoServices. The team also carried out various safety checks on the suspension cables which keep the aircraft in 'flight'.
Why should we study airfields – and do these sites even count as archaeology? Bob Clarke makes a case for investigating and preserving such sites as important drivers of social change, as well as relics of military history.
Taylor Downing reviews a classic war movie.
It is the largest museum of its kind in Europe. Now the American Air Museum at IWM Duxford has been granted Grade II-listed status by English Heritage. The impressive building, which was designed by award-winning architect Norman Foster, was purpose-built…
Today this wreck, along with several others in the Beacons, stands as a monument, a tangible example of the enormous sacrifices that were made every day during the Second World War.